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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Meru of Tanzania

The Meru of Tanzania, numbering approximately 273,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a people of Tanzania, Arusha region, Mt They are an Indigenous people, with Meru as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Bantu, Gikuyu-Kamba people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Protestantism. They primarily speak Rwa.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Tanzania
People Cluster: Bantu, Gikuyu-Kamba
Primary Language(s): Rwa (rwk)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 273,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014993
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Pray for the Meru 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

70%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Rwa
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

70%
%
Rwa Speakers

Media Resources in Rwa:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Rwa:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Rwa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Meru 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 Meru:
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 Meru of Tanzania

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 those who haven't heard will hear the Word of Christ and believe in Him, calling upon the name of the Lord to be saved.

Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the LORD; exult before him!
readPsalm 68:4

Pray that many will come to faith in Christ and share the gospel with others so that His salvation will be known among all nations.

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
readMatthew 28:18-20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have confidence because Jesus has all authority and is with them as they make disciples and teach others about Him.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
readEphesians 6:11

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will put on the full armor of God so that they will be able to stand against the schemes of the enemy.

Meru, Rwo Across Countries (ROP3 - 106562) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
MeruPG014993MeruTanzania273,000Engaged yet UnreachedRwaProtestantism

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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