The Alas of Indonesia

The Alas of Indonesia, numbering approximately 269,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are described as a patrilineal, clan-organized people of the Alas River valley in southeast Aceh, with historical and cultural ties to the Karo Batak They are an Indigenous people, with Alas as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Aceh of Sumatra people cluster of the Malay Peoples. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Batak Alas-Kluet is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Aceh of Sumatra
Primary Language(s): Batak Alas-Kluet (btz)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 269,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022478
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Alas of Indonesia

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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Batak Alas-Kluet
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Batak Alas-Kluet Speakers

Media Resources in Batak Alas-Kluet:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Batak Alas-Kluet:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Batak Alas-Kluet 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 Alas:
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 Alas of Indonesia

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.
readPsalm 62:1

Pray that those who are troubled and don't know about the God who saves will hear the good news and find rest in the one true God who can offer salvation for their souls.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
readPsalm 67:5

While there are many who do not yet praise God, pray that He will work in their lives, advance the gospel among them, and bring many to saving faith in Christ.

In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?
readPsalm 56:10-11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the Lord's promises, knowing that He will uphold them with His righteous right hand.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
read2 Corinthians 5:21

Pray that Christians will cross cultures and share the hope of Christ, and that many will trust the One who took their sins and offers them His righteousness.

Alas Across Countries (ROP3 - 100215) 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.

Scroll to Top