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The Tembo-Motembo of Congo, Democratic Republic of the

The Tembo-Motembo of Congo, Democratic Republic of the, numbering approximately 17,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Indigenous Bantu ethnolinguistic community of the northwestern DRC whose Tembo language, also called Motembo, belongs to the wider Motembo-Kunda linguistic grouping. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Tembo (Motembo) is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Congo, Democratic Republic of the
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Congo
Primary Language(s): Tembo (Motembo) (tmv)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 17,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014738
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Pray for the Tembo-Motembo 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

91%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tembo (Motembo)
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Tembo (DRC, Equateur province) Speakers

Media Resources in Tembo (Motembo):

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Tembo (Motembo):

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tembo (Motembo) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Tembo-Motembo 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 Tembo-Motembo:
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 Tembo-Motembo of Congo, Democratic Republic of the

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
readMatthew 5:16

Pray that those who are deceived about what brings peace will not settle for any lies they’ve heard about God and will diligently seek Him and be satisfied when they learn the truth about who He is and what He’s done.

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
readLuke 5:27-28

Prat that God will prepare many hearts to meet Him when He says, “Follow Me!” and that they will respond in faith, leaving everything behind to follow Him.

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
readIsaiah 49:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and suffer for their faith, they will sing for joy and be glad in their hearts because the Lord has compassion on them.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
readRomans 1:16

Pray that God will raise up sons and daughters who, like Paul, will be bold to share the gospel across cultural barriers so that many might receive salvation.

Tembo, Motembo Across Countries (ROP3 - 115387) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▲LanguageReligion
Tembo-MotemboPG014738Tembo-MotemboCongo, Democratic Republic of the17,000Engaged yet UnreachedTembo (Motembo)Roman 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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