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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Northwest Pashayi of Afghanistan

The Northwest Pashayi of Afghanistan, numbering approximately 67,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Afghanistan, Kapisa and Laghman provinces, Gulbahar to Nuristan on Alingar River, Alisheng Valley, valleys north of Sarobi and can also be known as Northwest Pashai. They are an Indigenous people, with Pashayi as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Kashmiri people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Pashai, Northwest.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Northwest Pashayi

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: Afghanistan
People Cluster: Kashmiri
Primary Language(s): Pashai, Northwest (glh)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 67,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG023990
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Pray for the Northwest Pashayi of Afghanistan

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Pashai, Northwest
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Pashai, Northwest Speakers

Media Resources in Pashai, Northwest:

Films:

No entries found for: Pashai, Northwest(glh). Help build some!

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Bible Resources in Pashai, Northwest:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Pashai, Northwest bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Northwest Pashayi:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Northwest Pashayi 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 Northwest Pashayi:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Northwest Pashayi 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.

Next steps for the Northwest Pashayi:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Northwest Pashayi of Afghanistan

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
readEphesians 2:8-9

Pray that the lost among them will receive the gift of salvation by grace through faith, not by works, and be created for good works.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
readPsalm 25:5

Pray that the gospel will advance and that God will lead people in His truth, bringing many to salvation.

"...I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
readMatthew 16:18b

Pray that God will build and grow His Church among this people.

Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.”
readActs 17:32

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures wisdom and discernment as they engage in spiritual conversations with those who are curious about the gospel.

Pashayi, Northwest Across Countries (ROP3 - 107474) 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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