Borana of Ethiopia (PGID: PG011558)

The Borana of Ethiopia

The Borana of Ethiopia, numbering approximately 978,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Cushitic Oromo people of Ethiopia's Borena Zone and northern Kenya practicing the uninterrupted Gadaa governance system, which selects nine leaders every eight years and drove their 12th-15th century territorial expansion. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Ethiopia
People Cluster: Oromo
Primary Language(s): Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo (gax)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 978,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG011558
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Pray for the Borana of Ethiopia

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

90%

Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%

Oromo, Borana-Arsi-Guji Speakers

Media Resources in Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo:

Films:

Title	Link
JESUS	View Film
JESUS	View Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo:

Bible Name (Translation)	Video	Audio	Text
1994 Bible Society of Kenya		✓
2007 Bible Society of Ethiopia		✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Borana 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 Borana:

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 Borana of Ethiopia

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
Luke 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.

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
Psalm 127:3

Pray that God will bless this generation of children, that they will come to know Jesus early in life and follow Him always.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.
Hebrews 10:26

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will live with reverence for God and not deliberately keep sinning after they receive the knowledge of the truth.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
1 Corinthians 15:10–11

Pray that God's people will preach the message of Jesus' death and resurrection and that it will spread among the lost through the selfless witness of believers.

Borana Across Countries (ROP3 - 101615) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

Engaged yet Unreached UUPG No Longer Unreached

CountryReligion

2 people groups

Photo	People Group ID ▼	Name	Country	Population	Strategic Progress Index	Language	Religion
	PG014769	Borana	Kenya	215,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo	Sunni Islam
	PG011558	Borana	Ethiopia	978,000	No Longer Unreached	Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo	Sunni Islam

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