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The Birwa of Botswana

The Birwa of Botswana, numbering approximately 21,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Sotho-Tswana Bantu tribe indigenous to Botswana. They mostly adhere to Animism and Birwa is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Birwa

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Botswana
People Cluster: Bantu, Sotho-Tswana
Primary Language(s): Birwa (brl)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 21,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015215
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Pray for the Birwa of Botswana

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

71%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Birwa
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Birwa Speakers

Media Resources in Birwa:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Birwa:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Birwa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Birwa 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 Birwa:
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 Birwa of Botswana

Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
readRomans 11:22

Pray that God will transform those who persist in unbelief and, in His everlasting kindness, graft them into His family.

He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
readIsaiah 40:11

Pray that the lost will come to know the tender care of the Good Shepherd, who gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart.

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
readDeuteronomy 6:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and might, as they strive to live lives that honor and glorify Him.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
readPsalm 34:3

Pray that God will raise up believers who will go to those in this people group who do not yet follow Jesus, and that they will invite many to magnify the Lord with them so that His fame will spread to the ends of the earth.

Birwa Across Countries (ROP3 - 101485) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▲CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
BirwaPG015215BirwaBotswana21,500Engaged yet UnreachedBirwaAnimism
BirwaPG015649BirwaZimbabwe16,500No Longer UnreachedBirwaAnimism

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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