The Jahanke of Guinea-Bissau

The Jahanke of Guinea-Bissau, numbering approximately 11,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Manding-speaking ethnic group indigenous to the Senegambia region and can also be known as Diakhanke. They are an Diaspora people, in the Malinke people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Folk. They primarily speak Jahanka.

Jahanka in Mali photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 GoWestAfrica Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-saharan Africa Peoples
Country: Guinea-Bissau
People Cluster: Malinke
Primary Language(s): Jahanka (jad)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Folk
Population: 11,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013458

Pray for the Jahanke of Guinea-Bissau

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Folk
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Folk Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Jahanka
Language Family: Niger-Congo

%
Jahanka Speakers

Media Resources in Jahanka:

Films:

No entries found for: Jahanka(jad). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Jahanka:

Or check out the Jahanka bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Jahanke

The Jahanke are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Jahanke

The Jahanke 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.

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

Next steps for the Jahanke

The Jahanke 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Jahanke of Guinea-Bissau

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
readRomans 1:19

Pray that God will use testimony of creation to cause those who do not yet know the gospel to long for truth and a relationship with the Author of life.

"O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me."
readJohn 17:25

Pray that the lost will come to know the Father and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent, and that they will be filled with His love and grace.

I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
readPsalm 89:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will declare and record His faithfulness and love to be passed on from generation to generation.

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
readActs 13:47

Pray that as people come to faith, they will follow the Lord's leading to go to their neighbors and share the treasure they found in Christ.

Jahanka (ROP3 - 104152) 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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