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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Shilluk of United States

The Shilluk of United States, numbering approximately 5,300 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a major Luo Nilotic ethnic group of southern Sudan, living on both banks of the Nile River in Malakal. They mostly adhere to African Traditional Religion and Shilluk is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Shilluk

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: United States
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Shilluk (shk)
Primary Religion(s): African Traditional Religion
Population: 5,300
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046710
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Pray for the Shilluk of United States

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: African Traditional Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

55%
%
African Traditional Relig… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Shilluk
Language Family: Nilotic

100%
%
Shilluk Speakers

Media Resources in Shilluk:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Shilluk:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Bible Society of South Sudan✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Shilluk bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Shilluk 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 Shilluk:
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 Shilluk of United States

He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him
readLuke 10:34

Pray that the lost among them will experience the kind of compassion Jesus taught His followers to show others, and that they will trust in Him because He is the one who brings healing to the broken and lost.

“I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation that was not called by my name."
readIsaiah 65:1

Pray that the lost will be found by God, even when they are not seeking Him. Pray that He will reveal Himself to them in a way they cannot ignore and that they will respond in faith.

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
read1 Peter 3:8

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will live in harmony with one another, showing sympathy, love, compassion, and humility.

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
readEphesians 1:13-14

Pray that God will work through believers near and far in bringing the lost to Himself, giving them what they need to do the task He has set before them, and helping them rest in Him because He has given them His Spirit.

Shilluk Across Countries (ROP3 - 108946) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
ShillukPG042499ShillukSouth Sudan432,000Engaged yet UnreachedShillukAfrican Traditional Religion
ShillukPG046710ShillukUnited States5,300Engaged yet UnreachedShillukAfrican Traditional Religion

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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