People group profile · PG012203
The Western Arameans of Syria
The Western Arameans of Syria, numbering about 16,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Western Neo-Aramaic-speaking people of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains in Syria who preserve the last surviving form of Western Aramaic, the language once widely spoken throughout the ancient Levant.
They are an indigenous people in the Assyrian people cluster of the Arab Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam, and they primarily speak Western Neo-Aramaic.
Fast facts
- Country
- Syria
- Population
- 16,000
- Affinity group
- Northern African and Middle Eastern Peoples
- People cluster
- Assyrian
- Primary language
- Western Neo-Aramaic (amw)
- Primary religion
- Sunni Islam
- Strategic Progress Index
- Engaged yet Unreached
- Evangelical
- Less than 2%
- GSEC
- Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
- Lostness priority
- Frontier Unreached People Group
- Region
- Western Asia, Asia
- Location
- Rif Dimashq governorate: Al-Qutayfah district, Bakh’a, Jubb ’Adin, and Ma’lula villages; Qalamoun mountains, 50 km north of Damascus
Where they live
Gospel status
The Western Arameans are Engaged yet Unreached, which means fewer than 2% are evangelical Christians, but there are sustained efforts to establish self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. 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 Western Arameans
- Continue prayer and fasting for this group
- Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
- Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people
Primary religion
Sunni Islam · Islam
50% adherents
Primary language
Western Neo-Aramaic · Afro-Asiatic family
66% speak Western Neo-Aramaic
Gospel resources in Western Neo-Aramaic
- Bible available, published 2017
- JESUS Film not available
- Radio programs not available
- Gospel recordings not available
- Audio resources not available
- Bible stories not available
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Western Arameans
- 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.
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