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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Murik Kayan of Malaysia

The Murik Kayan of Malaysia, numbering approximately 2,700 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as a Kayan people of Sarawak's Baram River in Malaysian Borneo, traditionally headhunting longhouse dwellers grouped among the region's Orang Ulu, known for carving river boats from single blocks of ironwood They are an Indigenous people, with Murik Kayan as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Borneo-Kalimantan people cluster of the Malay Peoples. Their primary religion is Animism. They primarily speak Murik (Malaysia).

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Malaysia
People Cluster: Borneo-Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Murik (Malaysia) (mxr)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 2,700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG009305
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Pray for the Murik 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

95%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Murik (Malaysia)
Language Family: Austronesian

70%
%
Murik (Malaysia) Speakers

Media Resources in Murik (Malaysia):

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Murik (Malaysia):

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Murik (Malaysia) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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SPI: No longer Unreached

The Murik 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 Murik 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 Murik Kayan of Malaysia

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
readMatthew 5:44-45

Pray for those who don't know Jesus to encounter believers who are kind and compassionate and that their imitation of Christ will serve as a testimony that attracts lost people to Jesus.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
readMatthew 24:14

Pray that the gospel of God's kingdom will reach more people and that they will respond in faith, becoming disciples of Jesus Christ.

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.
read1 Peter 3:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will always be prepared to share the reason for the hope that they have in Jesus with gentleness and respect.

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.

Murik Kayan Across Countries (ROP3 - 106923) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▲PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Murik KayanPG009305Murik KayanMalaysia2,700No Longer UnreachedMurik (Malaysia)Animism

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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