The Sukuma of Tanzania

The Sukuma of Tanzania, numbering approximately 11,200,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Tanzania. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Sukuma is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Tanzania
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Tanzania
Primary Language(s): Sukuma (suk)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 11,200,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015045
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Sukuma 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: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

38%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sukuma
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Sukuma Speakers

Media Resources in Sukuma:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Sukuma:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Common Language Version✓

1 entry

Or check out the Sukuma bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Sukuma 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 Sukuma:
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 Sukuma of Tanzania

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
readIsaiah 59:2

Pray that those who are separated from God will turn to Him in humility and repentance, seeking His forgiveness and the restoration of a right relationship with their Heavenly Father.

"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."
readIsaiah 1:18

Pray that God will make a way for the gospel to reach many through means they can understand and access, that they will receive the good news with joy, and that they will experience complete forgiveness and cleansing from their sin that Jesus offers through His sacrifice.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
readColossians 2:6-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be rooted and built up in Him, abounding in thanksgiving for the grace and mercy He has shown them.

He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.
readJohn 1:7

Pray that God will raise up witnesses to testify about Jesus so that all might believe, knowing that He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.

Sukuma Across Countries (ROP3 - 109589) 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.

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