The Ngonde of Malawi

The Ngonde of Malawi, numbering approximately 194,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as a Malawian people distinguishing commoner ancestors, remembered as Rift Valley hunters, from chiefly ancestors who arrived ten generations ago with cattle and ironworking, settling the Songwe-Rukuru area under a paramount chief called the Kyungu They are an Indigenous people, with Nyakyusa as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Bantu, Central-Tanzania people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Nyakyusa-Ngonde.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Ngonde

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Malawi
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Tanzania
Primary Language(s): Nyakyusa-Ngonde (nyy)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 194,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015330
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Ngonde of Malawi

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

85%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nyakyusa-Ngonde
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Nyakyusa-Ngonde Speakers

Media Resources in Nyakyusa-Ngonde:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Nyakyusa-Ngonde:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1995 Bible Society of Tanzania✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Nyakyusa-Ngonde bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Ngonde are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Ngonde:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Ngonde of Malawi

Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
readProverbs 30:5

Pray that those who don't yet know God will trust the flawless Word of God and seek refuge in Him, finding hope and salvation instead of remaining in spiritual darkness.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
readPsalm 34:8

Pray that the gospel will advance and that many will have the opportunity to taste and see the goodness of God and entrust their lives to Him.

For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
read2 Thessalonians 3:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will persevere according to God's command, walk in faith, and be strong so that they can resist the evil one’s deception.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will patiently endure hardships as they share the gospel, knowing that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise.

Nyakyusa, Ngonde Across Countries (ROP3 - 107530) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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