Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
Be sure to use the data import function in your favorite app for working with data.
If you'd like to help improve these translations, Contact Us.

PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Sakalava of Mayotte

The Sakalava of Mayotte, numbering approximately 125,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Mayotte and can also be known as Bushi. They are an Diaspora people, in the Malagasy people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Bushi.

Sakalava in Mayotte photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Bernard Pez - Flickr Bernard Pez - Flickr Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-saharan Africa Peoples
Country: Mayotte
People Cluster: Malagasy
Primary Language(s): Bushi (buc)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 125,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015371
View on Joshua Project

Prayer Card
Submit Updates

Pray for the Sakalava of Mayotte

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.

Pray Now!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bushi
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Bushi Speakers

Media Resources in Bushi:

Films:

No entries found for: Bushi(buc). Help build some!

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Bushi:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Bushi bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Sakalava

The Sakalava 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 Sakalava

The Sakalava 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 Sakalava

The Sakalava 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 Sakalava of Mayotte

As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God".
readRomans 3:10-11

Pray that God will have mercy on those living in broken relationship with Him, and that He will bring many to surrender and repentance at the throne of grace.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
readRomans 3:23

Pray that the gospel will advance and many will acknowledge that all have sinned, fall short of God's glory, and need a Savior to reconcile them to God.

I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
readPsalm 89:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will declare and record His faithfulness and love to be passed on from generation to generation.

"For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."
readActs 17:23

Pray that believers God sends to cross cultures will be sensitive to the spiritual needs of the people they serve, and will proclaim the truth of Christ to them in creative ways that they will understand.

Bushi (ROP3 - 114969) reported in the following countries:

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.

Scroll to Top