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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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The Lambya of Malawi

The Lambya of Malawi, numbering approximately 84,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group primarily located in northwestern Malawi (especially in Chitipa District), with smaller populations in Tanzania (Songwe Region) and Zambia. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Lambya is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Malawi
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Tanzania
Primary Language(s): Lambya (lai)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 84,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015326
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Pray for the Lambya of Malawi

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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

98%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lambya
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Lambya Speakers

Media Resources in Lambya:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Lambya:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Bible Society of Malawi & The Word for the World, 2015✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lambya bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Lambya 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 Lambya:
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 Lambya of Malawi

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 to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
readMatthew 11:28-29

Please pray for them to lift their eyes to Jesus and find rest for their souls, lasting peace, and hope in Him.

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
readRomans 6:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, God will lead those who might hesitate in getting baptized to trust Him as they obey His command, even when obedience is hard.

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
readMatthew 9:37-38

Pray that the Lord of the harvest will raise up believers to send out into His harvest field, which is ripe and ready.

Lambya Across Countries (ROP3 - 105616) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
LambyaPG048540LambyaZambia22,500No Longer UnreachedLambyaEthnoreligion
LambyaPG015326LambyaMalawi84,000No Longer UnreachedLambyaEthnoreligion
LambyaPG014973LambyaTanzania116,000No Longer UnreachedLambyaRoman Catholicism

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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