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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Bemba of Zimbabwe

The Bemba of Zimbabwe, numbering approximately 33,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a prominent Bantu ethnic group of Zambia. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Bemba (Zambia) is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Zimbabwe
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-South
Primary Language(s): Bemba (Zambia) (bem)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 33,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015648
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Pray for the Bemba of Zimbabwe

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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bemba (Zambia)
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Bemba Speakers

Media Resources in Bemba (Zambia):

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Bemba (Zambia):

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1956 Icipingo Cipya✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Bemba (Zambia) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Bemba 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 Bemba:
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 Bemba of Zimbabwe

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
readEphesians 2:8-9

Pray that the lost among them will receive the gift of salvation by grace through faith, not by works, and be created for good works.

“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.

Sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth.
readJohn 17:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will experience freedom from sin as God sanctifies them in the truth of His Word.

Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!"
readIsaiah 40:9

Pray for God to send and sustain believers to go and herald the good news to the lost here.

Bemba Across Countries (ROP3 - 101243) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
BembaPG014499BembaCongo, Democratic Republic of the713,000No Longer UnreachedBemba (Zambia)Roman Catholicism
BembaPG014910BembaTanzania83,000No Longer UnreachedBemba (Zambia)Ethnoreligion
BembaPG015567BembaZambia4,695,000Engaged yet UnreachedBemba (Zambia)Ethnoreligion
BembaPG015648BembaZimbabwe33,500No Longer UnreachedBemba (Zambia)Ethnoreligion

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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