The Bushmen of Namibia

The Bushmen of Namibia, numbering approximately 86,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an indigenous South African people that predates the arrival of Bantu-speaking Africans and Europeans in the region and can also be known as San, Khoisan. They are an Indigenous people, in the Khoisan people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Animism. They primarily speak Northwestern !Kung.

Bushmen in Botswana photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Ian Beatty - Wikimedia Ian Beatty - Wikimedia Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-saharan Africa Peoples
Country: Namibia
People Cluster: Khoisan
Primary Language(s): Northwestern !Kung (vaj)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Animism
Population: 86,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG043066

Pray for the Bushmen of Namibia

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: Ethnoreligion - Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion - Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Northwestern !Kung
Language Family: Kx’a

%
Northwestern !Kung Speakers

Media Resources in Northwestern !Kung:

Films:

No entries found for: Northwestern !Kung(vaj). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Northwestern !Kung:

Or check out the Northwestern !Kung bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Bushmen

The Bushmen 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 Bushmen

The Bushmen 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 Bushmen

The Bushmen 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 Bushmen of Namibia

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
readJames 2:5

Pray for those living in despair to experience the riches of God's love and the hope of eternal life through faith in Christ.

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.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
readPsalm 22:27

Pray that all families of the nations will worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
read2 Corinthians 5:20

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will be His ambassadors, faithfully imploring people on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God through Jesus.

Heikum, San reported in the following countries (ROP3):

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.

Scroll to Top