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

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
readJohn 3:19

Pray that God will have mercy on those who love the darkness they are walking in and turn from their sin to faith in Christ.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb’
readRevelation 7:9-10

Pray that many people will receive the gospel and will be part of the great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, clothed in white robes and palm branches, proclaiming salvation belongs to our God.

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
readIsaiah 41:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will not fear, for the Lord is with them, and He will strengthen, help, and uphold them with His righteous right hand.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
readPsalm 34:3

Pray that God will raise up believers who will go to those in this people group who do not yet follow Jesus, and that they will invite many to magnify the Lord with them so that His fame will spread to the ends of the earth.

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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