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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Xhosa of Lesotho

The Xhosa of Lesotho, numbering approximately 26,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Xhosa-speaking Bangu ethnic group indigenous to the Cape Provinces of South Africa. They are an Indigenous people in the Bantu, Nguni people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Xhosa and their primary religion is Protestantism.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Lesotho
People Cluster: Bantu, Nguni
Primary Language(s): Xhosa (xho)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 26,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015284
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Pray for the Xhosa of Lesotho

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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Xhosa
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Xhosa Speakers

Media Resources in Xhosa:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Xhosa:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Xhosa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Minimally Reached People Group, (LPI: 3), 2% to 3% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical (GSEC: 4), this people group is greater than or equal to 2% evangelical

Next steps for the Xhosa:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Xhosa 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 Xhosa:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Xhosa 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.

Next steps for the Xhosa:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Xhosa of Lesotho

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 6:23

Pray that those who do know about God's free gift will hear and believe that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord and that they will joyfully accept this gift.

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
readPsalm 96:7

Pray that entire households will come to faith in Jesus and that God will bless their families with faith in Him for generations to come.

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.
readActs 4:29

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and face rejection by unbelievers in their communities, God will give them discernment, boldness, and encouragement to speak His Word.

Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
readActs 17:29

Pray that God will send out laborers to tell people of the one true God and, as the good news is shared, bring about repentance and belief as they turn from idols and follow Jesus.

Xhosa Across Countries (ROP3 - 110893) 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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