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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Burji of Kenya

The Burji of Kenya, numbering approximately 31,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an Amharic ethnic group indigenous to Ethiopia, south of Lake Chamo. They are an Diaspora people in the Sidama people cluster of the Horn of Africa Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Burji and their primary religion is Sunni Islam.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Kenya
People Cluster: Sidama
Primary Language(s): Burji (bji)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 31,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014772
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Pray for the Burji of Kenya

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

85%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Burji
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

60%
%
Burji Speakers

Media Resources in Burji:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Burji:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Burji bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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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 Burji:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Burji 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 Burji:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Burji 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 Burji:
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 Burji of Kenya

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
readIsaiah 40:8

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will be freed from the emptiness of fading hopes and find lasting life and truth in the unchanging Word of God.

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
read1 John 4:21

Pray that the good news of God's love will reach everyone in this people group, and that His love will compel them to love others as Christ has loved us.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
readHebrews 12:1-2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the testimony of those who went before them, resist sin, and run with perseverance the race set before them, fixing their eyes on Jesus.

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.
readPsalm 96:4

Pray that God will raise up believers to declare His glory among the lost, so that they may know that He is great and greatly to be praised, that He is exalted above all gods.

Burji Across Countries (ROP3 - 101771) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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