People group profile · PG014913
The Bondei of Tanzania
The Bondei of Tanzania, numbering about 201,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Bantu people of the coastal plains between Tanzania's Usambara Mountains and the Indian Ocean, named people of the valley by the conquering Kilindi dynasty of the Shambaa Kingdom around 1800, and long resentful of Kilindi rule.
They are an indigenous people in the Bantu, East-Coastal people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam, and they primarily speak Bondei.
Fast facts
- Country
- Tanzania
- Population
- 201,000
- Affinity group
- Sub-Saharan African Peoples
- People cluster
- Bantu, East-Coastal
- Primary language
- Bondei (bou)
- Primary religion
- Sunni Islam
- Strategic Progress Index
- Engaged yet Unreached
- Evangelical
- Less than 2%
- GSEC
- Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
- Lostness priority
- Frontier Unreached People Group
- Region
- Eastern Africa, Africa
- Location
- Tanga region: Usambara mountains, inland from Tanga
Where they live
Gospel status
The Bondei are Engaged yet Unreached, which means fewer than 2% are evangelical Christians, but there are sustained efforts to establish self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. In GSEC terms, this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years.
- Congregations exist Yes
- Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted
Next steps for the Bondei
- Continue prayer and fasting for this group
- Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
- Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people
Primary religion
Sunni Islam · Islam
58% adherents
Primary language
Bondei · Atlantic-Congo family
58% speak Bondei
Gospel resources in Bondei
- Bible available, published 1895
- JESUS Film not available
- Radio programs not available
- Gospel recordings available
- Audio resources available
- Bible stories not available
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Bondei
- John 17:3. Pray that many will come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
- Psalm 27:1. Pray that new believers will be strengthened in the face of persecution, with the Lord as their stronghold.
- Romans 12:4–5. Pray that believers from many cultures will work together as one body so that the church is built up.
- Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
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