People group profile · PG022526
The Pasemah of Indonesia
The Pasemah of Indonesia, numbering about 371,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a highland Sumatran people of the Pasemah Plateau in South Sumatra, heirs to a megalithic tradition dating back 3,000 years featuring carved ancestor figures and stone burial chambers linked to the wider Dong Son bronze culture of Southeast Asia.
They are an indigenous people in the Pasemah of Sumatra people cluster of the Malay Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam, and they primarily speak Central Malay.
Fast facts
- Country
- Indonesia
- Population
- 371,000
- Affinity group
- Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
- People cluster
- Pasemah of Sumatra
- Primary language
- Central Malay (pse)
- 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
- South-Eastern Asia, Asia
- Location
- Bengkulu province: central Bukit Barisan highlands west to Indian Ocean along Bengkulu coast; Lampung province; South Sumatra province: Lematang and Ogan river valleys
Where they live
Gospel status
The Pasemah 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 Yes
- Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted
Next steps for the Pasemah
- 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
97% adherents
Primary language
Central Malay · Austronesian family
100% speak Central Malay
Gospel resources in Central Malay
- Bible available, published 1995
- JESUS Film available
- Radio programs not available
- Gospel recordings available
- Audio resources available
- Bible stories not available
Films
Bibles
- 1995 Lembaga Alkitab Indonesia · audio, text
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Pasemah
- 2 Timothy 2:2. Pray for faithful local leaders who will teach others, so that the church multiplies.
- Ephesians 5:8. Pray that those walking in darkness will turn to the light and live as children of light.
- Romans 10:14–15. Ask God to send messengers, so that people can hear, believe and call on the name of the Lord.
- Matthew 9:37–38. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest field.
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