The Kisi of Tanzania

The Kisi of Tanzania, numbering approximately 37,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Bantu people of Lake Malawi's northwestern shore in Tanzania, sustained by an Iron Age pottery tradition traded inland to the Sangu for cattle, alongside fishing and canoe ferrying, before adopting Nyakyusa as a second language around 1900. They mostly adhere to Animism and Kisi is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Tanzania
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Tanzania
Primary Language(s): Kisi (kiz)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 37,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014965
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Kisi of Tanzania

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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

54%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kisi
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

75%
%
Kisi Speakers

Media Resources in Kisi:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Kisi:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Kisi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kisi 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 Kisi:
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

Pray specifically for the Kisi of Tanzania

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
readProverbs 8:17

As many search for hope, pray they will discover materials that will lead them to Jesus and explain the gospel in a way they will resonate with.

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.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
readActs 2:42

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will devote themselves to God's Word, to fellowship with each other, and to prayer.

He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.
readJohn 1:7

Pray that God will raise up witnesses to testify about Jesus so that all might believe, knowing that He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.

Kisi Across Countries (ROP3 - 105049) 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.

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