The Adabe of Timor-Leste

The Adabe of Timor-Leste, numbering approximately 6,700 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of East Timor. They are an Indigenous people in the Timor people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Atauran and their primary religion is Roman Catholicism.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Anonymous

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Timor-Leste
People Cluster: Timor
Primary Language(s): Atauran (adb)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 6,700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG023117
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Adabe of Timor-Leste

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: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

61%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Atauran
Language Family: Bookkeeping

100%
%
Atauran Speakers

Media Resources in Atauran:

Films:

No entries found for: Atauran(adb). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Atauran:

Or check out the Atauran bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), 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): Significantly Reached People Group, (LPI: 6), > 20% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical (GSEC: 6), this people group is greater than or equal to 10% evangelical

Next steps for the Adabe:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Adabe are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Adabe:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Adabe 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 Adabe:
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 Adabe of Timor-Leste

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
readJohn 3:18

Pray for those who are living under the burden of their sin to believe in Jesus, the only Son of God, and receive freedom.

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
readRomans 5:11

Pray for the gospel to advance and for more people to be brought into God's family through the reconciliation Jesus offers them.

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
read2 Corinthians 9:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the principle of sowing and reaping, and be generous in their giving and serving, knowing that they will reap a generous harvest.

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
readLuke 18:29-30

Pray that God will raise up people to go and share the gospel and help them trust His promise that anyone who has left those they treasure for the sake of the kingdom of God will receive many times more in this life and in the life to come.

Adabe Across Countries (ROP3 - 100050) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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