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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
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The Tutong of Malaysia

The Tutong of Malaysia, numbering approximately 29,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a people linked to Sarawak's Lower Baram region, conquered by the expanding Brunei Sultanate from the 14th century and converted to Islam through intermarriage in the 1700s-1800s, many migrating to Limbang following a disputed 1901 uprising. They mostly adhere to Animism and Brunei Bisaya is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Malaysia
People Cluster: Borneo-Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Brunei Bisaya (bsb)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 29,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG019324
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Pray for the Tutong 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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

65%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Brunei Bisaya
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Bisaya, Brunei Speakers

Media Resources in Brunei Bisaya:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Brunei Bisaya:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Brunei Bisaya bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Tutong 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 Tutong:
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 Tutong of Malaysia

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
readRevelation 3:20

Pray that those who have not opened their hearts to Jesus will hear His knock and invite Him in as their Savior and Lord.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
readHebrews 4:12

Pray for God's Word to be accessible to everyone in this people group in a way they will resonate with so that many will engage with it, receive it, and share it with others.

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
readRomans 6:11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will lay down all evil desires, dying to sin and living for Him alone.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
readJohn 1:12

Pray that believers will have the opportunity to clearly share the good news with the lost here, so that all people can be invited to trust in Jesus and become children of God.

Tutong Across Countries (ROP3 - 110324) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Bisayan TutongPG018519Bisayan TutongBrunei24,000Unengaged and UnreachedBrunei BisayaSunni Islam
TutongPG019324TutongMalaysia29,000No Longer UnreachedBrunei BisayaAnimism

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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