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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Xwela of Benin

The Xwela of Benin, numbering approximately 144,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Benin They are an Indigenous people, with Xwela-Gbe as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Guinean people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Protestantism. They primarily speak Gbe, Xwela.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Xwela

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Benin
People Cluster: Guinean
Primary Language(s): Gbe, Xwela (xwe)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 144,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012361
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Pray for the Xwela of Benin

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gbe, Xwela
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Gbe, Xwela Speakers

Media Resources in Gbe, Xwela:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Gbe, Xwela:

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Or check out the Gbe, Xwela bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Pioneer Unreached People Group, (LPI: 1), 0.1% to 0.5% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity (GSEC: 1), 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

Next steps for the Xwela:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Xwela are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Xwela:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Xwela are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Xwela:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Xwela of Benin

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
readMatthew 28:16-20

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will encounter the risen Savior and be transformed by the power of His resurrection, becoming disciples who make disciples.

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.
readActs 17:26-27

Pray that the lost will seek God and find Him, for He is not far from each one of us. Pray that they will have opportunities to access the gospel, learn God's purpose for their lives, and believe in Him.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
readJohn 10:27

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will hear God's voice and will have the great assurance that no one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
read1 Corinthians 9:20

Pray that believers from similar cultures will be compelled by Christ's love to reach people who don't know the gospel, and that those people will receive the good news with joy.

Xwela-Gbe Across Countries (ROP3 - 110902) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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