The Desana of Colombia

The Desana of Colombia, numbering approximately 2,300 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an Indigenous people of the Colombian Amazon, belonging to the Eastern Tukanoan cultural and linguistic complex. They are one of several river‑based societies living in the Vaupés River basin. They are an Indigenous people, in the South American Indigenous people cluster of the Latin American and Caribbean Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Animism. They primarily speak Desano.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Desana

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: American Peoples
Country: Colombia
People Cluster: South American Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Desano (des)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Animism
Population: 2,300
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG016245
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Desana of Colombia

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 - Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Desano
Language Family: Tucanoan

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Media Resources in Desano:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Desano:

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Or check out the Desano bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Desana

The Desana 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 Desana

The Desana 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 Desana

The Desana 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 Desana of Colombia

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
read1 John 3:8

Pray for those living in darkness to recognize the destructive power of sin and the victory Christ has won over it.

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
readPsalm 8:1

Pray that those who have yet to believe will soon recognize the majesty of God's name and raise their voices in praise to the Lord Almighty.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
readActs 2:42

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will devote themselves to God's Word, to fellowship with each other, and to prayer.

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
readActs 17:30

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will boldly and lovingly declare that God commands all people everywhere to repent.

Desano (ROP3 - 102530) 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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