Their language, Bagirmi Fulfulde, belongs to the West Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo language family.

Many believe the Fulani to be of Caucasian origin because of their straight hair and noses, thin lips, and copper-colored skin. It is thought that they came from North Africa or the Middle East as herdsmen centuries ago.

The Fulani live in a semi-arid, tropical zone. They are confined to an almost horizontal area across Africa, bound by the Sahara Desert to the north and by the disease-carrying tsetse fly to the south.

What Are Their Lives Like?
Combining agriculture with herding, the Bagirmi Fulani are semi-sedentary herdsmen. Unlike some other Fulani groups whose families travel with them, the Bagirmi Fulani maintain a home where they live for half the year. During the dry season, when grazing ground and water are scarce, they take their cattle from the homestead in search of greener pastures.

The head of the family, along with his wives and younger children, usually stay at home and tend to a small herd and the crops. The young married sons and their families leave with the rest of the cattle. Hence, the Fulani can move when they desire and can also pay kinsmen and laborers to tend to the home vegetable gardens. In this way, they can be rewarded and enriched by both ends of the spectrum: herding and agriculture.

At the homestead, agriculture provides for the livelihood of the people, with pearl millet and sorghum as the staple crops. Corn, beans, peanuts, melons, and cucumbers are also grown. Horses, sheep, goats, chickens, and dogs are kept at the family farm, and wild rice is gathered from the fields by the women.

Family lineages settle in the same village and form family compounds. Polygyny (the practice of having more than one wife) is commonly practiced. A bride is sometimes picked according to the number of cattle she possesses, since cattle are a symbol of wealth among all Fulani.

At the markets, the Bagirmi Fulani trade their dairy products for grain, farm equipment, and cloth. The market also serves as a place for social gatherings. Village dances and ceremonies are held in the market.

What Are Their Beliefs?
The Fulani were one of the first groups in Africa to convert to Islam. Today, the Bagirmi are 99.9% Muslim. However, they still continue to practice many of their old Fulani traditions. To a Fulani, the important things in life are family, cattle, strong morals, and beauty. They also value an excellence in poetry, singing, and dancing.

To the Fulani, children are symbols of the future. For this reason, a special ceremony is held to celebrate the birth of a firstborn son and the naming of a son. The Fulani do not believe in an afterlife. Instead, they believe that a person lives from generation to generation through his children. With a son, a man's name and features will remain. Thus, if a Fulani dies without any children, he is believed to have died twice.

What Are Their Needs?
Though the Bagirmi Fulani have two missions agencies currently working among them and some Christian broadcasts are being aired in their language, the number of believers among them remains extremely small.

The Bagirmi Fulani need the Bible to be written in their language and the Jesus film to be made available to them. They especially need to know that an eternity does exist after death, and it is only through Jesus that they can obtain eternal life. Much intercession must be made for the hearts of the Bagirmi Fulani to be open and receptive to the Truth of the Gospel.

• Ask the Lord of the harvest to send dedicated missionaries to live and work among the Bagirmi Fulani of Chad.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to grant wisdom and favor to the two missions agencies that are currently targeting the Bagirmi Fulani.
• Ask God to anoint the Gospel as it goes forth via radio in their area.
• Pray that God will reveal Himself to the Bagirmi Fulani through dreams and visions.
• Pray that God will give the few Bagirmi Fulani believers opportunities to share Christ with their own people.
• Take authority over the spiritual principalities and powers that are keeping the Bagirmi Fulani bound.
• Ask God to raise up prayer teams who will fervently intercede for the Bagirmi Fulani.
• Ask the Lord to raise up strong local churches among the Bagirmi Fulani of Chad by the year 2000.

See also the following related groups: the Adawama Fulani of Cameroon; the Bagirmi Fula of the Central African Republic; the Bauchi Fulani of Nigeria; the Benin/Togo Fulani of Togo; the Bororo Fulani of Cameroon; the Fula of Benin and Burkina Faso; the Fula Jalon of Guinea, Mali, Senegal, and Sierra Leone; the Fula Kita of Mali; the Fula Macina of Mali and Maruitania; the Fula Toro of Senegal; the Fula Kunda of Guinea Bissau, and Senegal; The Fulani of Chad, Gambia, and Sudan; the Gurma Fulani of Burkina Faso; the Krio Fula of Sierra Leone; the Sokoto Fulani of Niger and Nigeria; the Liptako Fula of Burkina Faso; the Toroobe Fulani of Nigeria; and the Western Fulani of Niger.

THE PEOPLE

• People name: Bagirmi Fula
• Country: Chad
• Their language: Garirmi Fulfulde
• Population: (1990) 30,400
  (1995) 34,800
  (2000) 39,900
• Largest religion: Muslim (Sunni) 99.9%
• Christians: <1%
• Church members: 7
• Scriptures in their own language: None
• Jesus Film in their own language: None
• Christian broadcasts in their own language: Available
• Mission agencies working among this people: 2
• Persons who have heard the Gospel: 8,000 (23%) Those evangelized by local Christians: 1,100 (4%)
  Those evangelized from the outside: 6,900 (19%)
• Persons who have never heard the Gospel: 26,800 (77%)

• Country: Chad
• Population: (1990) 5,553,300
  (1995) 6,360,700
  (2000) 7,306,700
• Major peoples in size order: Shuwa 21.5%
  Sara Gambai 10.9%
  Teda 4.3%
  Daza 3.3%
  Marfa 3.2%
• Major religions: Muslim 46%
  Christian 35.3%
  Ethnic religionist 18.4%
• Number of denominations: 15