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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Sembakung Murut of Malaysia

The Sembakung Murut of Malaysia, numbering approximately 10,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Proto-Malay hill people of the Sembakung River spanning northern Kalimantan and Sabah, whose name means hill people, formerly shifting cultivators who used the river as their highway and were among the last Bornean tribes to abandon headhunting. They mostly adhere to Animism and Sembakung Murut is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Sembakung Murut

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Malaysia
People Cluster: Borneo-Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Sembakung Murut (sbr)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 10,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG009334
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Pray for the Sembakung Murut 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

90%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sembakung Murut
Language Family: Austronesian

70%
%
Murut, Sembakung Speakers

Media Resources in Sembakung Murut:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Sembakung Murut:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sembakung Murut bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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SPI: No longer Unreached

The Sembakung Murut 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 Sembakung Murut:
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 Sembakung Murut of Malaysia

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
readJames 2:5

Pray for those living in despair to experience the riches of God's love and the hope of eternal life through faith in Christ.

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
readLuke 13:3

Pray that the lost will repent and believe the gospel, for without it, they will perish.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
readPsalm 22:27

Pray that all families of the nations will worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.

And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.
readLuke 10:6

Pray that, as people come to faith in Christ and want to share it with others, they will be welcomed into homes and received well so that they can share message of hope with many people.

Murut, Sembakung Across Countries (ROP3 - 108823) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Sembakung MurutPG022613Sembakung MurutIndonesia4,300No Longer UnreachedSembakung MurutAnimism
Sembakung MurutPG009334Sembakung MurutMalaysia10,500No Longer UnreachedSembakung MurutAnimism

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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