The Juruna of Brazil

The Juruna of Brazil, numbering approximately 500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Xingu River people properly called Yudja, meaning owners of the Xingu River, whose population fell from 2,000 in 1842 to just 52 by 1916 under colonial invasion and the rubber boom, now facing renewed disruption from the Belo Monte dam. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Jurúna is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Juruna

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Brazil
People Cluster: South American Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Jurúna (jur)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG016917
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Juruna of Brazil

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: Jurúna
Language Family: Tupian

100%
%
Jurúna Speakers

Media Resources in Jurúna:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Jurúna:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Jurúna bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Juruna 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.

Next steps for the Juruna:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Juruna of Brazil

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
readRomans 5:10

Pray that any who may be enemies of God will grasp the depth of God's love demonstrated through Christ's death for the ungodly, and be reconciled to Him.

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
readGenesis 2:7

Pray that Christians will be able to share the hope of Christ with suffering people and that He will breathe new life into their souls.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
readPsalm 23:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the Lord's presence, even in the darkest valleys.

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
readEphesians 1:13-14

Pray that God will work through believers near and far in bringing the lost to Himself, giving them what they need to do the task He has set before them, and helping them rest in Him because He has given them His Spirit.

Juruna Across Countries (ROP3 - 104334) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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