Praying for Mali

Where the church stands in Mali

Mali is overwhelmingly Muslim, and most of its peoples — the Fulani, Soninke, Songhai and Tuareg among them — have almost no believers. Small churches exist, mostly in the south and among the Bambara and Dogon.

Since 2012, jihadist groups have spread from the north into the centre of the country, and successive military governments since 2020 have not stopped them. In affected areas churches have been closed, believers threatened, and villages emptied by violence. Humanitarian access has become increasingly difficult.

Signs of hope

Small, resilient churches in the south, and Scripture and audio resources available in major Malian languages.

The honest difficulty

Jihadist violence, political instability, and peoples with almost no Christian presence.

What "Unreached" means

There is no indigenous community of believing Christians large enough to evangelise the rest of the nation without outside help. Commonly measured as under 2% evangelical.

In Mali the majority religious context is Islam (~93%). The largest population still considered without meaningful Gospel access is the Fulani (Peul), Soninke, Songhai and Tuareg peoples.

How to pray for Mali

Prayer is not a substitute for going; it is how going begins. Take one of these for a week rather than all of them for a day.

• Pray for believers living under threat in central and northern Mali.
• Pray for the Fulani, Soninke, Songhai and Tuareg peoples to encounter Jesus.
• Ask God for peace and stability in the Sahel.
• Pray for aid workers and churches serving families displaced by violence.