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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Iwa of Zambia

The Iwa of Zambia, numbering approximately 9,400 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a small Bantu-speaking ethnic group indigenous to northeastern and eastern Zambia. The Iwa speak a language variety of Nyamwanga and typically work in business or subsistence farming. Awiwa, Mashukulumbwe They are an Indigenous people, in the Bantu, Central-Tanzania people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Nyamwanga.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Zambia
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Tanzania
Primary Language(s): Nyamwanga (mwn)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 9,400
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015580
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Pray for the Iwa of Zambia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nyamwanga
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

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Media Resources in Nyamwanga:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Nyamwanga:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Nyamwanga bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Iwa

The Iwa 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 Iwa

The Iwa 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 Iwa

The Iwa 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 Iwa of Zambia

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
readRomans 5:7-8

Pray for the many who don't yet understand the hope of the gospel, and pray that God will reveal to them that while they were in darkness, Christ died for them.

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.
readIsaiah 55:6

Pray that the lost will seek the Lord while He may be found and call upon Him while He is near, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
readGalatians 3:28

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be united in Christ across all differences of ethnicity, social status, and gender.

He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.
readJohn 1:7

Pray that God will raise up witnesses to testify about Jesus so that all might believe, knowing that He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.

Iwa (ROP3 - 104123) 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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