The Wallega of Sudan

The Wallega of Sudan, numbering approximately 131,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Welega Oromo people primarily of western Ethiopia's former Welega Province with a small population extending across the border into Sudan, historically organized into small Oromo republics under rotating Gadaa chiefs. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and West Central Oromo is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Sudan
People Cluster: Oromo
Primary Language(s): West Central Oromo (gaz)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 131,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012170

Pray for the Wallega 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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

—
%
Sunni Islam 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

Bible Resources in West Central Oromo:

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

1 entry

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

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Wallega 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 Wallega:
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 Wallega of Sudan

Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life"
readJohn 4:13-14

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will drink of the living water that only Christ can provide and never thirst again.

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.
readIsaiah 55:6

Pray that the lost will seek the Lord while He may be found and call upon Him while He is near, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
readLamentations 3:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the goodness of the Lord as they wait on Him to answer their cries for help.

Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
readLuke 10:3

Ask God to raise up and send humble believers who will depend on Him as they go out like lambs among wolves to share the good news with those who need to hear it.

Oromo, Wallega Across Countries (ROP3 - 110644) 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.

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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