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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Murik Kayan of Malaysia

The Murik Kayan of Malaysia, numbering approximately 2,700 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as a Kayan people of Sarawak's Baram River in Malaysian Borneo, traditionally headhunting longhouse dwellers grouped among the region's Orang Ulu, known for carving river boats from single blocks of ironwood They are an Indigenous people, with Murik Kayan as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Borneo-Kalimantan people cluster of the Malay Peoples. Their primary religion is Animism. They primarily speak Murik (Malaysia).

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Malaysia
People Cluster: Borneo-Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Murik (Malaysia) (mxr)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 2,700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG009305
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Pray for the Murik Kayan 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

95%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Murik (Malaysia)
Language Family: Austronesian

70%
%
Murik (Malaysia) Speakers

Media Resources in Murik (Malaysia):

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Murik (Malaysia):

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Murik (Malaysia) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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SPI: No longer Unreached

The Murik Kayan 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 Murik Kayan:
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 Murik Kayan of Malaysia

For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
readIsaiah 48:11

Pray that those who have been living for their own glory will turn to the One who is worthy of all praise and find their true identity in Him.

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
readMark 4:20

Pray that those who have never encountered the gospel will have the opportunity to receive it, and that it will fall on good soil and bear much fruit.

Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
readPsalm 6:8

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, God will remind them that He is near and will help them place their hope in Him when others wish to do them harm.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that God will send and sustain believers to cross cultures and share the gospel with the lost. Ask that He will give them His heart for the lost and that many will believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life.

Murik Kayan Across Countries (ROP3 - 106923) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Murik KayanPG009305Murik KayanMalaysia2,700No Longer UnreachedMurik (Malaysia)Animism

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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