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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Bench of Ethiopia

The Bench of Ethiopia, numbering approximately 583,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Northern Omotic-speaking agricultural people indigenous to southwestern Ethiopia whose culture is rooted in the Bench Maji highlands, whose language is Bench (Bencnon), and whose contemporary religious landscape is predominantly Protestant Christian. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Bench is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Ethiopia
People Cluster: Omotic
Primary Language(s): Bench (bcq)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 583,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG011554
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Pray for the Bench of Ethiopia

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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

65%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bench
Language Family: Ta-Ne-Omotic

70%
%
Bench Speakers

Media Resources in Bench:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Bench:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1990 Bible Society of Ethiopia✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Bench bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Bench 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 Bench:
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 Bench of Ethiopia

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
readPsalm 9:9-10

Pray that God will help those who are oppressed and without hope to hear the good news of Jesus and trust in Him, for He has never forsaken those who seek Him.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
readIsaiah 40:8

Pray that everyone has access to God's Word and that those who hear the good news will turn from their sins and put their faith in Jesus the Messiah.

Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!
readPsalm 105:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and may feel weak in their current circumstances, they will seek the Lord's presence and persevere in the Lord's strength.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
readActs 1:8

Pray that God will raise up believers who are willing to cross cultures and boldly share the good news of Jesus with the lost in this people group and from every nation.

Bench Across Countries (ROP3 - 103375) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▼LanguageReligion
BenchPG011554BenchEthiopia583,000No Longer UnreachedBenchProtestantism

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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