People group profile · PG015016
The Nyiha of Tanzania
The Nyiha of Tanzania, numbering about 887,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Bantu people spanning the Tanzania-Zambia-Malawi border near Lakes Nyasa, Rukwa and Tanganyika, historically organized into a dozen unrelated chiefdoms and decimated by 19th-century slave raiding before colonial rule restored their homeland.
They are an indigenous people in the Bantu, Central-Tanzania people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Animism, and they primarily speak Nyiha (Tanzania).
Fast facts
- Country
- Tanzania
- Population
- 887,000
- Affinity group
- Sub-Saharan African Peoples
- People cluster
- Bantu, Central-Tanzania
- Primary language
- Nyiha (Tanzania) (nih)
- Primary religion
- Animism
- Strategic Progress Index
- No Longer Unreached
- Evangelical
- 2% or Greater but Less than 5%
- GSEC
- 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
- Lostness priority
- Minimally Reached People Group
- Region
- Eastern Africa, Africa
- Location
- Songwe region: Mbozi district, Lake Rukwa south and west
Where they live
Gospel status
The Nyiha are No Longer Unreached, which means 2% or more are evangelical Christians. In GSEC terms, this people group is greater than or equal to 2% evangelical.
- Congregations exist Yes
- Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted
Next steps for the Nyiha
- Pray for the churches among this group to grow in faithfulness and maturity
- Equip believers to reach the unreached peoples around them
- Send out laborers from this people to the nations
Primary religion
Animism · Ethnoreligion
60% adherents
Primary language
Nyiha (Tanzania) · Atlantic-Congo family
100% speak Nyiha (Tanzania)
Gospel resources in Nyiha (Tanzania)
- Bible available, published 2022
- JESUS Film available
- Radio programs not available
- Gospel recordings available
- Audio resources available
- Bible stories not available
Films
- JESUS (Ishinyiha)
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Nyiha
- Ephesians 5:8. Pray that those walking in darkness will turn to the light and live as children of light.
- Romans 10:14–15. Ask God to send messengers, so that people can hear, believe and call on the name of the Lord.
- Matthew 9:37–38. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest field.
- 2 Timothy 2:2. Pray for faithful local leaders who will teach others, so that the church multiplies.
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