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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Southern Zaza of Turkiye

The Southern Zaza of Turkiye, numbering approximately 1,780,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Turkey (Asia) and can also be known as Dimli Kurd. They are an Indigenous people, in the Kurd people cluster of the Persian-Median affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Zazaki, Southern.

Southern Zaza in Turkiye photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: CharlesFred - Flickr CharlesFred - Flickr Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Central Asian Peoples
Country: Turkiye
People Cluster: Kurd
Primary Language(s): Zazaki, Southern (diq)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 1,780,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046644

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Pray for the Southern Zaza of Turkiye

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: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Sunni Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Zazaki, Southern
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Zazaki, Southern Speakers

Media Resources in Zazaki, Southern:

Films:

No entries found for: Zazaki, Southern(diq). Help build some!

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Zazaki, Southern:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Zazaki, Southern bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Southern Zaza

The Southern Zaza are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Southern Zaza

The Southern Zaza 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.

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

Next steps for the Southern Zaza

The Southern Zaza 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Southern Zaza of Turkiye

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
readExodus 2:23-24

As the lost among them labor, groan, and cry out under false religions and sin, pray God will have mercy on them and hear their cries, that He will be their Rescuer from the kingdom of darkness and bring them into the kingdom of light.

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.

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
readMatthew 28:18-20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have confidence because Jesus has all authority and is with them as they make disciples and teach others about Him.

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
read2 Corinthians 1:11

Pray that many people will join in praying for the spread of the gospel here, and that God will answer these prayers by drawing more people to Himself.

Zaza-Dimli reported in the following countries (ROP3):

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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