People group profile · PG011755
The Negev Bedouins of Israel
The Negev Bedouins of Israel, numbering about 131,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are Arab tribes tracing ancestry to the Hejaz who migrated into the Negev desert between the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries, reduced from roughly ninety tribes to nineteen after most fled or were expelled around Israel's 1948 founding.
They are an indigenous people in the Bedouin, Arabian people cluster of the Arab Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam, and they primarily speak Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic.
Fast facts
- Country
- Israel
- Population
- 131,000
- Affinity group
- Northern African and Middle Eastern Peoples
- People cluster
- Bedouin, Arabian
- Primary language
- Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic (avl)
- Primary religion
- Sunni Islam
- Strategic Progress Index
- Unengaged and Unreached
- Evangelical
- Less than 2%
- GSEC
- Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
- Lostness priority
- Frontier Unreached People Group
- Region
- Western Asia, Asia
Where they live
Gospel status
The Negev Bedouins are Unengaged and Unreached, which means fewer than 2% are evangelical Christians, and there has been no reported church planting activity in the past two years. In GSEC terms, this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years.
- Congregations exist No
- Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted
Next steps for the Negev Bedouins
- Pray that God would send workers to this people group
- Begin sowing the gospel and seek out people of peace
- Plant the first churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice
Primary religion
Sunni Islam · Islam
99% adherents
Primary language
Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic · Afro-Asiatic family
100% speak Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic
Gospel resources in Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic
- Bible available
- JESUS Film available
- Radio programs not available
- Gospel recordings available
- Audio resources not available
- Bible stories not available
Films
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Negev Bedouins
- 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.
- 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.
Bedouin, Levantine in other countries
The same people (ROP3 105735) is reported in 2 other countries.
| People group | Country | Population | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Bedouins | Egypt | 1,325,000 | Engaged yet Unreached |
| Levantine Bedawi Arabs | Syria | 97,000 | Unengaged and Unreached |
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