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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Melayu Riau of Indonesia

The Melayu Riau of Indonesia, numbering approximately 2,375,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a people of Indonesia (Peninsular) . They are an Indigenous people, in the Malay people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Malay.

Melayu Riau in Indonesia photo
Photo by By Jacob Talley

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Malay
Primary Language(s): Malay (zlm)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 2,375,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022517

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Pray for the Melayu Riau of Indonesia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Sunni Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Malay
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Malay Speakers

Media Resources in Malay:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Malay:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Malay bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Melayu Riau

The Melayu Riau 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 Melayu Riau

The Melayu Riau 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 Melayu Riau

The Melayu Riau 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 Melayu Riau of Indonesia

For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!
readPsalm 47:7

Pray for those who live for idols that will never satisfy their hearts, asking that someone will tell them that God is the King of all the earth so that they will turn to Him in repentance and praise.

"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."
readIsaiah 1:18

Pray that God will make a way for the gospel to reach many through means they can understand and access, that they will receive the good news with joy, and that they will experience complete forgiveness and cleansing from their sin that Jesus offers through His sacrifice.

In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?
readPsalm 56:10-11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the Lord's promises, knowing that He will uphold them with His righteous right hand.

Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
readPsalm 149:3

Pray that God will send His people across cultures to share the gospel so that those who don't yet know the truth about Him might praise His name and share the hope of Christ with others.

Malay, Riau 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.

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