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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Betsileo of Madagascar

The Betsileo of Madagascar, numbering approximately 5,285,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an indigenous community of Madagascar; a dialect subgroup of Plateau Malagasy (plt). They are an Indigenous people, in the Malagasy people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Malagasy, Merina.

Betsileo in Madagascar photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: A Lovely World

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-saharan Africa Peoples
Country: Madagascar
People Cluster: Malagasy
Primary Language(s): Malagasy, Merina (plt)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 5,285,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015294
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Betsileo of Madagascar

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Malagasy, Merina
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Malagasy, Merina Speakers

Media Resources in Malagasy, Merina:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Malagasy, Merina:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Malagasy, Merina bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Betsileo

The Betsileo 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 Betsileo

The Betsileo 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 Betsileo

The Betsileo 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 Betsileo of Madagascar

Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life"
readJohn 4:13-14

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will drink of the living water that only Christ can provide and never thirst again.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
readPsalm 16:11

Pray that God will make a way for His path of life to be revealed to many so that they may come into His presence and experience abundant joy and eternal pleasures at His right hand.

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
readLuke 18:17

Pray that as people trust in Christ, they will have simple, childlike confidence that He will provide for their needs.

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
readActs 13:47

Pray that as people come to faith, they will follow the Lord's leading to go to their neighbors and share the treasure they found in Christ.

Betsileo (ROP3 - 101301) 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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