The Bodi of Ethiopia

The Bodi of Ethiopia, numbering approximately 11,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnic group of southwestern Ethiopia, living primarily in the South Omo and Bench-Maji areas near the Omo River. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Me'en is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Ethiopia
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Me'en (mym)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 11,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG011556
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Bodi 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

90%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Me'en
Language Family: Surmic

85%
%
Me’en Speakers

Media Resources in Me'en:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Me'en:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2020 Kale Hiwot Church and BS Ethiopia✓

1 entry

Or check out the Me'en bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Bodi 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 Bodi:
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 Bodi of Ethiopia

As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God".
readRomans 3:10-11

Pray that God will have mercy on those living in broken relationship with Him, and that He will bring many to surrender and repentance at the throne of grace.

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.
readActs 13:48-49

Pray that the gospel will spread throughout this whole region and that many will believe and embrace the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples."
readJohn 8:31

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Christ daily, depending on Him for every need.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
readPsalm 51:2

Pray that God will raise up believers to go and share the gospel with those in this people group who need to be washed of their iniquity and cleansed from their sins.

Bodi Across Countries (ROP3 - 106524) 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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