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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portuguese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Español | Tagalog / Filipino
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The Yelmek of Indonesia

The Yelmek of Indonesia, numbering approximately 800 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Indigenous Papuan people of southern New Guinea, traditionally centered in the Wanam, Bibikem, Woboyo, and Dodalim villages west of Merauke. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Indonesian is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Yelmek

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Indonesian (ind)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 800
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG023105
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Pray for the Yelmek 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

58%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Indonesian
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Indonesian Speakers

Media Resources in Indonesian:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

4 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Indonesian:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Indonesian New Translation (formal) Version, 1974✓✓✓
Indonesian New Translation (formal) Version, 1974✓✓
Plain Indonesian Translation✓✓
Sehari-hari✓
Shellabear NT Kitab Suci Injil (Terjemahan 1912)✓✓✓
Shellabear OT Association for the Restoration of the 1912 Translation✓✓

6 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Indonesian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Yelmek 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 Yelmek:
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 Yelmek of Indonesia

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
readPsalm 67:4

Pray that those who are lost in darkness and confusion will come to understand God's ways, submit to His righteous rule, and experience the joy of His salvation.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
readRomans 9:16

Pray that the merciful God who is at work in people's hearts will advance His gospel among them.

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot... indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
readPsalm 16:5-6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and face hardship, they will remember that God is their portion and cup and that He has a beautiful inheritance for them.

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
readJohn 7:38

Ask God to raise up believers and sustain them as they cross cultures to share hope with those who need it. Pray that many might come to know Christ and that streams of living water will flow from their hearts so they will never thirst again.

Yelmek Across Countries (ROP3 - 111025) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
YelmekPG023105YelmekIndonesia800No Longer UnreachedIndonesianProtestantism

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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