The Hemshin of Turkiye

The Hemshin of Turkiye, numbering approximately 14,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Turkish speaking Muslim community with historic roots in the Hemşin district in the province of Rize, Turkey and can also be known as Homshentsi, Hemshinli, Hamshenis. They are an Indigenous people, in the Armenian people cluster of the Eurasian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Armenian, Western.

Hemshin in Turkiye photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: CharlesFred - Flickr CharlesFred - Flickr Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Central Asian Peoples
Country: Turkiye
People Cluster: Armenian
Primary Language(s): Armenian, Western (hyw)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 14,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG048629

Pray for the Hemshin of Turkiye

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: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Sunni Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Armenian, Western
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Armenian, Western Speakers

Bible Resources in Armenian, Western:

Or check out the Armenian, Western bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Hemshin

The Hemshin 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 Hemshin

The Hemshin 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 Hemshin

The Hemshin 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 Hemshin of Turkiye

For one will scarcely die for a righteous personóthough perhaps for a good person one would dare even to dieóbut God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
readRomans 5:7-8

Pray for the many who don't yet understand the hope of the gospel, and pray that God will reveal to them that while they were in darkness, Christ died for them.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
readPsalm 19:1-2

Pray that the lost will see the glory of God revealed in the heavens, that they will hear the good news, and that their hearts will be softened to respond to God’s call, turning to Him in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of host.
readJeremiah 15:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will find joy and delight in the Word of the Lord.

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
read2 Thessalonians 3:1-3

Pray that the Word of God will spread throughout this people group and be honored. Ask God to establish His people and guard them from the evil one, testifying to this whole people group of His great faithfulness.

Hemshinli (ROP3 - 115399) 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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