The Paresi of Brazil

The Paresi of Brazil, numbering approximately 2,100 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Arawakan people of Mato Grosso's Serra dos Parecis whose population, estimated as high as 20,000 before 18th-century gold prospectors began enslaving them for the mines, was driven to near extinction before survivors retreated into the Serra highlands. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Parecís is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Paresi

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Brazil
People Cluster: South American Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Parecís (pab)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 2,100
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG017063
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Pray for the Paresi of Brazil

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Parecís
Language Family: Arawakan

100%
%
Parecís Speakers

Media Resources in Parecís:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Parecís:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Bible League International✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Parecís bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Paresi 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.

Next steps for the Paresi:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Paresi of Brazil

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
readIsaiah 49:13

Thank the Lord for the people here and ask that His gospel will flow through this land to bring hope to those who are afflicted by the guilt of sin.

Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the LORD; exult before him!
readPsalm 68:4

Pray that many will come to faith in Christ and share the gospel with others so that His salvation will be known among all nations.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 8:38-39

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have confidence in their salvation, knowing that nothing can separate them from the One who conquered death and loves them as His children.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
read2 Corinthians 5:21

Pray that Christians will cross cultures and share the hope of Christ, and that many will trust the One who took their sins and offers them His righteousness.

Paresi Across Countries (ROP3 - 107893) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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

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