People group profile · PG015031
The Safwa of Tanzania
The Safwa of Tanzania, numbering about 458,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Bantu ethnolinguistic people of southwestern Tanzania, best known as highland farmers living in and around the Mbeya Region.
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 Safwa.
Fast facts
- Country
- Tanzania
- Population
- 458,000
- Affinity group
- Sub-Saharan African Peoples
- People cluster
- Bantu, Central-Tanzania
- Primary language
- Safwa (sbk)
- 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
- Marginally Reached People Group
- Region
- Eastern Africa, Africa
- Location
- Mbeya region: Chunya, Mbeya rural, and Mbeya urban, and Mbozi districts, Mbeya and Poroto mountain ranges; Iringa region border area, north of Lake Malawi
Where they live
Gospel status
The Safwa 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 Safwa
- 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
78% adherents
Primary language
Safwa · Atlantic-Congo family
95% speak Safwa
Gospel resources in Safwa
- Bible available, published 2023
- JESUS Film 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 Safwa
- Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
- 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.
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