The Malila of Tanzania

The Malila of Tanzania, numbering approximately 129,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Tanzania. They mostly adhere to Animism and Malila is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Tanzania
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Tanzania
Primary Language(s): Malila (mgq)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 129,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG014981
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Malila 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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

85%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Malila
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Malila Speakers

Media Resources in Malila:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Malila:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc.✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Malila bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Malila 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 Malila:
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 Malila of Tanzania

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
read1 Timothy 6:9

Pray for those, rich and poor, who have put their trust in worldly things, and ask that they will be honest with themselves, acknowledge their need for God and turn to Him.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
readRomans 10:14

Pray that the gospel will advance among those who don’t know the good news of salvation in Jesus so that they might believe and trust in Jesus.

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.
readColossians 4:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be wise in the way they walk with the lost and manage their time and other resources in a way that honors God.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
readEphesians 6:12

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures the discernment they need to recognize the spiritual battle they are fighting. Pray God will protect their faith as they abide in Him.

Malila Across Countries (ROP3 - 106180) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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