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The Lese of Congo, Democratic Republic of the

The Lese of Congo, Democratic Republic of the, numbering approximately 147,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Central Sudanic farming people of northeastern DRC's Ituri Forest whose village communities maintain a long-standing exchange relationship with neighboring Efe forest foragers. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Lese is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Congo, Democratic Republic of the
People Cluster: Pygmy
Primary Language(s): Lese (les)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 147,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014612
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Pray for the Lese of Congo, Democratic Republic of the

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

45%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lese
Language Family: Central Sudanic

100%
%
Lese Speakers

Media Resources in Lese:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Lese:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Lese 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 Lese:
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 Lese of Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
readJames 2:5

Pray for those living in despair to experience the riches of God's love and the hope of eternal life through faith in Christ.

There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
readPsalm 19:3

Pray that God will lead them to His Word, and where it is not available, ask that He will raise up those who will produce gospel media in their heart language.

And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
readActs 16:15

Pray that God will bring entire families and households to faith in Him and raise up servant-leaders from among them.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
readHebrews 4:12

Pray that God will make His living and active Word available to everyone in this people group so that many will respond to the gospel. Ask Him to provide Jesus-followers to walk with new believers as they grow in Him.

Lese Across Countries (ROP3 - 105727) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▲CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
LesePG014612LeseCongo, Democratic Republic of the147,000Engaged yet UnreachedLeseEthnoreligion

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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