People group profile · PG009335
The Semelai of Malaysia
The Semelai of Malaysia, numbering about 8,100 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Orang Asli people who have inhabited Tasik Bera's shores over 600 years, traditionally farming rice and cassava while trading forest resins and rattan, resettled into forts during the 1948-1960 Emergency and later losing land to logging and oil palm.
They are an indigenous people in the West Malaysia Indigenous people cluster of the Malay Peoples. Their primary religion is Animism, and they primarily speak Semelai.
Fast facts
- Country
- Malaysia
- Population
- 8,100
- Affinity group
- Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
- People cluster
- West Malaysia Indigenous
- Primary language
- Semelai (sza)
- Primary religion
- Animism
- Strategic Progress Index
- No Longer Unreached
- Evangelical
- 2% or Greater but Less than 5%
- GSEC
- 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
- Lostness priority
- Minimally Reached People Group
- Region
- South-Eastern Asia, Asia
- Location
- Pahang: southwest; Negeri Sembilan: northwest; Tasek Bera shores area, along Bera, Teriang, and Serting rivers; Johor state, northwest, Muar river
Where they live
Gospel status
The Semelai are No Longer Unreached, which means 2% or more are evangelical Christians. In GSEC terms, this people group is greater than or equal to 2% evangelical.
- Congregations exist Yes
- Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted
Next steps for the Semelai
- Pray for the churches among this group to grow in faithfulness and maturity
- Equip believers to reach the unreached peoples around them
- Send out laborers from this people to the nations
Primary religion
Animism · Ethnoreligion
63% adherents
Primary language
Semelai · Austroasiatic family
70% speak Semelai
Gospel resources in Semelai
- Bible available, published 2021
- JESUS Film available
- Radio programs not available
- Gospel recordings not available
- Audio resources available
- Bible stories not available
Bibles
- The Bible Society of Malaysia and Wycliffe (M) Berhad · video, audio, text
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Semelai
- Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
- John 17:3. Pray that many will come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
- Psalm 27:1. Pray that new believers will be strengthened in the face of persecution, with the Lord as their stronghold.
- Romans 12:4–5. Pray that believers from many cultures will work together as one body so that the church is built up.
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