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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Motilón-Barí of Colombia

The Motilón-Barí of Colombia, numbering approximately 3,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the Catatumbo River basin in Colombia and Venezuela, descendants of the pre-Columbian Tairona culture and can also be known as Motilone, Barí, Bari/Motilon, Motilón. They are an Indigenous people, in the Amazon people cluster of the Latin-Caribbean Americans affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Folk Catholicism. They primarily speak Barí.

Motilón-Barí in United States photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Bruce Olson

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: American Peoples
Country: Colombia
People Cluster: Amazon
Primary Language(s): Barí (mot)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Folk Catholicism
Population: 3,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG016261
View on Joshua Project

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Folk Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Folk Catho… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Barí
Language Family: Chibchan

%
Barí Speakers

Media Resources in Barí:

Films:

No entries found for: Barí(mot). Help build some!

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Barí:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Barí bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Motilón-Barí

The Motilón-Barí 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 Motilón-Barí

The Motilón-Barí 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 Motilón-Barí

The Motilón-Barí 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 Motilón-Barí of Colombia

And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you."
read1 Samuel 13:13a

Pray that those who are walking in disobedience will recognize their sin and to turn to God.

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
readPsalm 96:7

Pray that entire households will come to faith in Jesus and that God will bless their families with faith in Him for generations to come.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
read2 Corinthians 5:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will understand and experience the truth that in Christ, they are a new creation, and the old has gone and the new has come.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
readEphesians 6:10

Ask God to strengthen believers with His mighty power so that as they cross cultures to share the gospel, they will stand firm against the schemes of the enemy.

Motilone, Bari (ROP3 - 106823) 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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