The Bemba of Tanzania

The Bemba of Tanzania, numbering approximately 82,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a prominent Bantu ethnic group of Zambia. They are an Diaspora people, in the Bantu, Central-South people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Bemba.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Tanzania
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-South
Primary Language(s): Bemba (bem)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 82,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG014910
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Bemba of Tanzania

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bemba
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

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Media Resources in Bemba:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Bemba:

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Or check out the Bemba bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Bemba

The Bemba 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 Bemba

The Bemba 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 Bemba

The Bemba 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 Bemba of Tanzania

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
readPsalm 19:1

Pray that those who are lost will look to the heavens and see the glory of God displayed, leading them to seek Him and know Him as their Creator and Savior.

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
readIsaiah 30:21

As the lost in this people group seek to know the truth of who God is, pray that the Spirit of God will draw them to Himself and guide them in the way they should go.

Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
readPsalm 51:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have confidence that God has turned His face from their sins and forgiven their iniquities.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
readJames 5:16

Pray that believers whom God sends will confess their sins, pray for one another, and live in unity. Ask that they will model healthy Christian relationships for this people group.

Bemba (ROP3 - 101243) 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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