The first Jewish people to move to Zambia came to gain greater wealth. They were involved in the cattle industry and copper mining. Their first settlements were in Livingstone and Broken Hill. Later there were Jewish people who lived in Lusaka.


In the 20th century, there were many more Jews who moved Zambia as refugees, but none of these were from England. When Zambia gained independence from Great Britain in the 1960s, most of the Jewish and non-Jewish white people left. These few usually live in Lusaka, the capital city.

There are very few Jewish people in Zambia today. Those that remain are usually in business. They have much influence beyond their numbers.

For religious Jews, God is the Supreme Being, the Creator of the universe, and the ultimate judge of human affairs. Beyond this, the religious beliefs of the Jewish communities vary greatly. Orthodox Jews generally follow the traditional religious beliefs and practices found in the Jewish literature that interprets Scripture regarding ethical, religious, civil, and criminal matters.


Reform Jews do not believe that the Jewish Law is divinely revealed. They are not restricted to kosher foods. They neither wear the skullcap (yarmulke) when praying nor use Hebrew in prayer. All religious Jews believe in the coming of a Messianic Age, but only the Orthodox Jews look for a personal Messiah.


Often Jewish people hold to their cultural practices and participate in festivities, but they do not adhere to Jewish spirituality. Such people can be secular or dabble in New Age practices.

Jewish people have a wonderful understanding of their connection with the Abrahamic Covenant. However, they also have a history of rejecting Jesus Christ as Messiah, the one who has fulfilled that covenant. They tend to view Christianity as the religion of their oppressors rather than the fulfillment of what God promised all of humanity through Abraham centuries ago.

* Scripture Prayers for the Jew, English-speaking in Zambia.

Pray for the Lord to give the Jewish people in Zambia hearts that will want to please him. May they look to the Lord for guidance and truth, and not be satisfied with cultural traditions.


Pray for Jewish people in Zambia to begin a movement to Jesus Christ, finding ways to exalt him while honoring their culture.


Pray for the Lord to move among Jewish leaders in Zambia to open the doors to Christ’s ambassadors.