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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.

Pray Now!
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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

As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God".
readRomans 3:10-11

Pray that God will have mercy on those living in broken relationship with Him, and that He will bring many to surrender and repentance at the throne of grace.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
readMatthew 13: 45-46

Pray that they will recognize the treasure of knowing Christ Jesus and be willing to give up everything else to gain Him.

Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.
readExodus 4:12

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, God will equip them with the words and wisdom to proclaim His message effectively.

To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
read1 Corinthians 9:22

Ask God to raise up believers from around the world to go and share the hope of Jesus with the lost so that they might trust in Him and have the hope of eternal life.

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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