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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Wakhi of Afghanistan

The Wakhi of Afghanistan, numbering approximately 17,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an indigenous community of Afghanistan and can also be known as Wakhani, Wakhi, Wakhani. They are an Indigenous people, in the Tajik people cluster of the Persian-Median affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Shia. They primarily speak Wakhi.

Wakhi in Tajikistan photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Robertino Radovix - Flickr Robertino Radovix - Flickr Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Central Asian Peoples
Country: Afghanistan
People Cluster: Tajik
Primary Language(s): Wakhi (wbl)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Shia
Population: 17,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG023984
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Wakhi of Afghanistan

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Shia
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Shia Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Wakhi
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Wakhi Speakers

Media Resources in Wakhi:

Films:

No entries found for: Wakhi(wbl). Help build some!

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Wakhi:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Wakhi bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Wakhi

The Wakhi 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 Wakhi

The Wakhi 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 Wakhi

The Wakhi 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 Wakhi of Afghanistan

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
readPsalm 1:6

As many look for hope in worldly pleasures, pray they will hear and accept salvation through Christ, turn from destruction, and experience joy in the way of righteousness.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
readPsalm 1:1-2

Pray that God will call out many sons and daughters from among them and give them a deep love for His Word.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
readRomans 10:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and sometimes have doubts, God will help them remember and trust the power of Jesus to save them from their sins.

And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
readLuke 10:2

Ask God to send out laborers into His harvest field, raising up believers from around the world to go and proclaim the kingdom of God with those who need to hear it.

Guhjali, Wakhi (ROP3 - 103535) 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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