Biali

The Biali have lived for generations in the Atakora mountains, in northwestern Benin, where they are regarded as part of the group of peoples known as the Somba. The name Berba, used in many writings, is an outside term; among themselves, the people and the language are called Biali.

Modern borders have left Biali communities in different countries, mainly in Benin and, in much smaller numbers, in Togo, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. The language, spoken in varieties such as those of Tangeta, Tihoun, Porga and Pingou, continues to unite families who now live separated by those lines on the map.

Biali life is essentially rural, tied to farming the land in the hills of Atakora. Work in the fields follows the rhythm of the rains and the dry season, and families depend on what they plant to sustain themselves throughout the year.

As in much of inland West Africa, the extended family is usually the foundation of communal life: marriages, ceremonies and important decisions involve the whole group, and the elders are heard with respect. Hospitality and mutual help among neighbors mark daily life in the villages, where the mother tongue is the bond that unites the generations.

Most of the Biali follow traditional African religions, in which the visible and invisible worlds are closely intertwined. In these traditions, the life of the community is usually lived in the presence of ancestors and spiritual forces, and rites accompany the decisive moments of existence, such as birth, marriage and death.

This faith is not merely a set of beliefs but part of the social fabric: taking part in the rites is also a way of belonging to the family and to the people. A minority identifies as Christian, but traditional beliefs remain the backdrop of life for many.

The New Testament exists in Biali, which is already a valuable step, but the complete Bible is not yet available in the language of the people’s heart. Few speakers can read and write in Biali, and so the Word of God tends to arrive more through the ear than through reading. Audio recordings, group readings and stories told in their own language are especially promising ways for families to hear the Scriptures and understand them.

For many Biali, the rites to the ancestors and to spiritual forces are tied to the identity of the family and the people, so that abandoning these practices may be understood as breaking with one’s own relatives. Low literacy in the mother tongue and the scarcity of Christian materials in Biali make it hard for the gospel to be heard clearly. The dispersion across rural villages and the still small presence of churches born from the people themselves mean that, for many, a first encounter with Jesus depends on someone coming to them.

As in many rural areas of inland West Africa, Biali communities depend on regular rains and face challenges in access to health care, education and farming resources. Literacy in the mother tongue is a concrete need, since it would open doors both for the development of families and for direct contact with the Word of God.

On the spiritual level, the people need witnesses who will live among them with humility, learn their language and proclaim Jesus in an understandable way. They also need communities of faith born from within the Biali themselves, where believers can be discipled and grow in maturity together.