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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Bantawa Rai of Nepal

The Bantawa Rai of Nepal, numbering approximately 484,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a people of Nepal, Bhojpur District, Koshi Zone; western Dhankuta District, Khotang District They are an Indigenous people, in the South Himalayan people cluster of the Himalayan Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Animism. They primarily speak Bantawa.

Bantawa Rai in Nepal photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: ????? ??? - Wikimedia ????? ??? - Wikimedia Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: Nepal
People Cluster: South Himalayan
Primary Language(s): Bantawa (bap)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Animism
Population: 484,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG006174
View on Joshua Project

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion - Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion - Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bantawa
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

%
Bantawa Speakers

Media Resources in Bantawa:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Bantawa:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Bantawa bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Bantawa Rai

The Bantawa Rai 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 Bantawa Rai

The Bantawa Rai 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 Bantawa Rai

The Bantawa Rai 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 Bantawa Rai of Nepal

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.

And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
readZechariah 2:11

Pray that many will take refuge in the Lord and be His people who share the good news of salvation in Jesus with others.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
readPhilippians 2:5-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will imitate His humility in all they do.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
readRomans 1:16

Pray that God will raise up sons and daughters who, like Paul, will be bold to share the gospel across cultural barriers so that many might receive salvation.

Rai, Bantawa (ROP3 - 101014) 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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