The Abaknon Sama of Philippines

The Abaknon Sama of Philippines, numbering approximately 33,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an indigenous Sama-Bajaw people centered on Capul Island in Northern Samar, whose Inabaknon language distinguishes them from neighboring Visayan-speaking peoples. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Inabaknon is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Abaknon Sama

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino, Central
Primary Language(s): Inabaknon (abx)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 33,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007605
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Abaknon Sama of Philippines

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

64%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Inabaknon
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Inabaknon Speakers

Media Resources in Inabaknon:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Inabaknon:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Inabaknon bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Abaknon Sama 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 Abaknon Sama:
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 Abaknon Sama of Philippines

Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together.
readGenesis 22:8

Pray that God will open the ears of those who are lost to understand and believe that only shed blood takes away sin and that, like Abraham, they will believe that God Himself provides the lamb for the burnt offering, who is Jesus the final, perfect sacrifice.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
readPsalm 119:105

Pray that they will receive the Word of God as a lamp to their feet and commit their ways to Him.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
readJohn 10:27

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will hear God's voice and will have the great assurance that no one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.

At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ...that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
readColossians 4:3-4

Ask God to open doors for believers to share the gospel and help them communicate it clearly so that more people will understand the mystery of Christ and turn to follow Him.

Abaknon Sama Across Countries (ROP3 - 100006) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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