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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Malays of Sri Lanka

The Malays of Sri Lanka, numbering approximately 72,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a diaspora community of Malays in Sri Lanka . They are an Diaspora people, in the Malay people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Sri Lankan Malay Creole.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Faiz Zaki - Shutterstock Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Peoples
Country: Sri Lanka
People Cluster: Malay
Primary Language(s): Sri Lankan Malay Creole (sci)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 72,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG006435

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Pray for the Malays of Sri Lanka

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Sunni Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sri Lankan Malay Creole
Language Family: Creole

%
Sri Lankan Malay Creole Speakers

Media Resources in Sri Lankan Malay Creole:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Sri Lankan Malay Creole:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

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Next steps for the Malays

The Malays are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Malays

The Malays are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

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

Next steps for the Malays

The Malays are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Malays of Sri Lanka

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:20

As God's creation declares His glory, pray that multitudes who don't know Him will see the works of His hands and desire to know more about the Creator.

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
readGenesis 2:7

Pray that Christians will be able to share the hope of Christ with suffering people and that He will breathe new life into their souls.

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
readActs 4:31

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak God's Word with boldness, sharing the love of Jesus with those around them.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
readRomans 1:16

Pray that God will raise up sons and daughters who, like Paul, will be bold to share the gospel across cultural barriers so that many might receive salvation.

Malay reported in the following countries (ROP3):

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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