People group profile · PG041867
The Jenu Kuruba of India
The Jenu Kuruba of India, numbering about 71,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a forest honey-gathering people of Karnataka's Western Ghats, whose name derives from the Kannada word for honey, governed by a secular headman and a separate ritual chief, increasingly displaced from ancestral Nagarhole forest land since the 1970s.
They are an indigenous people in the South Asian Tribal people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Animism, and they primarily speak Kannada.
Fast facts
- Country
- India
- Population
- 71,000
- Affinity group
- South Asian Peoples
- People cluster
- South Asian Tribal
- Primary language
- Kannada (kan)
- Primary religion
- Animism
- Strategic Progress Index ?
- Engaged yet Unreached
- Evangelical
- Less than 2%
- GSEC ?
- Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
- Lostness priority ?
- Pioneer Unreached People Group
- Region
- Southern Asia, Asia
- Location
- North Nilgiri Hills, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka border, east of Kerala border, Karnataka, Mysore and Kodagu districts; Kerala: Wynad District
Where they live
Gospel status
The Jenu Kuruba 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 Jenu Kuruba
- 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
Animism · Ethnoreligion
80% adherents
Primary language
Kannada · Dravidian family
100% speak Kannada
Gospel resources in Kannada
- Bible available, published 2024
- JESUS Film available
- Radio programs not available
- Gospel recordings available
- Audio resources available
- Bible stories available
Films
Bibles
- Easy-to-Read Version · audio, text
- Indian Revised Version · audio, text
- Kannada Contemporary Translation · video
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Jenu Kuruba
- 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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