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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Western Kenyah of Malaysia

The Western Kenyah of Malaysia, numbering approximately 3,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Malaysia and can also be known as Sarawak Tribal - Baram-Kenyah, Lunan. They are an Indigenous people, in the Borneo-Kalimantan people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Protestantism. They primarily speak Uma’ Lasan.

Western Kenyah in Malaysia photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: MySabah.com Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Peoples
Country: Malaysia
People Cluster: Borneo-Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Uma’ Lasan (xky)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Protestantism
Population: 3,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG019333

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Pray for the Western Kenyah of Malaysia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Protestant… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Uma’ Lasan
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Uma’ Lasan Speakers

Media Resources in Uma’ Lasan:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Uma’ Lasan:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

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Next steps for the Western Kenyah

The Western Kenyah are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Western Kenyah

The Western Kenyah 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.

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

Next steps for the Western Kenyah

The Western Kenyah 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Western Kenyah of Malaysia

But he said, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:27

Praise God that He is the God of impossible things and that He is able to save even those who seem beyond hope.

...And that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
readLuke 24:47

Pray that the message of repentance and forgiveness through Jesus will reach everyone.

And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Him and have assurance that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ...that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
readColossians 4:3-4

Ask God to open doors for believers to share the gospel and help them communicate it clearly so that more people will understand the mystery of Christ and turn to follow Him.

Kenyah, Western reported in the following countries (ROP3):

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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