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The Njemps of Kenya

The Njemps of Kenya, numbering approximately 42,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Maa-speaking people of Lake Baringo's south shore, properly called Ilchamus, meaning people who see into the future, with disputed origins traced to either an 18th-century Samburu offshoot or survivors of an Il-Oikop Maasai group defeated by the Ilkapi. They mostly adhere to Animism and Samburu is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Njemps

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Kenya
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Samburu (saq)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 42,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014833

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Pray for the Njemps of Kenya

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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

88%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Samburu
Language Family: Nilotic

100%
%
Samburu Speakers

Media Resources in Samburu:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Samburu:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Bible Translation and Literacy✓✓
2018 Bible Translation & Literacy✓✓✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Samburu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Njemps 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 Njemps:
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 Njemps of Kenya

For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.
readPsalm 130:7b

Pray for those who are unaware of God's steadfast love that is offered to them through Jesus Christ to learn the truth and experience His plentiful redemption.

And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
readActs 6:7

Pray that the Word of God will be increasingly available to these people in ways they will resonate with so that all may have a chance to respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.
readEphesians 2:4-5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember God's mercy and grace and experience joy as they walk in new life with Christ.

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.

Njemps Across Countries (ROP3 - 102006) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
NjempsPG014833NjempsKenya42,500Engaged yet UnreachedSamburuAnimism

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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