The Serawai of Indonesia

The Serawai of Indonesia, numbering approximately 326,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a Malay people of southwestern Sumatra centered in Bengkulu's river valleys and foothills whose identity reflects interactions with neighboring Rejang, Minangkabau, and Pasemah communities while preserving a distinct Serawai language and culture They are an Indigenous people, with Serawai as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Pasemah of Sumatra people cluster of the Malay Peoples. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Central Malay is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Serawai

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Pasemah of Sumatra
Primary Language(s): Central Malay (pse)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 326,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022536
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Serawai of Indonesia

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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

86%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Central Malay
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Malay, Central Speakers

Media Resources in Central Malay:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Central Malay:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1995 Lembaga Alkitab Indonesia✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Central Malay bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Serawai 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.

Next steps for the Serawai:
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

Pray specifically for the Serawai of Indonesia

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRom 6:23

Pray that those who haven't heard yet will hear and believe that the wages of their sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
readJohn 8:12

Pray that many will come to know Jesus, the light of the world, and have the light of life instead of walking in darkness.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
readIsaiah 53:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will find comfort and spiritual healing as they remember the wounds of Christ, who understands their suffering because He also walked through suffering on their behalf.

And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
readColossians 1:20

As believers cross cultures to tell others about Jesus, praise God for allowing them to be a part of His reconciling all things to Himself, asking Him to help them remember their role in His beautiful plan of salvation for others.

Serawai Across Countries (ROP3 - 108855) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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 Data Standards section.

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