The Swahili People
The Swahili people are from the coast and coastal islands of Kenya and Tanzania, in places like Lamu Island, Mambrui, Malindi, Mombasa, Tanga, Pemba Island, Unguja Island (Zanzibar), Mafia Island and the Kilwa area. They are essentially African Bantus who converted to Islam over time through trade contact and intermarriage with Arabs, who came to East Africa in their dhows.
The Swahili are almost 100% Muslim, with very few believers reported. Mosques predominate in any Swahili settlement. A town of 12,000 can easily have twenty or more mosques. They are taught from a young age to reject Christianity and the gospel.
Please pray for the Swahili people – that the good news of Jesus Christ would ignite and spread among them. That God would raise up local leaders to plant churches, disciple believers and proclaim the gospel to the Swahili as well as to neighboring tribes.
Want to know more about the Swahili?…
Resources to Empower Your Prayers
- Pray Africa – This is a ministry website of Africa Inland Mission dedicated to helping believers from around the world to pray for Africa’s unreached peoples. You can explore profiles of different African people groups, like the Swahili, as well as sign up to receive prayer updates for specific peoples you are interested in praying for. (prayafrica.org)
- PrayerMate – Looking for a way to organize your prayer life and learn to pray using God’s Word? This is by far the best prayer app I’ve ever used – and it’s free! It gives you access to tons of Biblical resources to help you pray the Bible and the ability to subscribe to prayer feeds from organizations like Africa Inland Mission, Voice of the Martyrs, and Operation World, among many others. The best part for me has been that it only gives you a certain number of prayers at once so you don’t get overwhelmed – but can come back to it throughout the day and it keeps track of what you’ve already prayed for. Watch the video below. (geero.net/prayermate/)