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People group profile · PG012459

The Wara of Burkina Faso

The Wara of Burkina Faso, numbering about 11,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Burkina Faso.

They are an indigenous people in the Gur people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Folk Islam, and they primarily speak Wara.

Pray for the WaraPrint profile

AI-generated illustration representing the Wara people
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph. Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Wara

Fast facts

Country
Burkina Faso
Population
11,500
Affinity group
Sub-Saharan African Peoples
People cluster
Gur
Primary language
Wara (wbf)
Primary religion
Folk Islam
Strategic Progress Index ?
Engaged yet Unreached
Evangelical
No Known Evangelicals
GSEC ?
Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
Lostness priority ?
Frontier Unreached People Group
Region
Western Africa, Africa

Where they live

Gospel status

The Wara are Engaged yet Unreached, which means fewer than 2% are evangelical Christians, but there are sustained efforts to establish self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. In GSEC terms, this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years.

  • Congregations exist No
  • Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted

Next steps for the Wara

  • Continue prayer and fasting for this group
  • Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
  • Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Primary religion

Folk Islam · Islam

Primary language

Wara · Atlantic-Congo family

100% speak Wara

Gospel resources in Wara

  • Bible not available
  • JESUS Film not available
  • Radio programs not available
  • Gospel recordings available
  • Audio resources available
  • Bible stories not available

Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.

Pray for the Wara

  1. Psalm 27:1. Pray that new believers will be strengthened in the face of persecution, with the Lord as their stronghold.
  2. Romans 12:4–5. Pray that believers from many cultures will work together as one body so that the church is built up.
  3. Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
  4. John 17:3. Pray that many will come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.

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