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The Tulema of Ethiopia

The Tulema of Ethiopia, numbering approximately 10,010,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community indigenous to the Ethiopian state of Oromia. They mostly adhere to Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity and West Central Oromo is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Ethiopia
People Cluster: Oromo
Primary Language(s): West Central Oromo (gaz)
Primary Religion(s): Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity
Population: 10,010,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011651
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Pray for the Tulema 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

70%
%
Tewahedo Orthodox Christi… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: West Central Oromo
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Oromo, West Central Speakers

Media Resources in West Central Oromo:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in West Central Oromo:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1993 Bible Society of Ethiopia✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the West Central Oromo bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Tulema 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 Tulema:
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 Tulema of Ethiopia

While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
readLuke 9:42

Pray that those who are living outside of the hope of the gospel will know and trust that Jesus offers freedom from the oppression of sin and hope in eternal life.

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
read1 John 4:21

Pray that the good news of God's love will reach everyone in this people group, and that His love will compel them to love others as Christ has loved us.

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
readRomans 6:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, God will lead those who might hesitate in getting baptized to trust Him as they obey His command, even when obedience is hard.

At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ...that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
readColossians 4:3-4

Ask God to open doors for believers to share the gospel and help them communicate it clearly so that more people will understand the mystery of Christ and turn to follow Him.

Oromo, Tulama Across Countries (ROP3 - 110261) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
TulamaPG011514TulamaEgypt4,400Engaged yet UnreachedWest Central OromoSunni Islam
TulemaPG011651TulemaEthiopia10,010,000Engaged yet UnreachedWest Central OromoTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
OromoPG047402OromoCanada3,700Engaged yet UnreachedEastern OromoSunni Islam

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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