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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Mashi of Zambia

The Mashi of Zambia, numbering approximately 111,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a middle Zambezi Bantu ethnic group indigenous to the border area of southwestern Zambia and southeastern Angola They are an Indigenous people, with Masi, Mashi as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Khoisan people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Animism. They primarily speak Mashi (Zambia).

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Zambia
People Cluster: Khoisan
Primary Language(s): Mashi (Zambia) (mho)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 111,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015606
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Pray for the Mashi of Zambia

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

60%
%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mashi (Zambia)
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%

Media Resources in Mashi (Zambia):

Films:

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Bible Resources in Mashi (Zambia):

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mashi (Zambia) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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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): Expanding Unreached People Group, (LPI: 2), 0.5% to 2% 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 Mashi:
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 Mashi 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 Mashi:
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 Mashi 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 Mashi:
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 Mashi of Zambia

For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!
readPsalm 47:7

Pray for those who live for idols that will never satisfy their hearts, asking that someone will tell them that God is the King of all the earth so that they will turn to Him in repentance and praise.

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
readActs 17:24-25

Pray that the good news will reach everyone in this people group and that many will come to know and serve the one true God who made the world and everything in it and lives today.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
readRevelation 21:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through challenges, they will find comfort in God's promise of a beautiful future when there is no pain or suffering for those who belong to Christ.

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.
readPsalm 67:1-2

Pray that as God blesses believers from among this people group or from nearby cultures, He will raise them up to share His saving power among the nations.

Masi, Mashi Across Countries (ROP3 - 106380) 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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