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The Mbandza of Central African Republic

The Mbandza of Central African Republic, numbering approximately 2,400 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Banda ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the northwestern corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Mbandja is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Central African Republic
People Cluster: Sudanic
Primary Language(s): Mbandja (zmz)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 2,400
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG012892
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Pray for the Mbandza of Central African Republic

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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mbandja
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Mbandja Speakers

Media Resources in Mbandja:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Mbandja:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1997 Société Biblique de la République Démocratique du Congo✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mbandja bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Mbandza are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Mbandza:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Mbandza of Central African Republic

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,' and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
readPsalm 32:5

Pray those who are lost will realize their sin, confess their iniquity, and grow in their understanding of salvation through faith in Christ alone.

...I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
readPsalm 13:5

Ask God to bring many to trust in His unfailing love and cause their hearts to rejoice in His salvation.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
readJohn 14:3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have hope in trials because they know that Jesus will one day take them to be with Him forever.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

Mbanza Across Countries (ROP3 - 106463) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
MbandzaPG012892MbandzaCentral African Republic2,400No Longer UnreachedMbandjaEthnoreligion
MbanzaPG012988MbanzaCongo19,000Unengaged and UnreachedMbandjaProtestantism
MbanjaPG014650MbanjaCongo, Democratic Republic of the744,000Unengaged and UnreachedMbandjaRoman Catholicism

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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