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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Yanesha of Peru

The Yanesha of Peru, numbering approximately 7,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Arawakan-speaking tribe of Amerindians who are closely related to the Campa. Lorenzo Amuesha, Yanesha' They are an Indigenous people, in the South American Indigenous people cluster of the Latin American and Caribbean Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Animism. They primarily speak Yanesha’.

Yanesha in Peru photo
Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Yanesha

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: American Peoples
Country: Peru
People Cluster: South American Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Yanesha’ (ame)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Animism
Population: 7,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG017496
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Pray for the Yanesha of Peru

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: Ethnoreligion - Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion - Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Yanesha’
Language Family: Arawakan

%
Yanesha’ Speakers

Media Resources in Yanesha’:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Yanesha’:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Yanesha’ bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Yanesha

The Yanesha 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 Yanesha

The Yanesha 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 Yanesha

The Yanesha 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 Yanesha of Peru

And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
readExodus 14:22

Pray that the God who split the sea so that the Israelites might pass through would do another great work among these people, softening the hearts of those who remain lost to the good news and saving them from their sins.

For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples.
readLuke 2:30

Pray that the lost will see the salvation of God, and that they will trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
readPsalm 6:8

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, God will remind them that He is near and will help them place their hope in Him when others wish to do them harm.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe."
readJohn 6:35-36

Praise God for the things such as bread that He has provided as natural conversation bridges to the gospel. Pray that believers will use any bridges He provides to share the gospel with those who do not yet know the good news.

Yanesha (ROP3 - 100307) 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.

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