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The Kabende of Zambia

The Kabende of Zambia, numbering approximately 70,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Bemba-related people of northwestern Zambia whose communities developed within the wider cultural networks linking Zambia, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo while maintaining a distinct Kabende identity. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Bemba (Zambia) is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Zambia
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-South
Primary Language(s): Bemba (Zambia) (bem)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 70,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015581
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Pray for the Kabende of Zambia

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: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kabende 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 Kabende:
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 Kabende of Zambia

For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.
readEphesians 5:8

Pray that those who are lost will turn from the darkness they are walking in and embrace the light, becoming children of light who bear fruit in every good work.

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
readGenesis 2:7

Pray that Christians will be able to share the hope of Christ with suffering people and that He will breathe new life into their souls.

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
readColossians 4:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, their speech will always be gracious and ready to answer for the hope which is within them.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
readLuke 10:1

Ask God to raise up, send out, and sustain Christians who can go together to share the good news of Jesus with those who need it.

Kabende Across Countries (ROP3 - 104353) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
KabendePG015581KabendeZambia70,500Engaged yet 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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