Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Mentawai of Indonesia

The Mentawai of Indonesia, numbering approximately 79,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Indonesia They are an Indigenous people, in the Batak-Nias of Sumatra people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Protestantism. They primarily speak Mentawai.

Mentawai in Indonesia photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Greg n Trees

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Batak-Nias of Sumatra
Primary Language(s): Mentawai (mwv)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Protestantism
Population: 79,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG022518
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Mentawai of Indonesia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Protestant… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mentawai
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Mentawai Speakers

Media Resources in Mentawai:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Mentawai:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mentawai bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Mentawai

The Mentawai 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 Mentawai

The Mentawai 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 Mentawai

The Mentawai 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 Mentawai of Indonesia

The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever!
readPsalm 22:26

Pray that the lost will feel a deep hunger for God, be drawn to Him in their affliction, and find lasting satisfaction and salvation in Him alone.

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
readPsalm 96:3

Pray for people to hear and believe the good news of Jesus and joyfully share it with their family and friends.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
readRevelation 21:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through challenges, they will find comfort in God's promise of a beautiful future when there is no pain or suffering for those who belong to Christ.

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
readActs 13:47

Pray that as people come to faith, they will follow the Lord's leading to go to their neighbors and share the treasure they found in Christ.

Mentawaian (ROP3 - 106551) 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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