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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Shona of Zambia

The Shona of Zambia, numbering approximately 34,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, primarily living in Zimbabwe where they form the majority of the population They are an Indigenous people, in the Bantu, Shona people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - African Traditional Religion. They primarily speak Shona.

Shona in Zimbabwe photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Steve Evans - Flickr Steve Evans - Flickr Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Zambia
People Cluster: Bantu, Shona
Primary Language(s): Shona (sna)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - African Traditional Religion
Population: 34,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015630
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Shona of Zambia

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: Ethnoreligion - African Traditional Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion - African T… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Shona
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

%
Shona Speakers

Media Resources in Shona:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Shona:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Shona bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Shona

The Shona 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 Shona

The Shona 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 Shona

The Shona 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 Shona of Zambia

But he said, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:27

Praise God that He is the God of impossible things and that He is able to save even those who seem beyond hope.

Moses said, "Please show me your glory." And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy."
readExodus 33:18-19

Pray that many will come to know the glory of God, which is revealed in Jesus Christ, and that they will rejoice in the mercy He offers them.

Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
readActs 2:47

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, God will use their faith and their church community as a testimony to the watching world and grow His Church.

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
readIsaiah 58:7

As believers cross cultures to share the good news of Christ, pray that God will sustain them and grow their faith as He gives them the compassion necessary to minister well to those in need.

Shona (ROP3 - 108959) 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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