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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Mandaeans of Iran

The Mandaeans of Iran, numbering approximately 11,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are described as an ancient ethnoreligious group whose religion, Mandaeism, is considered one of the last surviving Gnostic faiths They are an Indigenous people, with Mandaean as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Assyrian people cluster of the Arab Peoples. Their primary religion is Mandaeism. They primarily speak Persian, Iranian.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Suomen Mandean Yhdistys - Wikimedia Suomen Mandean Yhdistys - Wikimedia Licensed under CC BY 4.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Iran
People Cluster: Assyrian
Primary Language(s): Persian, Iranian (pes)
Primary Religion(s): Mandaeism
Population: 11,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024188
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Pray for the Mandaeans of Iran

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Mandaeism
Religious Affiliation: Other

100%
%
Mandaeism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Persian, Iranian
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Persian, Iranian Speakers

Media Resources in Persian, Iranian:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Persian, Iranian:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Persian, Iranian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Mandaeans:
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 Mandaeans 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 Mandaeans:
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 Mandaeans 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 Mandaeans:
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 Mandaeans of Iran

The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.
readProverbs 4:19

Pray that lost people will 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.

Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!
readPsalm 105:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and may feel weak in their current circumstances, they will seek the Lord's presence and persevere in the Lord's strength.

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.
readPsalm 67:1-2

Pray that as God blesses believers from among this people group or from nearby cultures, He will raise them up to share His saving power among the nations.

Mandaean Across Countries (ROP3 - 106221) 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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