The Tswana of Zimbabwe

The Tswana of Zimbabwe, numbering approximately 93,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a large ethnic group living in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe . They are an Indigenous people, in the Bantu, Sotho-Tswana people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Setswana.

Tswana in Botswana photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 International Mission Board-SBC - Amanda Turner Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-saharan Africa Peoples
Country: Zimbabwe
People Cluster: Bantu, Sotho-Tswana
Primary Language(s): Setswana (tsn)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 93,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015682

Pray for the Tswana of Zimbabwe

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
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Setswana
Language Family: Niger-Congo

%
Setswana Speakers

Media Resources in Setswana:

Films:

Bible Resources in Setswana:

Next steps for the Tswana

The Tswana 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 Tswana

The Tswana 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 Tswana

The Tswana 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 Tswana of Zimbabwe

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,' and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
readPsalm 32:5

Pray those who are lost will realize their sin, confess their iniquity, and grow in their understanding of salvation through faith in Christ alone.

"You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet."
readMatthew 5:13

Pray that the lost will have the opportunity to hear a Christian witness of how the gospel can bring hope and that they will put their faith in Christ.

The LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
readNumbers 6:26

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be blessed with peace in their lives, knowing that God is with them.

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
readMatthew 7:28-29

Pray that God will remind believers that they have His authority as they share His truth with the lost, and pray He will draw crowds of people to this message and plant it deeply in their hearts.

Tswana reported in the following countries (ROP3):

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.

Scroll to Top