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The Arusha Maasai of Tanzania

The Arusha Maasai of Tanzania, numbering approximately 527,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Maa-speaking agropastoral people who lost their cattle in early nineteenth-century Maasai conflicts and settled the southwestern slopes of Mount Meru in the 1830s, prospering there as farmers distinct from other Maasai communities. They mostly adhere to Animism and Masai is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Maasai, Arusha

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Tanzania
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Masai (mas)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 527,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG050320
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Pray for the Arusha Maasai of Tanzania

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

70%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Masai
Language Family: Nilotic

100%
%
Maasai Speakers

Media Resources in Masai:

Films:
Title Link
JESUS View Film
Magdalena View Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Masai:

Bible Name (Translation) Video Audio Text
Biblia Sinyati Version ✓ ✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Masai bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Arusha Maasai 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 Arusha Maasai:
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 Arusha Maasai of Tanzania

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."
readLuke 1:46-47

Pray that those who are lost will recognize their need for a Savior and joyfully embrace the mercy that God offers.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
read1 John 1:5

As mobile phones, radio, and satellite television, and other technologies become more available worldwide, pray for people who are developing digital gospel resources so that others can easily access the gospel.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
read2 Corinthians 5:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will understand and experience the truth that in Christ, they are a new creation, and the old has gone and the new has come.

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”
readPsalm 96:10

Pray for God to put in the hearts of believers to go to the lost and testify about the Lord who reigns.

Maasai, Arusha Across Countries (ROP3 - 100534) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

1 people group

Photo People Group ID Name Country Population ▼ Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Arusha Maasai PG050320 Arusha Maasai Tanzania 527,000 No Longer Unreached Masai Animism

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.

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