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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Luo of Kenya

The Luo of Kenya, numbering approximately 5,745,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Western-Nilotic speaking ethnolinguistic group indigenous to western Kenya and northern Tanzania and can also be known as 'Nilotic kavirondo', Luo, 'Kavirondo Luo'. They are an Indigenous people, in the Nilotic people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Protestantism. They primarily speak Dholuo.

Luo in Kenya photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Kerry Oslon Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-saharan Africa Peoples
Country: Kenya
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Dholuo (luo)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Protestantism
Population: 5,745,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG014817
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Luo of Kenya

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Protestant… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Dholuo
Language Family: Nilo-Saharan

%
Dholuo Speakers

Media Resources in Dholuo:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Dholuo:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Dholuo bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Luo

The Luo are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Luo

The Luo 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.

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

Next steps for the Luo

The Luo 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Luo of Kenya

For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
readPsalm 97:9

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will recognize the Lord as the Most High and turn from spiritual darkness to worship Him above all else.

So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them
readMatthew 4:24

Pray that the truth about the Lord will spread throughout the land so that many will have an opportunity to receive the good news and put their faith in Him.

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.
readDeuteronomy 7:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will know God's faithful love and keep His commandments, experiencing His steadfast care.

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that God who is in heaven will place believers in the lives of people who need to encounter the gospel and that He will reveal to them the truth of what they hear.

Dholuo (ROP3 - 115030) 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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