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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Aanaar Saami of Finland

The Aanaar Saami of Finland, numbering approximately 750 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are one of the distinct Sámi ethnolinguistic communities of northern Finland and can also be known as Saamelainen, Aanaar Sami, Anarâškielâ, Inari Saami, Aanaar Sámi, Saame, Lapp. They are an Indigenous people, in the Finno-Ugric, Saami people cluster of the Eurasian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Protestantism. They primarily speak Finnish.

Aanaar Saami in Finland photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. By Mickey Bo - Flickr

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: European Peoples
Country: Finland
People Cluster: Finno-Ugric, Saami
Primary Language(s): Finnish (fin)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Protestantism
Population: 750
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG000110

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Protestant… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Finnish
Language Family: Uralic

%
Finnish Speakers

Media Resources in Finnish:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Finnish:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

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Next steps for the Aanaar Saami

The Aanaar Saami 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 Aanaar Saami

The Aanaar Saami 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 Aanaar Saami

The Aanaar Saami 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 Aanaar Saami of Finland

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."
readLuke 1:46-47

Pray that those who are lost will recognize their need for a Savior and joyfully embrace the mercy that God offers.

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
readRomans 5:11

Pray for the gospel to advance and for more people to be brought into God's family through the reconciliation Jesus offers them.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.
readHebrews 10:26

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will live with reverence for God and not deliberately keep sinning after they receive the knowledge of the truth.

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
readJeremiah 29:7

Pray that God will lead the lost among them to followers of Jesus who will share the gospel with them so that they may believe and take the message of hope to their families and friends.

Saami, Inari reported in the following countries (ROP3):

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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