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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Semawa of Indonesia

The Semawa of Indonesia, numbering approximately 471,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Indonesia. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Sumbawa is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Semawa

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Bali-Sasak
Primary Language(s): Sumbawa (smw)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 471,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022776
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Pray for the Semawa 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

82%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sumbawa
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Sumbawa Speakers

Media Resources in Sumbawa:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Sumbawa:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sumbawa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Semawa 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 Semawa:
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

Pray specifically for the Semawa of Indonesia

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
readRomans 6:4

Pray that those who need to surrender their lives to Christ will confess their sins and trust in Him, being united with Him in His death and resurrection, walking in newness of life.

"O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me."
readJohn 17:25

Pray that the lost will come to know the Father and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent, and that they will be filled with His love and grace.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
readRomans 8:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the God who has given them freedom from fear so that they will trust Him completely as their good Father who meets all their needs.

And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
readColossians 1:20

As believers cross cultures to tell others about Jesus, praise God for allowing them to be a part of His reconciling all things to Himself, asking Him to help them remember their role in His beautiful plan of salvation for others.

Sumbawa Across Countries (ROP3 - 109602) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
SemawaPG022776SemawaIndonesia471,000Engaged yet UnreachedSumbawaSunni Islam

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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