The Marenje of Mozambique

The Marenje of Mozambique, numbering approximately 217,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Mozambique, western Zambezia. They are an Indigenous people, in the Bantu, Makua-Yao people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Animism. They primarily speak Marenje.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Mozambique
People Cluster: Bantu, Makua-Yao
Primary Language(s): Marenje (vmr)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Animism
Population: 217,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015398
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Marenje of Mozambique

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: Ethnoreligion - Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Marenje
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

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Media Resources in Marenje:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Marenje:

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Or check out the Marenje bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Marenje

The Marenje 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 Marenje

The Marenje 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 Marenje

The Marenje 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 Marenje of Mozambique

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
readJohn 14:6

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will recognize Him as the only way to the Father and follow Him in faith.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
read1 John 1:5

As mobile phones, radio, and satellite television, and other technologies become more available worldwide, pray for people who are developing digital gospel resources so that others can easily access the gospel.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 8:38-39

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have confidence in their salvation, knowing that nothing can separate them from the One who conquered death and loves them as His children.

And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."
readMatthew 25:40

Ask God to raise up and send believers who will serve "the least of these" with compassion and energy because they know that in serving those in need, they are serving Christ.

Marendje (ROP3 - 106322) 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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