The Mag-anchi Sambal of Philippines

The Mag-anchi Sambal of Philippines, numbering approximately 16,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Aeta hunter-gatherer people of the Zambales-Tarlac-Pampanga uplands in Central Luzon, among the most genetically ancient populations known, who adopted the Austronesian language of their lowland neighbors. They mostly adhere to Animism and Mag-antsi Ayta is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Mag-anchi Sambal

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino Tribal
Primary Language(s): Mag-antsi Ayta (sgb)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 16,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007722
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Mag-anchi Sambal of Philippines

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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

60%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mag-antsi Ayta
Language Family: Austronesian

69%
%
Ayta, Mag-antsi Speakers

Media Resources in Mag-antsi Ayta:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Mag-antsi Ayta:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2006 Bible League✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Mag-antsi Ayta bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Mag-anchi Sambal 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 Mag-anchi Sambal:
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 Mag-anchi Sambal of Philippines

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
readMatthew 4:16

Pray that those living in darkness and the shadow of death will see a great light and turn to the Lord for salvation.

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
readRomans 5:11

Pray for the gospel to advance and for more people to be brought into God's family through the reconciliation Jesus offers them.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
readTitus 3:4-5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and might struggle with temptation to trust in their own works, they will remember that it is only because of God's mercy that they have been saved.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
readIsaiah 43:19

Praise the God who is able to make a way forward, even when it seems impossible. Ask Him to do a new thing among this people group specifically and among the nations, raising up believers to go and share the gospel with individuals and places where it has not flourished before.

Sambal, Mag-Anchi Across Countries (ROP3 - 106007) 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.

Scroll to Top