The Sakaji of Mozambique

The Sakaji of Mozambique, numbering approximately 44,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Mozambique They are an Indigenous people, with Nathembo / Sakaji as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Bantu, Makua-Yao people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Folk Islam. They primarily speak Nathembo.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Mozambique
People Cluster: Bantu, Makua-Yao
Primary Language(s): Nathembo (nte)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 44,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015415
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Sakaji of Mozambique

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

55%
%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nathembo
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%

Media Resources in Nathembo:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Nathembo:

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Or check out the Nathembo bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Sakaji:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Sakaji 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 Sakaji:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Sakaji 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 Sakaji:
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 Sakaji of Mozambique

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
readPsalm 73:26

Pray that those who are lost and struggling to find hope will find their strength and hope in God, recognizing Him as their portion and deliverer forever.

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
readGenesis 2:7

Pray that Christians will be able to share the hope of Christ with suffering people and that He will breathe new life into their souls.

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
read1 Corinthians 3:7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be unified in making disciples and be used by God to further His kingdom near and far.

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
readRomans 10:15

Pray that God will call many believers who will obediently go and share the gospel with those who desperately need it.

Nathembo Across Countries (ROP3 - 107119) 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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