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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Saija of Colombia

The Saija of Colombia, numbering approximately 4,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Emberá subgroup of Colombia's Pacific rainforest region whose communities are closely related to other Chocoan-speaking Emberá peoples and maintain a distinct Saija identity associated with the Epena language. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Epena is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Embera, Saija

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Colombia
People Cluster: South American Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Epena (sja)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 4,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG016278
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Pray for the Saija 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

60%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Epena
Language Family: Chocoan

80%
%
Epena Speakers

Media Resources in Epena:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Epena:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2005 Bible League International✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Epena bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Saija 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.

Next steps for the Saija:
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

Pray specifically for the Saija of Colombia

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
read1 Timothy 6:9

Pray for those, rich and poor, who have put their trust in worldly things, and ask that they will be honest with themselves, acknowledge their need for God and turn to Him.

...And that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
readLuke 24:47

Pray that the message of repentance and forgiveness through Jesus will reach everyone.

Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
readHebrews 10:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will not neglect meeting together but encourage one another as they see the Day approaching.

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
readRomans 12:4-5

Ask God to send believers to people in other cultures and to help them use their gifts in harmony with others so that the body of Christ may be built up.

Embera-Saija Across Countries (ROP3 - 108522) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
SaijaPG016278SaijaColombia4,500Engaged yet UnreachedEpenaEthnoreligion

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 Data Standards section.

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