The Ndali of Malawi

The Ndali of Malawi, numbering approximately 128,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Bantu farming people native to Tanzania's Ileje District who expanded southward into northern Malawi over the past century in search of new farmland, cultivating maize, millet, and cassava alongside cattle and goats. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Ndali is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Malawi
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Tanzania
Primary Language(s): Ndali (ndh)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 128,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG048116
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Ndali of Malawi

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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

97%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Ndali
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Ndali Speakers

Media Resources in Ndali:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Ndali:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Ndali bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Ndali 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 Ndali:
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 Ndali of Malawi

Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.
readJerremiah 32:17

Pray that the God who made the heavens and the earth by the power of His outstretched arm, the One who is able to save those who are lost, will show His great love and mercy to those who are walking in darkness.

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
readPsalm 8:1

Pray that those who have yet to believe will soon recognize the majesty of God's name and raise their voices in praise to the Lord Almighty.

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
readHebrews 10:39

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, and faithfully follow God, they will share Christ boldly with those around them.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
read2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will be faithful as they walk through trials and will have an opportunity to be a witness to others in this people group of the goodness of God.

Ndali Across Countries (ROP3 - 107148) 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.

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