The Didinga of South Sudan

The Didinga of South Sudan, numbering approximately 73,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Surmic people of the Didinga Mountains in Eastern Equatoria who trace their sixteenth-century migration from the Lake Turkana or Ethiopian highlands, once forming a single group with the Murle, Tennet, and Boya before a hunting dispute split them apart. They mostly adhere to Animism and Didinga is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Didinga

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: South Sudan
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Didinga (did)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 73,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012001
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Didinga of South Sudan

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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

90%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Didinga
Language Family: Surmic

100%
%
Didinga Speakers

Media Resources in Didinga:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Didinga:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Didinga bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Didinga 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 Didinga:
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 Didinga of South Sudan

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
readEphesians 2:8-9

Pray that the lost among them will receive the gift of salvation by grace through faith, not by works, and be created for good works.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
readPsalm 16:11

Pray that God will make a way for His path of life to be revealed to many so that they may come into His presence and experience abundant joy and eternal pleasures at His right hand.

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
readGenesis 50:20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will forgive those who do them harm and trust God as they walk in His ways.

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

Praise the God who is able to make a way forward, even when it seems impossible. Ask Him to do a new thing among this people group specifically and among the nations, raising up believers to go and share the gospel with individuals and places where it has not flourished before.

Di'dinga Across Countries (ROP3 - 102599) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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