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The Azebu of Ethiopia

The Azebu of Ethiopia, numbering approximately 134,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Barentuma Oromo people among the northernmost Oromo groups, settled on Tigray's southeastern highland edge since the Oromo expansion, whose land was confiscated after joining the 1943 Woyane rebellion against imperial rule. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and West Central Oromo is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Ethiopia
People Cluster: Oromo
Primary Language(s): West Central Oromo (gaz)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 134,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG042715

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Pray for the Azebu of Ethiopia

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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

80%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: West Central Oromo
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Oromo, West Central Speakers

Media Resources in West Central Oromo:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in West Central Oromo:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1993 Bible Society of Ethiopia✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the West Central Oromo bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Azebu 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 Azebu:
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 Azebu of Ethiopia

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
read1 Chronicles 16:26

Pray that those among them who are lost and seeking after worthless idols will have the opportunity to hear and respond to the good news, seeing that Jesus is better than any idol.

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.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
readPhilippians 1:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be assured that God will complete the good work He has begun in them until the day of Christ's return.

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
read2 Corinthians 3:16

Give thanks to God for believers around the world who are willing to cross cultures to share the gospel with those who are perishing. Pray that He will work through their witness to draw many to turn to Him.

Oromo, Azebu Across Countries (ROP3 - 108330) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
AzebuPG042715AzebuEthiopia134,000Engaged yet UnreachedWest Central OromoSunni Islam

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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