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Prayer Info:Maninka
• Location: Guinea, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone
• Also Known As: Malinké, Mandingo
• Status: Engaged by IMB
• Population: 4,000,000
• Primary Religion: Folk Islam
• Number of Christians: around 2,250
• Language: Maninkakan (dialects change according to population segment)
• Maninka are only 0.06% Christian — 99% of the population is lost
• Steeped in Islam and African Traditional Religion
• Located mostly in rural areas
• Health care: Small local gov’t clinics with limited supplies, no prevention awareness or clean water in most villages; poor sanitation practices and African traditional medicines.
• Family Structure: Polygamous marriages
• Diet: rice with tomato and onion-based sauce with peanuts, ground millet, eggplant, leafy greens or meat/fish; fruits—mangoes, bananas, oranges, papayas, grapefruit.
The urgency of over four million Maninka who need to hear and believe is a daily reality for missionaries working among this people group. They need “beautiful feet” to help bring the good news! Pray that people seeking a place in full-time missions will be drawn to answer strategic personnel requests in Mali, Guinea and Senegal.
The Maninka trace their roots back to the vast, wealthy Mali Empire of West Africa, which rose to power in the 1200’s. Today, also known as the Malinké or Mandingo, they are the same people group numbering over four million and found in at least six countries of West Africa. They are a “gateway people” to more than 10 million Mandé speaking peoples of West Africa. These staunchly Muslim traders, skilled workers, and farmers pride themselves on spreading Islam throughout their trade routes, from the heart of West Africa to the Atlantic coast.
The Maninka people trace their roots to the Mali Empire, which rose to power in the 1200’s under the rule of the “lion king,” Sundiata Keita. Sundiata unified a vast, wealthy kingdom in West Africa that extended from the area where the Niger River crosses the Guinea/Mali border to the southern fringe of the Sahara.
Today, the Maninka number over four million in West Africa and are divided into numerous population segments dominated by hereditary nobility. They live in the savanna region in Guinea, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal. Traders have also migrated into Sierra Leone and Liberia.
The traditional Maninka homeland is savanna with an annual rainfall of 59 inches. During the dry season, temperatures of 95-115°F are common. In Upper Guinea and southeastern Mali, the savanna grassland comprises several species of tall grasses that reach heights of 5-10” during the rainy season. Deciduous trees grow in scattered clumps, but few have commercial value; baobabs and shea trees furnish fruit and oil.
The Maninka are mainly full-time subsistence farmers. They hoe their fields by hand and few use any type of fertilizer or irrigation. Rice and millet are important staple crops, along with peanuts and sorghum. Some of the men may have small part-time businesses to supplement their incomes. They may keep goats, sheep, bees, or poultry. In addition, they keep cattle for prestige, as bride-price payments, or for sacrifices.
Men usually do the heavy farm work, while the women do both domestic and farm chores. Women have the jobs of cooking, cleaning, tending to the young children, and gathering forest products. Men are usually responsible for hunting, fishing, or holding leadership positions, such as chief, village elders or imams (religious leaders).
The Maninka have many elaborate ceremonies associated with the different societies and initiation rites of their culture. Both boys and girls are circumcised and initiated into puberty. Men are initiated and advanced in their hierarchical society. Women also have their own secret society.
Within Maninka villages, houses are grouped according to family ties, with each extended family occupying a compound. Their homes are round, thatch-roof huts (or tin roof) made of mud or sun-dried brick. Few of the homes have electricity or running water. The villages are usually located near permanent water sources, and the adjacent land is used for cultivation. Each village has a chief who acts as a judge over the village. He handles disputes and helps the council of elders. Some of the Maninka people prefer living in cities where they can develop a trade or work in a service occupation. Nevertheless, while living in the cities, they usually remain attached to their villages in some way.
As early as the 1300’s, prominent families of the Maninka began to convert to Islam. Through the centuries, Islam has blended with their traditional beliefs, which involve worshipping the spirits of the land. Today, it is not uncommon for someone to first pray in the village mosque, and then sacrifice a chicken to the “village spirit.” Many people consult marabous (Muslim holy men) for healing, protective amulets, or insight into the future. Educated Maninka may conceal their beliefs in magic, yet most of them still carry amulets.
Most causes of illness among the Maninka people relate to their living conditions or to the lack of nearby medical facilities: malaria, acute respiratory infections, intestinal parasitic diseases, gastroenteritis, and malnutrition.
Their challenges include contaminated water, lack of electricity, poorly developed roads, unemployment, an unstable economic and political system, and little to no access to quality education. The AIDS virus is an ever present threat, intensified by the lack of medical and social services available to the majority of the population.
Spiritually, the needs are great. Every population segment needs to be reached, yet personnel is limited, the geographic span is large, and living conditions for workers are difficult. There is a need to take advantage of current freedom of movement for ministry and opportunities for workers.
We will send you a prayer guide with Scripture passages each month before the day we all pray together so we can pray in a directed way toward the same goals. There will be Scripture passages we ask you to remember as you pray and also specific request. We are asking you to pick a 30 minute time section during the 12 hours and let us know what time you are choosing so we can know you are praying also.
