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
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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

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
read1 Timothy 6:9

Pray for those, rich and poor, who have put their trust in worldly things, and ask that they will be honest with themselves, acknowledge their need for God and turn to Him.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
readPsalm 16:11

Pray that God will make a way for His path of life to be revealed to many so that they may come into His presence and experience abundant joy and eternal pleasures at His right hand.

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

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice in what God has done for them and will help others know how they can also be reconciled to God.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
readRevelation 7:9-10

Pray that the promise in Revelation 7:9-10 will encourage believers from among them or from nearby people groups to share the gospel with people who have never learned it.

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.

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