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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

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 6:23

Pray that those who do know about God's free gift will hear and believe that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord and that they will joyfully accept this gift.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:19-20

Pray that God will use His creation – the “things that have been made” – to spark a fresh and passionate curiosity among them to draw near to the Maker and that, as they seek Him, He will make a way for them to hear the gospel and receive it with joy.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
readPsalm 42:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will thirst for God and be satisfied when they abide in Him.

For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
read2 Corinthians 1:5

When any who might believe suffer for the sake of the gospel, ask God to deepen their understanding of His grace so that they may share it freely with those who have not received it.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
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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