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The Shilluk of South Sudan

The Shilluk of South Sudan, numbering approximately 433,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a major Luo Nilotic ethnic group of southern Sudan, living on both banks of the Nile River in Malakal. They mostly adhere to African Traditional Religion and Shilluk is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: South Sudan
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Shilluk (shk)
Primary Religion(s): African Traditional Religion
Population: 433,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG042499
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Pray for the Shilluk of South Sudan

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: African Traditional Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

55%
%
African Traditional Relig… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Shilluk
Language Family: Nilotic

100%
%
Shilluk Speakers

Media Resources in Shilluk:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Shilluk:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Bible Society of South Sudan✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Shilluk bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Shilluk 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 Shilluk:
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 Shilluk of South Sudan

For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.
readPsalm 130:7b

Pray for those who are unaware of God's steadfast love that is offered to them through Jesus Christ to learn the truth and experience His plentiful redemption.

As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.
readMatthew 13:23

Pray that their hearts will have good soil that receives the Word, understands it, and bears fruit for God's kingdom.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
readTitus 3:4-5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and might struggle with temptation to trust in their own works, they will remember that it is only because of God's mercy that they have been saved.

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
readJohn 7:38

Ask God to raise up believers and sustain them as they cross cultures to share hope with those who need it. Pray that many might come to know Christ and that streams of living water will flow from their hearts so they will never thirst again.

Shilluk Across Countries (ROP3 - 108946) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
ShillukPG042499ShillukSouth Sudan433,000Engaged yet UnreachedShillukAfrican Traditional Religion
ShillukPG046710ShillukUnited States5,300Engaged yet UnreachedShillukAfrican Traditional Religion

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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