The Xerente of Brazil

The Xerente of Brazil, numbering approximately 3,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Central Je people of Tocantins who call themselves Akwe, forming with the Xavante the central branch of Brazil's Je societies, their 250 years of outsider contact since the 19th century staying largely peaceful without eroding native-language fluency. They mostly adhere to Folk Catholicism and Xerénte is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Brazil
People Cluster: South American Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Xerénte (xer)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Catholicism
Population: 3,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG017192
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Xerente 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: Folk Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

78%
%
Folk Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Xerénte
Language Family: Nuclear-Macro-Je

100%
%
Xerénte Speakers

Media Resources in Xerénte:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Xerénte:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2006 Edition✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Xerénte bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Xerente 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 Xerente:
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 Xerente of Brazil

For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
readPsalm 18:31

As people look to their own efforts for hope, pray they will have the opportunity to learn and believe in the Lord, who is the only Rock worthy of their faith.

Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
readIsaiah 55:5

Pray that those who do not know God will access the gospel, run to Him, and discover that He is the one their souls have been longing for.

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
readPsalm 32:7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that God is their hiding place and that He will preserve them in the midst of trials.

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
readLuke 18:29-30

Pray that God will raise up people to go and share the gospel and help them trust His promise that anyone who has left those they treasure for the sake of the kingdom of God will receive many times more in this life and in the life to come.

Xerente Across Countries (ROP3 - 110891) 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.

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.

Scroll to Top