The Baram Kayan of Malaysia

The Baram Kayan of Malaysia, numbering approximately 10,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a subgroup of the Kayan people, an indigenous Dayak group native to Borneo, primarily in Sarawak, Malaysia, and parts of East Kalimantan, Indonesia. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Baram Kayan is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Baram Kayan

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Malaysia
People Cluster: Borneo-Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Baram Kayan (kys)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 10,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG009203
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Baram Kayan of Malaysia

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

41%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Baram Kayan
Language Family: Austronesian

70%
%
Kayan, Baram Speakers

Media Resources in Baram Kayan:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Baram Kayan:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Baram Kayan bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Baram Kayan 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.

Next steps for the Baram Kayan:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Baram Kayan of Malaysia

But he said, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:27

Praise God that He is the God of impossible things and that He is able to save even those who seem beyond hope.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
read2 Timothy 4:3-4

Pray that the lost will be open to the truth of the gospel and turn from false teachings and myths to the sound doctrine of Christ in faith.

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

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will meditate daily on the Word of God so that, through it, they might have wisdom for the big and small decisions they face every day.

And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."
readMatthew 25:40

Ask God to raise up and send believers who will serve "the least of these" with compassion and energy because they know that in serving those in need, they are serving Christ.

Baram Kayan Across Countries (ROP3 - 101040) 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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