The Portuguese Jews of Israel

The Portuguese Jews of Israel, numbering approximately 2,700 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a repatriated diaspora community of Portuguese-speaking Jews in Israel. They are an Diaspora people, in the Jews people cluster of the Jews affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Judaism. They primarily speak Portuguese.

Surinamese Jews in Suriname photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Cabeca de Marmore - Shutterstock Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: North Africa and Middle East Peoples
Country: Israel
People Cluster: Jews
Primary Language(s): Portuguese (por)
Primary Religion(s): Judaism
Population: 2,700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011758
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Portuguese Jews of Israel

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: Judaism
Religious Affiliation: Judaism

%
Judaism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Portuguese
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Portuguese Speakers

Bible Resources in Portuguese:

Or check out the Portuguese bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Portuguese Jews

The Portuguese Jews 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 Portuguese Jews

The Portuguese Jews 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 Portuguese Jews

The Portuguese Jews 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 Portuguese Jews of Israel

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
readRomans 5:10

Pray that any who may be enemies of God will grasp the depth of God's love demonstrated through Christ's death for the ungodly, and be reconciled to Him.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that the lost will not perish but come to repentance and that God's patience and long-suffering will lead them to salvation.

Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!
readPsalm 105:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and may feel weak in their current circumstances, they will seek the Lord's presence and persevere in the Lord's strength.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
readActs 1:8

Pray that God will raise up believers who are willing to cross cultures and boldly share the good news of Jesus with the lost in this people group and from every nation.

Jew, Portuguese (ROP3 - 108133) reported in the following countries:

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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