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

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
readRomans 5:10

Pray that any who may be enemies of God will grasp the depth of God's love demonstrated through Christ's death for the ungodly, and be reconciled to Him.

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed"
readGalatians 3:8

Ask the Lord to fulfill His promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed by advancing the gospel to every people group who has yet to receive it.

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
read2 Corinthians 12:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will embrace their weaknesses, hardships, and difficulties, having hope because Christ's power is made perfect in their weakness.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.
readRomans 9:16

Ask God to raise up people who will trust in His sovereignty as they share the gospel, knowing that it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

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.

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