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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Mahafaly of Madagascar

The Mahafaly of Madagascar, numbering approximately 474,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a people of Madagascar They are an Indigenous people, in the Malagasy people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Animism. They primarily speak Malagasy, Tandroy-Mahafaly.

Mahafaly in Madagascar photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Bob Allen

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Madagascar
People Cluster: Malagasy
Primary Language(s): Malagasy, Tandroy-Mahafaly (tdx)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Animism
Population: 474,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG033363
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Mahafaly of Madagascar

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: Ethnoreligion - Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion - Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Malagasy, Tandroy-Mahafaly
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Malagasy, Tandroy-Mahafaly Speakers

Media Resources in Malagasy, Tandroy-Mahafaly:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Malagasy, Tandroy-Mahafaly:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Malagasy, Tandroy-Mahafaly bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Mahafaly

The Mahafaly 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 Mahafaly

The Mahafaly 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 Mahafaly

The Mahafaly 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 Mahafaly of Madagascar

For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
readPsalm 18:31

As people look to their own efforts for hope, pray they will have the opportunity to learn and believe in the Lord, who is the only Rock worthy of their faith.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that the lost will seek God and learn that they have a heavenly Father who loves them and wants them to live eternally with Him.

Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
readHebrews 10:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will not neglect meeting together but encourage one another as they see the Day approaching.

And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
read2 Corinthians 12:28

Ask God to raise up believers who will faithfully proclaim the good news and equip others to do the same.

Mahafaly (ROP3 - 106024) 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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