The Sakalava of Mayotte

The Sakalava of Mayotte, numbering approximately 125,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are descendants of Malagasy migrants from nearby northwestern Madagascar, particularly the Sakalava ethnic groupBushi They are an Diaspora people, in the Malagasy people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Bushi.

Sakalava in Mayotte photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Bernard Pez - Flickr Bernard Pez - Flickr Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Mayotte
People Cluster: Malagasy
Primary Language(s): Bushi (buc)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 125,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015371
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Sakalava of Mayotte

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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bushi
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Bushi Speakers

Media Resources in Bushi:

Films:

No entries found for: Bushi(buc). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Bushi:

Or check out the Bushi bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Sakalava

The Sakalava 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 Sakalava

The Sakalava 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 Sakalava

The Sakalava 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 Sakalava of Mayotte

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
readPsalm 51:17

Pray that those who want to achieve salvation through their works will be unsettled in their pursuit and that, with a broken spirit and contrite heart, they will trust in Christ.

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
readMatthew 16:16

Pray that many will see clearly that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and put their trust in Him.

But my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.
readHebrews 10:38

Pray that as people trust in Christ, they will live by faith and not shrink back from their hope in Christ.

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.

Bushi (ROP3 - 114969) 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.

Scroll to Top