Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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The Serawai of Indonesia

The Serawai of Indonesia, numbering approximately 327,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Malay people of southwestern Sumatra centered in Bengkulu's river valleys and foothills whose identity reflects interactions with neighboring Rejang, Minangkabau, and Pasemah communities while preserving a distinct Serawai language and culture. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Central Malay is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Serawai

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Pasemah of Sumatra
Primary Language(s): Central Malay (pse)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 327,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022536
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Pray for the Serawai 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

86%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Central Malay
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Malay, Central Speakers

Media Resources in Central Malay:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Central Malay:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1995 Lembaga Alkitab Indonesia✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Central Malay bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Serawai 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 Serawai:
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 Serawai of Indonesia

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self- made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
readColossians 2:23

Pray for those without Christ, that they will see the emptiness of human traditions and turn to the truth and grace found in Jesus.

Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, "the kingdom of God has come near to you."
readLuke 10:8-9

Pray that the lost will receive messengers of the gospel with joy, turn from their sins, and be healed.

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
readActs 2:46-47

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be devoted to the teaching of God's Word, to fellowship with one another, and to prayer.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
readHebrews 4:12

Pray that God will make His living and active Word available to everyone in this people group so that many will respond to the gospel. Ask Him to provide Jesus-followers to walk with new believers as they grow in Him.

Serawai Across Countries (ROP3 - 108855) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
SerawaiPG022536SerawaiIndonesia327,000Engaged yet UnreachedCentral MalaySunni 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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