The Hima of Rwanda

The Hima of Rwanda, numbering approximately 16,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Bantu ethnic group indigenous to the Ankole region of southwestern Uganda They are an Diaspora people, in the Bantu, Central-Lakes people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Neo-Pentecostalism. They primarily speak Nyankore.

Hima in Uganda photo
Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Hima

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Rwanda
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Lakes
Primary Language(s): Nyankore (nyn)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Neo-Pentecostalism
Population: 16,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014881
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Hima of Rwanda

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: Christianity - Neo-Pentecostalism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Neo-Pentec… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nyankore
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

%
Nyankore Speakers

Media Resources in Nyankore:

Films:

Bible Resources in Nyankore:

Or check out the Nyankore bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Hima

The Hima are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Hima

The Hima 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.

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

Next steps for the Hima

The Hima 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Hima of Rwanda

Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me! O LORD, be my helper!
readPsalm 30:10

Pray that people in the depths of despair and suffering and living outside of relationship with Christ will cry out to the Lord and find help, peace, and joy in Him.

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
readRevelation 4:11

Pray that the good news will advance and people will recognize and worship the One who created all things by His will, giving glory and honor to Him alone.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
readPsalm 119:105

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will meditate daily on the Word of God so that, through it, they might have wisdom for the big and small decisions they face every day.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
readJohn 1:12

Pray that believers will have the opportunity to clearly share the good news with the lost here, so that all people can be invited to trust in Jesus and become children of God.

Hima (ROP3 - 103783) 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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