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The Ngoni of Malawi

The Ngoni of Malawi, numbering approximately 319,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Nguni-derived ethnolinguistic people of Malawi descended from nineteenth-century migrants from southern Africa who maintain a distinct cultural identity shaped by Ngoni traditions and the integration of local communities. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Tumbuka is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Malawi
People Cluster: Bantu, Nguni
Primary Language(s): Tumbuka (tum)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 319,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG033373
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Pray for the Ngoni of Malawi

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

98%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tumbuka
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

98%
%
Tumbuka Speakers

Media Resources in Tumbuka:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tumbuka:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2002 Bible Society of Malawi✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tumbuka bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Ngoni 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 Ngoni:
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 Ngoni of Malawi

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.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
readJohn 14:6

Pray that those who are searching for a way to God and desiring truth will encounter the good news of eternal life and accept it.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
readJames 1:2-3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will consider it pure joy when they face trials of many kinds, trusting in God's promise that the testing of their faith produces perseverance.

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.
readEphesians 6:18b-19

Ask God to give believers He sends to the lost of this people group the boldness and clarity to proclaim the mystery of the gospel in a way that people can understand.

Ngoni, Malawi Across Countries (ROP3 - 118034) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
NgoniPG033373NgoniMalawi319,000Engaged yet UnreachedTumbukaEthnoreligion

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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