The Badjao Sama of Philippines

The Badjao Sama of Philippines, numbering approximately 144,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic subgroup of the Sama, an Austronesian ethnic group indigenous to the Sulu Archipelago islands within the Mindanao region of the Philippines and can also be known as Central Sama. They are an Indigenous people, in the Filipino, Muslim people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Sama, Central.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Reigthzhyl Zrcn

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino, Muslim
Primary Language(s): Sama, Central (sml)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 144,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007762

Pray for the Badjao 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: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Sunni Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sama, Central
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Sama, Central Speakers

Media Resources in Sama, Central:

Films:

Bible Resources in Sama, Central:

Next steps for the Badjao Sama

The Badjao Sama 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 Badjao Sama

The Badjao 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.

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 Badjao Sama

The Badjao Sama 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 Badjao Sama of Philippines

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
readMatthew 5:6

Pray for those who are lost to desire righteousness and to be filled with the peace and purpose that only comes from following Jesus.

Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.
readMatthew 13:8-9

Pray that they will have open hearts and minds to the Word of God, and that it will take root in their lives and bear fruit for His glory.

Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.
readEphesians 6:18

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be alert and persistent in prayer for all believers, offering their requests with thanksgiving.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that God will send and sustain believers to cross cultures and share the gospel with the lost. Ask that He will give them His heart for the lost and that many will believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life.

Sama, Badjao 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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