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The Tulema of Ethiopia

The Tulema of Ethiopia, numbering approximately 10,020,000 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: 10,020,000
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.

Pray Now!
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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

"For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." Those who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?" But he said "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:25-27

Pray that the lost who think they have everything they need will recognize their spiritual poverty apart from Jesus and turn to Him in faith.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
readIsaiah 40:8

Pray that everyone has access to God's Word and that those who hear the good news will turn from their sins and put their faith in Jesus the Messiah.

And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
readActs 16:15

Pray that God will bring entire families and households to faith in Him and raise up servant-leaders from among them.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
readJohn 12:24

Pray that God will raise up men and women who are willing to die to their own desires, bearing much fruit for the kingdom among individuals and in places where His gospel has not been proclaimed.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
OromoPG047402OromoCanada3,700Engaged yet UnreachedEastern OromoSunni Islam
TulemaPG011651TulemaEthiopia10,020,000Engaged yet UnreachedWest Central OromoTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
TulamaPG011514TulamaEgypt4,400Engaged yet UnreachedWest Central 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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