The Congolese of United States

The Congolese of United States, numbering approximately 38,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a diverse collection of peoples native to the Congo Basin, whose cultures reflect centuries of interaction among riverine, forest, savanna, and urban communities. They are characterized by extensive linguistic diversity and strong kinship networks. They mostly adhere to Neo-Pentecostalism and Lingala is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Congolese

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: United States
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Congo
Primary Language(s): Lingala (lin)
Primary Religion(s): Neo-Pentecostalism
Population: 38,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG047246
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Congolese 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Neo-Pentecostalism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Neo-Pentecostalism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lingala
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Lingala Speakers

Media Resources in Lingala:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Lingala:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1982 Boyokant Ya Sika✓

1 entry

Or check out the Lingala bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Congolese 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 Congolese:
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 Congolese of United States

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
readPsalm 51:17

Pray that those who want to achieve salvation through their works will be unsettled in their pursuit and that, with a broken spirit and contrite heart, they will trust in Christ.

Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
readPsalm 96:2

Pray that gospel resources will reach this generation so that they will receive the good news and sing to the LORD, bless His name, and tell of His salvation each day.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
readPhilippians 2:5-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will imitate His humility in all they do.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
readActs 1:8

Pray that God will raise up believers who are willing to cross cultures and boldly share the good news of Jesus with the lost in this people group and from every nation.

Lingala Across Countries (ROP3 - 105785) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
LingalaLingalaCongo, Democratic Republic of the4,310,000No Longer UnreachedLingalaRoman Catholicism
LingalaLingalaAngola200,000Engaged yet UnreachedLingalaEthnoreligion
LingalaLingalaCongo189,000Engaged yet UnreachedLingalaProtestantism
LingalaLingalaSouth Sudan49,500Unengaged and UnreachedLingalaSunni Islam
CongoleseCongoleseUnited States38,000No Longer UnreachedLingalaNeo-Pentecostalism
CongoleseCongoleseUganda27,500No Longer UnreachedLingalaNeo-Pentecostalism
LingalaLingalaCentral African Republic19,000Engaged yet UnreachedLingalaProtestantism
CongoleseCongoleseBelgium15,500No Longer UnreachedLingalaRoman Catholicism
LingalaLingalaCanada3,500No Longer UnreachedLingalaProtestantism

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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