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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:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Samburu:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
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

O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
readPsalm 10:17-18

Pray that God, in accordance with His good character, will give justice to those who are oppressed by sin and that they will know that His offer of salvation is for everyone.

Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
readPsalm 66:5

Pray that many here will come and see what the Creator God has done on their behalf.

"And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you"...And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."
readMatthew 25:38-40

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and serve others in faithfulness to Him, they will know that by serving others, they are serving Jesus, who is present with them.

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
read2 Corinthians 1:11

Pray that many people will join in praying for the spread of the gospel here, and that God will answer these prayers by drawing more people to Himself.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
SamburuPG024980SamburuKenya341,000Engaged yet UnreachedSamburuAnimism

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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