The Ethiopian Jews of Ethiopia

The Ethiopian Jews of Ethiopia, numbering approximately 9,600 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a community of pre-Rabbinic Jews who have lived in Ethiopia for over 2000 years. They remained faithful to Judaism after the conversion of the Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum to Christianity in the 4th century CE and can also be known as Falasha, Beta Israel. They are an Indigenous people, in the Jews people cluster of the Jews affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Judaism. They primarily speak Amharic.

Ethiopian Jews in Ethiopia photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Galen Frysinger

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: North Africa and Middle East Peoples
Country: Ethiopia
People Cluster: Jews
Primary Language(s): Amharic (amh)
Primary Religion(s): Judaism
Population: 9,600
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011598

Pray for the Ethiopian Jews 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Judaism
Religious Affiliation: Judaism

%
Judaism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Amharic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

%
Amharic Speakers

Bible Resources in Amharic:

Or check out the Amharic bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Ethiopian Jews

The Ethiopian Jews are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Ethiopian Jews

The Ethiopian Jews 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.

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

Next steps for the Ethiopian Jews

The Ethiopian Jews are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Ethiopian Jews of Ethiopia

And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you."
read1 Samuel 13:13a

Pray that those who are walking in disobedience will recognize their sin and to turn to God.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
readIsaiah 43:19

Pray that the lost will see the new thing God can do in their lives and trust in His plan and purpose for them.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
readLamentations 3:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through trials, they will be satisfied with the Lord as their portion and will place all their hope in Him.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
readJohn 1:9-10

Pray for those God might send to share the gospel here. Ask that they will grow closer to Jesus and be compelled to share His good news with people who don't know it.

Jew, Ethiopian (ROP3 - 102987) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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