The Chonyi Mijikenda of Kenya

The Chonyi Mijikenda of Kenya, numbering approximately 226,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as a tribal subgroup of the Mijikenda, a large Bantu ethnic group inhabiting the coastal region of Kenya They are an Indigenous people, with Chonyi as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Bantu, East-Coastal people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Chichonyi-Chidzihana-Chikauma.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Kenya
People Cluster: Bantu, East-Coastal
Primary Language(s): Chichonyi-Chidzihana-Chikauma (coh)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 226,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG014775
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Chonyi Mijikenda of Kenya

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

68%
%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Chichonyi-Chidzihana-Chikauma
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%

Media Resources in Chichonyi-Chidzihana-Chikauma:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Chichonyi-Chidzihana-Chikauma:

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Or check out the Chichonyi-Chidzihana-Chikauma bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), 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): Moderately Reached People Group, (LPI: 5), 6% to 20% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical (GSEC: 6), this people group is greater than or equal to 10% evangelical

Next steps for the Chonyi Mijikenda:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Chonyi Mijikenda 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 Chonyi Mijikenda:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Chonyi Mijikenda 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 Chonyi Mijikenda:
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 Chonyi Mijikenda of Kenya

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.

Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.
readMatthew 13:8-9

Pray that they will have open hearts and minds to the Word of God, and that it will take root in their lives and bear fruit for His glory.

And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
readZechariah 2:11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have a heart that longs to see all people from all parts of the world worshiping Jesus as He deserves.

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
readMatthew 9:37-38

Pray that the Lord of the harvest will raise up believers to send out into His harvest field, which is ripe and ready.

Chonyi Across Countries (ROP3 - 102185) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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