The Meadow Mari of Uzbekistan

The Meadow Mari of Uzbekistan, numbering approximately 5,600 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are described as a Volga Finnic people of central Russia who speak Meadow Mari. Their culture reflects Finno-Ugric roots and centuries of interaction with neighboring peoples, and many continue to practice the traditional Mari ethnic religion They are an Diaspora people, with Mari (Russia) as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Finno-Ugric people cluster of the Eurasian Peoples. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Mari, Meadow.

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

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Uzbekistan
People Cluster: Finno-Ugric
Primary Language(s): Mari, Meadow (mhr)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 5,600
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024305
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Pray for the Meadow Mari of Uzbekistan

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

60%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mari, Meadow
Language Family: Uralic

100%
%
Mari, Meadow Speakers

Media Resources in Mari, Meadow:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Mari, Meadow:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Institute for Bible Translation

1 entry

Or check out the Mari, Meadow bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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 Recent 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 Meadow Mari:
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

Pray specifically for the Meadow Mari of Uzbekistan

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
readLuke 15:7

Pray that God will convict the lost of their sin, give them an urgency to run to Him for forgiveness, and feel His welcoming arms around them when they turn to Him.

As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.
readMatthew 13:23

Pray that their hearts will have good soil that receives the Word, understands it, and bears fruit for God's kingdom.

But Jesus called them to him, saying "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God."
readLuke 18:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have a burden to share the hope of Christ with children.

Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
readPsalm 149:3

Pray that God will send His people across cultures to share the gospel so that those who don't yet know the truth about Him might praise His name and share the hope of Christ with others.

Mari, Meadow Across Countries (ROP3 - 105877) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

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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