Who are the Zigua people?
The Zigua are found in a small coastal region in northeastern Tanzania, near to to Dar-es-Salaam. Numbering around 631,000 they are part of the Bantu linguistic group with their own language called Zigula. Like many Bantu people the Zigua can trace their history back thousands of years, with their history recounting the story of their flight east to the coast of Tanzania as they avoided the slave trade. Today many Zigua are involved in the farming and harvesting of sisal, which is cultivated for its fibre used in ropes and mats.
What do they believe?
In 2011 the Africa Inland Church Tanzania (AICT) Bagamoyo carried out research among the Zigua of KomSanga village and found them to be absolutely unreached with the gospel. One hundred percent of the village claim to be Muslim. There is no primary or secondary school, water source or medical clinic in the village. The Zigua live desperately in need of both social and spiritual help.
What is being done to reach them?
The first step was for AIM to send a two-year Training in Ministry Outreach (TIMO) team into the area in September 2017 led by AIM team leaders (Jeremy & Leah Krahn), three AIM households and two AICT families. The team worked together to meet some of the physical and social needs in the community, including building a small school as way of introducing the gospel message and sharing the love of Christ. Team members are now continuting that ministry.
