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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Northern Sotho of South Africa

The Northern Sotho of South Africa, numbering approximately 4,270,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group indigenous to South Africa. They are an Indigenous people, in the Bantu, Sotho-Tswana people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Protestantism. They primarily speak Sotho, Northern.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Lara Burchett

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: South Africa
People Cluster: Bantu, Sotho-Tswana
Primary Language(s): Sotho, Northern (nso)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 4,270,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG033365
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Northern Sotho of South Africa

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sotho, Northern
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

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Media Resources in Sotho, Northern:

Films:

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Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Sotho, Northern:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sotho, Northern bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Northern Sotho

The Northern Sotho 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 Northern Sotho

The Northern Sotho 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 Northern Sotho

The Northern Sotho 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 Northern Sotho of South Africa

You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.
readPsalm 65:9

Give thanks for God's provision in nature, and pray that those who don't know Him will recognize His hand, desire to know their Creator, and hear the truth that Jesus is the solution to the world's greatest need.

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
readActs 17:24-25

Pray that the good news will reach everyone in this people group and that many will come to know and serve the one true God who made the world and everything in it and lives today.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
readHebrews 10:23

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will cling tightly to the hope they have in God to faithfully keep His promises.

Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!
readPsalm 105:1

Pray that many among them will call on the name of Jesus, develop a heart for the nations, and go to places where the gospel has not yet been received.

Pedi (ROP3 - 107413) 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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