The Kinabatangan Sungai of Malaysia

The Kinabatangan Sungai of Malaysia, numbering approximately 18,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a people of Malaysia (Sabah). They are an Indigenous people, in the Borneo-Kalimantan people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Kadazan, Labuk-Kinabatangan.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Malaysia
People Cluster: Borneo-Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Kadazan, Labuk-Kinabatangan (dtb)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 18,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG019338

Pray for the Kinabatangan Sungai of Malaysia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kadazan, Labuk-Kinabatangan
Language Family: Austronesian

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Media Resources in Kadazan, Labuk-Kinabatangan:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Kadazan, Labuk-Kinabatangan:

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Or check out the Kadazan, Labuk-Kinabatangan bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Kinabatangan Sungai

The Kinabatangan Sungai 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 Kinabatangan Sungai

The Kinabatangan Sungai 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 Kinabatangan Sungai

The Kinabatangan Sungai 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 Kinabatangan Sungai of Malaysia

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
readMatthew 5:6

Pray for those who are lost to desire righteousness and to be filled with the peace and purpose that only comes from following Jesus.

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
readPsalm 2:10-11

Pray for the rulers and authorities here to seek the Lord and serve Him only. Pray that the people they lead will be amazed by the work of God in their lives.

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
readActs 2:46-47

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be devoted to the teaching of God's Word, to fellowship with one another, and to prayer.

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
readActs 13:47

Pray that as people come to faith, they will follow the Lord's leading to go to their neighbors and share the treasure they found in Christ.

Kinabatangan Sungai (ROP3 - 105012) 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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