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The Bateq of Malaysia

The Bateq of Malaysia, numbering approximately 1,800 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Semang Negrito people of Peninsular Malaysia's Taman Negara rainforest, among the earliest Orang Asli to settle the peninsula, calling themselves Batek Teh or forest people while retaining a nomadic hunting and gathering life. They mostly adhere to Animism and Batek is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Bateq

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Malaysia
People Cluster: West Malaysia Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Batek (btq)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 1,800
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG009204
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Pray for the Bateq of Malaysia

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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

63%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Batek
Language Family: Austroasiatic

70%
%
Batek Speakers

Media Resources in Batek:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Batek:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Batek bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Bateq 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 Bateq:
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 Bateq of Malaysia

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
readRomans 10:14

Pray that those who haven't heard will hear the Word of Christ and believe in Him, calling upon the name of the Lord to be saved.

And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
readZechariah 2:11

Pray that many will take refuge in the Lord and be His people who share the good news of salvation in Jesus with others.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
readRomans 5:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice in the hope of glory and be in awe of God's mercy that gives them access to Him through faith.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
readJohn 1:12

Pray that believers will have the opportunity to clearly share the good news with the lost here, so that all people can be invited to trust in Jesus and become children of God.

Bateq Across Countries (ROP3 - 101131) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
BateqPG009204BateqMalaysia1,800No Longer UnreachedBatekAnimism

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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