Introduction / History

The Xedi Hide are a Chadic-speaking people living in Cameroon's Far North Region near the Nigerian border, traditionally organized in small villages shaped by farming cycles and extended kinship networks. Their history reflects long interaction with neighboring groups through trade, migration, and shared cultural practices. Their primary language is Hdi.

What Are Their Lives Like?

Most families practice subsistence agriculture, growing millet, beans, and guinea corn, and raising small livestock. Households are extended and communal, with elders guiding social life. Festivals mark harvests, marriages, and Islamic holy days, featuring music, dance, and shared meals of porridge, grains, vegetables, and sauces.

Followers of Jesus in Cameroon can face persecution on multiple fronts. In the northern regions, Islamic extremism is spreading, as violence by Boko Haram and other Islamic militant groups targets Christians. Believers in this area can face abductions, church burnings and exclusion from community life. Converts from Islam face severe risks – owning a Bible can provoke violence, and women are often forced into marriage.

What Are Their Beliefs?

Most follow Islam, often blended with traditional beliefs in spirits, healing rituals, and protective charms, while a minority identify as Christian and seek to share their faith within family networks.

What Are Their Needs?

Access to clean water, healthcare, education, and Scripture in heart language would strengthen families and open doors for spiritual growth. Economic stability, peace, and reconciliation are vital for long-term community well-being.

Prayer Items

Pray for spiritual openness, bold local believers, and unity among Christians. Pray for healing, provision, education, and protection from disease and conflict. Pray asking God to raise workers and bless families with hope and peace. Pray for a faithful translation and wide distribution of the Scriptures, evangelism materials, and discipleship resources in the Hdi language. Pray that the Xedi Hide Christians would lead their communities for God's glory, preach the Gospel, teach the Bible, plant churches, and make disciples of their own nation and beyond.

Scripture Prayers for the Hide, Xedi in Cameroon.

References

Hdi language - Wikipedia
Hedi of Cameroon (PGID: PG012617) - PeopleGroups.org
Hdi Language (XED) – L1 & L2 Speakers, Status, Map, Endangered Level & Official Use | Ethnologue Free