Spreading The Gospel to West Africa & Beyond
Hudson Taylor, famed missionary to China, once said, “There are three indispensable requirements for a missionary: 1. Patience 2. Patience 3. Patience.” The long-term fruit of faithful mission work is worth celebrating. For nearly 50 years, FEC has planted churches in West Africa. That steady labor helped establish the Evangelical Mennonite Church (EMC) of Burkina Faso and, more recently, a partnership to plant churches among the Yalunka people of Mali.
For over a decade, FEC’s missionary team focused on the unreached Yalunka of southwest Mali. The Yalunka number approximately 214,500 people spread across Guinea, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Mali. Because of mountainous terrain and isolated villages, various dialects developed among them. After years of pioneering evangelism and outreach, small groups of Yalunka believers began to emerge in several Malian villages.
Through prayer and God’s providence, the FEC team connected these new believers with church leaders from Burkina Faso. They discovered a shared common trade language, enabling meaningful communication and partnership that would otherwise have been difficult. After ten years of foundational groundwork, FEC transitioned the leadership of this outreach to partners from the EMC of Burkina Faso.
God raised up a missionary pastor from Burkina Faso, Yaya Bengaly, and his wife, Medina, to plant churches among the Yalunka. Since settling in the town of Falea in 2022, more than 25 believers have been baptized. A growing church now gathers regularly for worship, prayer, and community outreach, and is beginning to reach into neighboring villages.
As one EMC-BF leader reflected, “Nearly forty-five years ago we were unreached like the Yalunka. Now it is our turn to share the gospel.” We celebrate how God has brought this work full circle and are grateful to partner with our sister churches in Burkina Faso in evangelism, discipleship, and church planting among the Yalunka.
Join in praying for and supporting the growing Yalunka Church in Falea and other Yalunka communities throughout West Africa.
Read the latest updates:
God called Yaya and Media Bengaly as missionaries to the Yalunka people while planting and pastoring a church in Burkina Faso. The Bengalys are approved missionaries from the Evangelical Mennonite Church of Burkina Faso. In May 2022, they moved to the town of Falea in southwest Mali to continue the pioneering church planting work initiated by FEC among the Yalunka in that region. The Bengalys have experience working among rural people involved in folk Islam and are investing in evangelism, discipling, teaching, and training leaders among the Yalunka. God is providing a harvest of souls. The Yalunka church in Falea has taken root, is growing, and is reaching into other Yalunka communities. FEC works in partnership with the EMC Burkina Faso to reach the Yalunka people of Southwest Mali.
Join in praying for and supporting the Bengaly family as they lead the Yalunka church plant in Falea and beyond.
