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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Southern Pashtun of Afghanistan

The Southern Pashtun of Afghanistan, numbering approximately 13,450,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Eastern Iranian ethnolinguistic group indigenous to southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan and can also be known as Southern Pathan, Western Pashtun, Kandahari Pashtun, Kandahari Pashtun. They are an Indigenous people, in the Pashtun people cluster of the Persian-Median affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Pashto, Southern.

Southern Pashtun in Afghanistan photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: chiplanay - Pixabay

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Central Asian Peoples
Country: Afghanistan
People Cluster: Pashtun
Primary Language(s): Pashto, Southern (pbt)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 13,450,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024009
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Southern Pashtun 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: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Sunni Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Pashto, Southern
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Pashto, Southern Speakers

Media Resources in Pashto, Southern:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Pashto, Southern:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Pashto, Southern bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Southern Pashtun

The Southern Pashtun 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 Southern Pashtun

The Southern Pashtun 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 Southern Pashtun

The Southern Pashtun 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 Southern Pashtun of Afghanistan

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
readPsalm 19:1

Pray that those who are lost will look to the heavens and see the glory of God displayed, leading them to seek Him and know Him as their Creator and Savior.

“I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation that was not called by my name."
readIsaiah 65:1

Pray that the lost will be found by God, even when they are not seeking Him. Pray that He will reveal Himself to them in a way they cannot ignore and that they will respond in faith.

Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
readPsalm 111:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will praise the Lord with their whole heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
readLuke 18:29-30

Pray that God will raise up people to go and share the gospel and help them trust His promise that anyone who has left those they treasure for the sake of the kingdom of God will receive many times more in this life and in the life to come.

Pashtun, Southern (ROP3 - 109502) 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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