The Jarai of Cambodia

The Jarai of Cambodia, numbering approximately 21,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Austronesian ethnic group indigenous to Vietnam's Central Highlands and can also be known as Chrai, Montagnards. They are an Diaspora people, in the Cham people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Animism. They primarily speak Jarai.

Jarai in Cambodia photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Cambodia Research Network Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Peoples
Country: Cambodia
People Cluster: Cham
Primary Language(s): Jarai (jra)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Animism
Population: 21,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG020437

Pray for the Jarai of Cambodia

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 - Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion - Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Jarai
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Jarai Speakers

Media Resources in Jarai:

Films:

Bible Resources in Jarai:

Or check out the Jarai bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Jarai

The Jarai 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 Jarai

The Jarai 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 Jarai

The Jarai 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 Jarai of Cambodia

That they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.
readActs 17:27

Pray that those who don't yet know Christ will search diligently for God and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
readPsalm 127:3

Pray that God will bless this generation of children, that they will come to know Jesus early in life and follow Him always.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples."
readJohn 8:31

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Christ daily, depending on Him for every need.

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
readRomans 10:15

Pray that God will call many believers who will obediently go and share the gospel with those who desperately need it.

Jarai 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.

Scroll to Top