The Yanesha of Peru

The Yanesha of Peru, numbering approximately 7,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Arawakan-speaking tribe of Amerindians who are closely related to the Campa. They mostly adhere to Animism and Yanesha' is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Peru
People Cluster: South American Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Yanesha' (ame)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 7,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG017496
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Yanesha of Peru

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

55%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Yanesha'
Language Family: Arawakan

100%
%
Yanesha’ Speakers

Media Resources in Yanesha':

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Yanesha':

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2014 Liga Bíblica del Peru✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Yanesha' bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Yanesha 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 Yanesha:
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 Yanesha of Peru

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
readRomans 6:4

Pray that those who need to surrender their lives to Christ will confess their sins and trust in Him, being united with Him in His death and resurrection, walking in newness of life.

Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.
readActs 18:8

Pray that rulers and leaders will access the gospel, respond in faith, and be baptized, uniting with Christ and His Church, and influence others to follow Him.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.
readEphesians 2:4-5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember God's mercy and grace and experience joy as they walk in new life with Christ.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that God will send and sustain believers to cross cultures and share the gospel with the lost. Ask that He will give them His heart for the lost and that many will believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life.

Yanesha Across Countries (ROP3 - 100307) 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.

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