The Donyiro of Ethiopia

The Donyiro of Ethiopia, numbering approximately 41,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are described as an agro-pastoral people of the Lower Omo region of southwestern Ethiopia and neighboring South Sudan. They are part of the broader Ateker (Karimojong) cultural and linguistic cluster and traditionally combine cattle herding with riverine cultivation They are an Indigenous people, with Donyiro, Nyangatom as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Nilotic people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Nyangatom is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Donyiro

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Ethiopia
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Nyangatom (nnj)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 41,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG042719
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Donyiro of Ethiopia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

60%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nyangatom
Language Family: Nilotic

100%
%
Nyangatom Speakers

Media Resources in Nyangatom:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Nyangatom:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Nyangatom bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), 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

Next steps for the Donyiro:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Donyiro of Ethiopia

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
readPsalm 51:1

Give thanks to God that He is able to forgive all the sins people might commit, and pray that many who don't yet know this will hear the good news and turn to Him for mercy.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
readPsalm 67:3

Pray that God will be working in people's hearts, give them opportunities to receive the gospel, and bring many to faith in Himself.

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
readPsalm 32:7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that God is their hiding place and that He will preserve them in the midst of trials.

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.

Donyiro Across Countries (ROP3 - 102710) 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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