People group profile · PG042042
The Bhuiyar of India
The Bhuiyar of India, numbering about 2,935,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a caste community of landless laborers and cultivators found in Bihar and West Bengal who speak Magahi and Bengali respectively, tracing their name from the root word meaning "owner of soil".
They are an indigenous people in the Odia people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Hinduism, and they primarily speak Magahi.
Fast facts
- Country
- India
- Population
- 2,935,000
- Affinity group
- South Asian Peoples
- People cluster
- Odia
- Primary language
- Magahi (mag)
- Primary religion
- Hinduism
- Strategic Progress Index
- Engaged yet Unreached
- Evangelical
- Less than 2%
- GSEC
- Less than 2% Evangelical, Dispersed CP Activity
- Lostness priority
- Pioneer Unreached People Group
- Region
- Southern Asia, Asia
- Location
- Widespread in north India: northern Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand states; Delhi
Where they live
Gospel status
The Bhuiyar 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 but there has been dispersed church planting among them within the past two years.
- Congregations exist Yes
- Church planting in the last two years Dispersed Church Planting
Next steps for the Bhuiyar
- 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
Gospel resources in Magahi
- Bible available, published 2016
- JESUS Film available
- Radio programs available
- Gospel recordings available
- Audio resources available
- Bible stories not available
Films
- JESUS (Magahi)
Bibles
- 2014 Asian Sahyogi Sanstha India Gorakhpur, (U.P.) · audio, text
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Bhuiyar
- 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.
- 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.
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