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The Gosha of Somalia

The Gosha of Somalia, numbering approximately 70,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Buntu ethnic minority group indigenous to the Shebelle and Jubba River valleys of southern Somalia. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Maay is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Somalia
People Cluster: Bantu, Swahili
Primary Language(s): Maay (ymm)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 70,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011943
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Pray for the Gosha of Somalia

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

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Maay
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Maay Speakers

Media Resources in Maay:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Maay:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Maay bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Gosha:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Gosha of Somalia

"...And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
readLuke 8:8

Pray that the seeds of truth will take root in the hearts of those who are far from Jesus and that He will lead them from darkness to light.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
readMatthew 13: 45-46

Pray that they will recognize the treasure of knowing Christ Jesus and be willing to give up everything else to gain Him.

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.
readColossians 4:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be wise in the way they walk with the lost and manage their time and other resources in a way that honors God.

And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."
readMatthew 25:40

Ask God to raise up and send believers who will serve "the least of these" with compassion and energy because they know that in serving those in need, they are serving Christ.

Somali Bantu Across Countries (ROP3 - 103458) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Somali BantusPG050496Somali BantusCanada6,400Engaged yet UnreachedMaaySunni Islam
Somali BantusPG050352Somali BantusUnited States10,500Engaged yet UnreachedMaaySunni Islam
GoshaPG011943GoshaSomalia70,500Unengaged and UnreachedMaaySunni 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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