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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Sinabu of Malaysia

The Sinabu of Malaysia, numbering approximately 2,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as one of four dialect subgroups of Upper Kinabatangan (dmg), a language of Malaysia They are an Indigenous people, with Sinabu as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Borneo-Kalimantan people cluster of the Malay Peoples. Their primary religion is Protestantism. They primarily speak Kinabatangan, Upper.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Malaysia
People Cluster: Borneo-Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Kinabatangan, Upper (dmg)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 2,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG019271
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Pray for the Sinabu of Malaysia

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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kinabatangan, Upper
Language Family: Austronesian

70%
%

Media Resources in Kinabatangan, Upper:

Films:

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Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Kinabatangan, Upper:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Kinabatangan, Upper bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Significantly Reached People Group, (LPI: 6), > 20% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical (GSEC: 6), this people group is greater than or equal to 10% evangelical

Next steps for the Sinabu:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Sinabu 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 Sinabu:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Sinabu 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 Sinabu:
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 Sinabu of Malaysia

He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him
readLuke 10:34

Pray that the lost among them will experience the kind of compassion Jesus taught His followers to show others, and that they will trust in Him because He is the one who brings healing to the broken and lost.

If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
readPsalm 139:8

Pray that the lost will recognize God's presence with them wherever they go, put their faith in Christ, and seek to live in a way that honors and glorifies Him.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
readRevelation 21:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through challenges, they will find comfort in God's promise of a beautiful future when there is no pain or suffering for those who belong to Christ.

Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!
readPsalm 105:1

Pray that many among them will call on the name of Jesus, develop a heart for the nations, and go to places where the gospel has not yet been received.

Sinabu Across Countries (ROP3 - 109021) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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