Malinke people are also called Maninka, and you will see them referred to either way. They are closely related to a number of other groups in the area. Like most major people groups, the Maninka have subgroups that speak different dialects. Within Senegal there are those who speak Western Maninkakan. We call them the Western Maninka. Most Maninka can trace their roots back to the once great Mali Empire. This empire was created by several Maninka clans in the second millennium. It grew in power in the thirteenth century under the rule of Sundiata, the "lion king," who unified the kingdom and began to conquer surrounding peoples. In the fifteenth century, Portuguese explorers reached the coast and began trading in slaves and ivory.
Starting in the 19th century, France had extensive colonial holdings in much of West Africa. Those areas included places where the Western Maninka people lived. A small number of the Western Maninka (as well as other sub-Saharan Africans) gained higher education. They are the ones who are welcome in most Western nations including the United States.
Typically, sub-Saharan African peoples in the United States live together, so the Maninka groups have regular contact with people from other African ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. Those who live in the US are often well-educated and hold high-paying jobs.
Officially the Western Maninka people are Sunni Muslim. Like other Muslims in West Africa, their version of Islam is clouded by animistic practices. In the United States they have regular contact with Muslims with a more orthodox form of Islam.
There are some believers among them. Prayer is the first step towards seeing a full movement to Christ among this Muslim people group.
Pray for Western Maninka leaders in the US to open the door to Christ's ambassadors.
Pray for the Lord to thrust out Holy Spirit anointed workers among the Western Maninka people in the US.
Pray for a powerful disciple making movement among every Maninka community that has migrated to the West.
Scripture Prayers for the Maninka, Western in United States.
| Profile Source: Joshua Project |
