The Gumuz of Sudan

The Gumuz of Sudan, numbering approximately 59,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Nilo-Saharan-speaking people of the Blue Nile borderlands who trace their retreat there to displacement by more powerful Amhara and Agaw neighbors, sustaining themselves through shifting cultivation of sorghum. They mostly adhere to Animism and Gumuz is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Sudan
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Gumuz (guk)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 59,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012035
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Gumuz of Sudan

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

70%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gumuz
Language Family: Gumuz

100%
%
Gumuz Speakers

Media Resources in Gumuz:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Gumuz:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2003 Bible Society of Ethiopia✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Gumuz bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Gumuz 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 Gumuz:
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 Gumuz of Sudan

And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many."
readMark 14:23-24

Pray for those who may have heard the gospel but have not yet submitted their lives to Christ, that they will finally see the sacrifice which He made for them and surrender their lives to Him.

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
readActs 17:24-25

Pray that the good news will reach everyone in this people group and that many will come to know and serve the one true God who made the world and everything in it and lives today.

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.
read1 Corinthians 9:19

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have hearts that want to serve the lost around them so that many might come to faith in Jesus.

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
readActs 13:47

Pray that as people come to faith, they will follow the Lord's leading to go to their neighbors and share the treasure they found in Christ.

Gumuz Across Countries (ROP3 - 103562) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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