The Shilluk of United States

The Shilluk of United States, numbering approximately 5,300 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: United States
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Shilluk (shk)
Primary Religion(s): African Traditional Religion
Population: 5,300
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046710
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Shilluk of United States

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: 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

Bible Resources in Shilluk:

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

1 entry

Or check out the Shilluk bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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 United States

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
readJohn 3:18

Pray for those who are living under the burden of their sin to believe in Jesus, the only Son of God, and receive freedom.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
readPsalm 119:105

Pray that they will receive the Word of God as a lamp to their feet and commit their ways to Him.

For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.
readPsalm 149:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged and feel immeasurably loved as they meditate on the fact that God takes pleasure in them.

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
readMatthew 6:9b-10

Pray that God will raise up Christians who are driven by a desire to see God's name worshiped, His kingdom come, and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Ask Him to send them to the lost in this people group and sustain them.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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.

Scroll to Top