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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Teso of Uganda

The Teso of Uganda, numbering approximately 3,075,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Uganda. They are an Indigenous people in the Nilotic people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Ateso and their primary religion is Neo-Pentecostalism.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Uganda
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Ateso (teo)
Primary Religion(s): Neo-Pentecostalism
Population: 3,075,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015143
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Pray for the Teso of Uganda

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: Neo-Pentecostalism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Neo-Pentecostalism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Ateso
Language Family: Nilotic

85%
%
Ateso Speakers

Media Resources in Ateso:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Ateso:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Ateso bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), 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): Expanding Unreached People Group, (LPI: 2), 0.5% to 2% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Teso:
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 Teso 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 Teso:
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 Teso 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 Teso:
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 Teso of Uganda

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
readMatthew 11:28

Pray for those who are tired, weary, and burdened by the weight of sin to encounter Jesus and experience the rest that only He can give.

All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.
readPsalm 66:4

Pray that the good news of Jesus will advance here and that many will bow down and sing praises to His name.

And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Him and have assurance that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will patiently endure hardships as they share the gospel, knowing that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise.

Teso Across Countries (ROP3 - 109975) 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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