People group profile · PG041457
The Kharia of India
The Kharia of India, numbering about 900,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a tribal community of eastern and central India, found in Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Assam, and recognized as a Scheduled Caste in Tripura. Traditionally shifting cultivators, most now work as agricultural laborers.
They are an indigenous people in the Munda-Santal people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Protestantism, and they primarily speak Kharia.
Fast facts
- Country
- India
- Population
- 900,000
- Affinity group
- South Asian Peoples
- People cluster
- Munda-Santal
- Primary language
- Kharia (khr)
- Primary religion
- Protestantism
- Strategic Progress Index ?
- No Longer Unreached
- Evangelical
- 20% or Greater but Less than 30%
- GSEC ?
- 10% or Greater Evangelical
- Lostness priority ?
- Significantly Reached People Group
- Region
- Southern Asia, Asia
- Location
- Jharkhand: Ranchi district, Khunti sub-district, Kolebira and Thethaitangar Anchal; Simdega sub-district; Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, Durg, Jashpur, Raigarh, Raipur, East Singhbhum, and West Singhbhum districts; Odisha: Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur, and
Where they live
Gospel status
The Kharia are No Longer Unreached, which means 2% or more are evangelical Christians. In GSEC terms, this people group is greater than or equal to 10% evangelical.
- Congregations exist Yes
- Church planting in the last two years Dispersed Church Planting
Next steps for the Kharia
- 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
Protestantism · Christianity
56% adherents
Primary language
Kharia · Austroasiatic family
100% speak Kharia
Gospel resources in Kharia
- Bible available, published 1992
- JESUS Film available
- Radio programs available
- Gospel recordings available
- Audio resources not available
- Bible stories not available
Films
- JESUS (Kharia)
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Kharia
- 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.
- Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
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