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The Samburu of Kenya

The Samburu of Kenya, numbering approximately 341,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Maa-speaking pastoralist people of north-central Kenya closely related to the Maasai, whose ancestors reached the Lake Baringo and Laikipia Plateau area by the 1400s before splitting from the Chamus around 1800 and being pushed north by Maasai raids. They mostly adhere to Animism and Samburu is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Samburu

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Kenya
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Samburu (saq)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 341,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024980
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Pray for the Samburu of Kenya

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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

86%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Samburu
Language Family: Nilotic

100%
%
Samburu Speakers

Media Resources in Samburu:

Films:
Title Link
JESUS View Film
JESUS View Film
Magdalena View Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Samburu:

Bible Name (Translation) Video Audio Text
Bible Translation and Literacy ✓ ✓
2018 Bible Translation & Literacy ✓ ✓ ✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Samburu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Samburu 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 Samburu:
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

Pray specifically for the Samburu of Kenya

I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
readIsaiah 42:8

Pray that lost people will turn from worthless idols to worship the one true God, recognizing that He alone is worthy of all glory and praise.

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
readJames 4:4

Pray that the lost will be convicted of their friendship with the world, which is hostility toward God, and that they will turn from their sin and embrace the grace and mercy of God through Christ Jesus.

For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
read2 Thessalonians 3:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will persevere according to God's command, walk in faith, and be strong so that they can resist the evil one’s deception.

To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
read1 Corinthians 9:22

Ask God to raise up believers from around the world to go and share the hope of Jesus with the lost so that they might trust in Him and have the hope of eternal life.

Samburu Across Countries (ROP3 - 108573) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

1 people group

Photo People Group ID Name Country Population ▲ Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Samburu PG024980 Samburu Kenya 341,000 Engaged yet Unreached Samburu Animism

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 Data Standards section.

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