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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Southern Sama of Philippines

The Southern Sama of Philippines, numbering approximately 214,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic subgroup of the Sama, an Austronesian ethnic group indigenous to the Sulu Archipelago islands within the Mindanao region of the Philippines They are an Indigenous people, with Sama (Filipino) as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Filipino, Muslim people cluster of the Malay Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Sama, Southern.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Southern Sama

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino, Muslim
Primary Language(s): Sama, Southern (ssb)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 214,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007774
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Pray for the Southern Sama 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sama, Southern
Language Family: Austronesian

95%
%
Sama, Southern Speakers

Media Resources in Sama, Southern:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Sama, Southern:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sama, Southern bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Southern Sama 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.

Next steps for the Southern Sama:
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

Pray specifically for the Southern Sama of Philippines

Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together.
readGenesis 22:8

Pray that God will open the ears of those who are lost to understand and believe that only shed blood takes away sin and that, like Abraham, they will believe that God Himself provides the lamb for the burnt offering, who is Jesus the final, perfect sacrifice.

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
readLuke 5:27-28

Prat that God will prepare many hearts to meet Him when He says, “Follow Me!” and that they will respond in faith, leaving everything behind to follow Him.

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
readMatthew 18:19

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they find other believers to pray with, and that they will trust God to answer their requests according to His will.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
readHebrews 4:12

Pray that God will make His living and active Word available to everyone in this people group so that many will respond to the gospel. Ask Him to provide Jesus-followers to walk with new believers as they grow in Him.

Sama, Southern Across Countries (ROP3 - 109515) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Southern SamaPG018266Southern SamaMalaysia500,000Engaged yet UnreachedSama, SouthernSunni Islam
Southern SamaPG007774Southern SamaPhilippines214,000Engaged yet UnreachedSama, SouthernSunni Islam

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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