The Congolese of United States

The Congolese of United States, numbering approximately 38,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a diverse collection of peoples native to the Congo Basin, whose cultures reflect centuries of interaction among riverine, forest, savanna, and urban communities. They are characterized by extensive linguistic diversity and strong kinship networks. They mostly adhere to Neo-Pentecostalism and Lingala is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Congolese

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: United States
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Congo
Primary Language(s): Lingala (lin)
Primary Religion(s): Neo-Pentecostalism
Population: 38,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG047246
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Congolese of United States

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: Neo-Pentecostalism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Neo-Pentecostalism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lingala
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Lingala Speakers

Media Resources in Lingala:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Lingala:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1982 Boyokant Ya Sika✓

1 entry

Or check out the Lingala bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Congolese 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 Congolese:
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 Congolese of United States

But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
readPsalm 130:4

Pray that God will bring those who have hard hearts to repentance and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.

I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
readDaniel 7:13-14

Pray that the gospel will advance so that all peoples will come to know the Son of Man, who has been given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and that they will bow before Him and serve Him forever.

Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
readPsalm 6:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and still struggle with the worries of this life, God will deliver them from worry for the sake of His steadfast love.

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 God will bring people to faith who are excited about the eternal life they have in Christ and will want to cross cultures to share this hope with others.

Lingala Across Countries (ROP3 - 105785) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
LingalaLingalaCongo, Democratic Republic of the4,315,000No Longer UnreachedLingalaRoman Catholicism
LingalaLingalaAngola200,000Engaged yet UnreachedLingalaEthnoreligion
LingalaLingalaCongo189,000Engaged yet UnreachedLingalaProtestantism
LingalaLingalaSouth Sudan49,500Unengaged and UnreachedLingalaSunni Islam
CongoleseCongoleseUnited States38,000No Longer UnreachedLingalaNeo-Pentecostalism
CongoleseCongoleseUganda28,000No Longer UnreachedLingalaNeo-Pentecostalism
LingalaLingalaCentral African Republic19,000Engaged yet UnreachedLingalaProtestantism
CongoleseCongoleseBelgium15,500No Longer UnreachedLingalaRoman Catholicism
LingalaLingalaCanada3,500No Longer UnreachedLingalaProtestantism

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.

Scroll to Top