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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Batak Simalungun of Indonesia

The Batak Simalungun of Indonesia, numbering approximately 1,625,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Indonesia (Sumatra), north Sumatra, northeast of Lake Toba They are an Indigenous people, with Batak as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Batak-Nias of Sumatra people cluster of the Malay Peoples. Their primary religion is Protestantism. They primarily speak Batak Simalungun.

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

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Batak-Nias of Sumatra
Primary Language(s): Batak Simalungun (bts)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 1,625,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG022485
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Pray for the Batak Simalungun 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Batak Simalungun
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Batak Simalungun Speakers

Media Resources in Batak Simalungun:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Batak Simalungun:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Formal Batak Simalungun Version, 2007✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Batak Simalungun bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Batak Simalungun 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 Batak Simalungun:
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 Batak Simalungun of Indonesia

That they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.
readActs 17:27

Pray that those who don't yet know Christ will search diligently for God and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
readActs 6:7

Pray that the Word of God will be increasingly available to these people in ways they will resonate with so that all may have a chance to respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
readMark 10:29-30

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will know that when they make sacrifices to follow Jesus, He is there with them and will bless them abundantly in this life and in the life to come.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
readPsalm 9:18

Pray that God will raise up believers who can help meet emotional and physical needs among this people group. Ask Him to open doors for them and give them the courage to walk into difficult situations and share the hope of the gospel boldly.

Batak Simalungun Across Countries (ROP3 - 101127) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Batak SimalungunPG022485Batak SimalungunIndonesia1,625,000No Longer UnreachedBatak SimalungunProtestantism

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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