The Chamacocos of Paraguay

The Chamacocos of Paraguay, numbering approximately 850 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Indigenous people of the Gran Chaco of Paraguay and adjacent Brazil. They speak Chamacoco (Yshyr), a Zamucoan language, and traditionally practiced hunting, fishing, and gathering while maintaining distinctive spiritual and cultural traditions. They mostly adhere to Animism and Chamacoco is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 3 Flash: Camacoco

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Paraguay
People Cluster: South American Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Chamacoco (ceg)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 850
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG017219
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Pray for the Chamacocos of Paraguay

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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

60%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Chamacoco
Language Family: Zamucoan

100%
%
Chamacoco Speakers

Media Resources in Chamacoco:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Chamacoco:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2000 New Tribes Mission Paraguay✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Chamacoco bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Chamacocos 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 Chamacocos:
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 Chamacocos of Paraguay

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
readColossians 3:5-6

Pray for God to have mercy and give those who don't yet know Him the gift of Jesus and His salvation for all who call upon His name.

Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia."
readRomans 16:5

Pray for houses to be meeting places for Christians and that God will advance the gospel and grow His Church through natural familial and community relationships.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
readLamentations 3:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through trials, they will be satisfied with the Lord as their portion and will place all their hope in Him.

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.
readPsalm 67:1-2

Pray that as God blesses believers from among this people group or from nearby cultures, He will raise them up to share His saving power among the nations.

Chamacoco Across Countries (ROP3 - 101987) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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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