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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Wasi of Tanzania

The Wasi of Tanzania, numbering approximately 64,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Tanzania. They are an Indigenous people, in the Rift people cluster of the Horn of Africa Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Folk Islam. They primarily speak Alagwa.

Wasi in Tanzania photo
Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Wasi

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Tanzania
People Cluster: Rift
Primary Language(s): Alagwa (wbj)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 64,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015060
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Pray for the Wasi of Tanzania

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Alagwa
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

%
Alagwa Speakers

Media Resources in Alagwa:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Alagwa:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Alagwa bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Wasi

The Wasi 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 Wasi

The Wasi 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 Wasi

The Wasi 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 Wasi of Tanzania

He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him
readLuke 10:34

Pray that the lost among them will experience the kind of compassion Jesus taught His followers to show others, and that they will trust in Him because He is the one who brings healing to the broken and lost.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
readPsalm 19:1-2

Pray that the lost will see the glory of God revealed in the heavens, that they will hear the good news, and that their hearts will be softened to respond to God’s call, turning to Him in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
readJohn 14:3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have hope in trials because they know that Jesus will one day take them to be with Him forever.

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that God who is in heaven will place believers in the lives of people who need to encounter the gospel and that He will reveal to them the truth of what they hear.

Alagwa (ROP3 - 100210) 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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