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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

For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!
readPsalm 47:7

Pray for those who live for idols that will never satisfy their hearts, asking that someone will tell them that God is the King of all the earth so that they will turn to Him in repentance and praise.

"You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet."
readMatthew 5:13

Pray that the lost will have the opportunity to hear a Christian witness of how the gospel can bring hope and that they will put their faith in Christ.

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
readJames 4:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will turn from worldly passions and live in unity with one another.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
readPsalm 9:18

Pray that God will raise up believers who can help meet emotional and physical needs among this people group. Ask Him to open doors for them and give them the courage to walk into difficult situations and share the hope of the gospel boldly.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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

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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