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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Bisaya of Malaysia

The Bisaya of Malaysia, numbering approximately 85,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Kadazan-Dusun tribe indigenous to the northwest coast of East Malaysia on the island of Borneo and can also be known as Sabah Bisaya. They are an Indigenous people, in the Borneo-Kalimantan people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Bisaya, Sabah.

Bisayas in United States photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: MySabah.com Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Peoples
Country: Malaysia
People Cluster: Borneo-Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Bisaya, Sabah (bsy)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 85,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG018475

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Pray for the Bisaya of Malaysia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Sunni Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bisaya, Sabah
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Bisaya, Sabah Speakers

Media Resources in Bisaya, Sabah:

Films:

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Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Bisaya, Sabah:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Bisaya, Sabah bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Bisaya

The Bisaya 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 Bisaya

The Bisaya 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 Bisaya

The Bisaya 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 Bisaya of Malaysia

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
readJohn 3:17

Pray for those who are living under the burdens of man-made religion to learn about the freedom Jesus offers them and turn to Him in faith.

For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God!
readDeuteronomy 32:3

Pray that believers will proclaim the Lord’s name and declare the greatness of our God so that others might believe in Him.

"And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you"...And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."
readMatthew 25:38-40

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and serve others in faithfulness to Him, they will know that by serving others, they are serving Jesus, who is present with them.

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
readActs 17:30

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will boldly and lovingly declare that God commands all people everywhere to repent.

Bisaya (ROP3 - 101489) 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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