The Hima of Burundi

The Hima of Burundi, numbering approximately 16,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Bantu ethnic group indigenous to the Ankole region of southwestern Uganda. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Nyankole is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Burundi
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Lakes
Primary Language(s): Nyankole (nyn)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 16,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014467

Pray for the Hima of Burundi

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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nyankole
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Nyankore Speakers

Media Resources in Nyankole:

Films:
Title Link
JESUS View Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Nyankole:

Bible Name (Translation) Video Audio Text
1989 Bible Society of Uganda ✓ ✓ ✓

1 entry

Or check out the Nyankole bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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 Hima:
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 Hima of Burundi

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
readRomans 8:1

Pray that God will reassure those who may be struggling with the cost of following Jesus that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
readPsalm 57:10

Pray that God will work, even in the hearts of hard-to-reach people, and that they will rejoice in His steadfast love and faithfulness.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
readPsalm 42:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will thirst for God and be satisfied when they abide in Him.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
read2 Corinthians 5:20

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will be His ambassadors, faithfully imploring people on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God through Jesus.

Hima Across Countries (ROP3 - 103783) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

5 people groups

Photo People Group ID Name Country Population ▲ Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Hima Hima Congo, Democratic Republic of the 5,400 Engaged yet Unreached Nyankole Roman Catholicism
Hima Hima Tanzania 14,000 No Longer Unreached Nyankole Roman Catholicism
Hima Hima Burundi 16,000 Unengaged and Unreached Nyankole Ethnoreligion
Hima Hima Rwanda 16,000 Engaged yet Unreached Nyankole Neo-Pentecostalism
Hima Hima Uganda 441,000 Unengaged and Unreached Nyankole Ethnoreligion

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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