The Lima of Zambia

The Lima of Zambia, numbering approximately 63,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a Bantu-speaking subgroup of the Lamba people of Zambia's Copperbelt and central regions who share a common Lamba heritage while maintaining a distinct Lima dialect identity They are an Indigenous people, with Lima as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Bantu, Central-South people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Lamba.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Zambia
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-South
Primary Language(s): Lamba (lam)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 63,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015592
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Lima of Zambia

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

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lamba
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Lamba Speakers

Media Resources in Lamba:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Lamba:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1959 Bible Society of Zambia✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Lamba bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Lima are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Lima:
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

Pray specifically for the Lima of Zambia

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or?rulers?or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
readColossians 1:16

Pray for those who are lost among them, that they will come to know the One who created all things and holds all things together.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
readLuke 2:17

Pray that the lost will receive the good news of salvation in God's Son, have hearts eager to share it with others, and that all who hear will respond with wonder and faith!

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
readActs 4:31

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak God's Word with boldness, sharing the love of Jesus with those around them.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that God will send and sustain believers to cross cultures and share the gospel with the lost. Ask that He will give them His heart for the lost and that many will believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life.

Lima Across Countries (ROP3 - 113921) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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