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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Luo of Kenya

The Luo of Kenya, numbering approximately 5,745,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Western-Nilotic speaking ethnolinguistic group indigenous to western Kenya and northern Tanzania and can also be known as 'Nilotic kavirondo', Luo, 'Kavirondo Luo'. They are an Indigenous people, in the Nilotic people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Protestantism. They primarily speak Dholuo.

Luo in Kenya photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Kerry Oslon Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-saharan Africa Peoples
Country: Kenya
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Dholuo (luo)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Protestantism
Population: 5,745,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG014817

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Pray for the Luo of Kenya

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Protestant… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Dholuo
Language Family: Nilo-Saharan

%
Dholuo Speakers

Media Resources in Dholuo:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Dholuo:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Dholuo bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Luo

The Luo 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 Luo

The Luo 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 Luo

The Luo 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 Luo of Kenya

For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.
readLuke 19:10

Pray that those who are lost will respond to the One who came to seek and save the lost, and experience the joy of being found.

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
readPsalm 96:3

Pray for people to hear and believe the good news of Jesus and joyfully share it with their family and friends.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
readTitus 3:4-5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and might struggle with temptation to trust in their own works, they will remember that it is only because of God's mercy that they have been saved.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that God will send and sustain believers to cross cultures and share the gospel with the lost. Ask that He will give them His heart for the lost and that many will believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life.

Dholuo (ROP3 - 115030) 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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