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The Kafa of Ethiopia

The Kafa of Ethiopia, numbering approximately 1,430,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnic group indigenous to the forested highlands of southwestern Ethiopia, primarily in the Kaffa Zone around the town of Bonga. They are best known historically as the people of the former Kingdom of Kaffa. They mostly adhere to Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity and Kafa is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Ethiopia
People Cluster: Omotic
Primary Language(s): Kafa (kbr)
Primary Religion(s): Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity
Population: 1,430,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011601
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Pray for the Kafa 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: Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

45%
%
Tewahedo Orthodox Christi… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kafa
Language Family: Ta-Ne-Omotic

94%
%
Kafa Speakers

Media Resources in Kafa:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Kafa:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2010 SIM✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Kafa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kafa 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 Kafa:
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 Kafa of Ethiopia

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.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
readPsalm 119:105

Pray that they will receive the Word of God as a lamp to their feet and commit their ways to Him.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
readRomans 8:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the God who has given them freedom from fear so that they will trust Him completely as their good Father who meets all their needs.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
read2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will be faithful as they walk through trials and will have an opportunity to be a witness to others in this people group of the goodness of God.

Kafa Across Countries (ROP3 - 104390) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
KafaPG011601KafaEthiopia1,430,000Engaged yet UnreachedKafaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity

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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