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The Daro - Matu of Malaysia

The Daro - Matu of Malaysia, numbering approximately 18,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Melanau community of central Sarawak, especially the Daro and Matu districts, whose Daro and Matu speech varieties form the distinctive Daro-Matu Melanau language. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Daro-Matu Melanau is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Daro - Matu

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Malaysia
People Cluster: Borneo-Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Daro-Matu Melanau (dro)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 18,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG020227
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Pray for the Daro - Matu 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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

50%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Daro-Matu Melanau
Language Family: Austronesian

70%
%
Melanau, Daro-Matu Speakers

Media Resources in Daro-Matu Melanau:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Daro-Matu Melanau:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Daro-Matu Melanau bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Daro - Matu 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 Daro - Matu:
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 Daro - Matu of Malaysia

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
readIsaiah 59:2

Pray that those who are separated from God will turn to Him in humility and repentance, seeking His forgiveness and the restoration of a right relationship with their Heavenly Father.

Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia."
readRomans 16:5

Pray for houses to be meeting places for Christians and that God will advance the gospel and grow His Church through natural familial and community relationships.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.
readHebrews 10:26

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will live with reverence for God and not deliberately keep sinning after they receive the knowledge of the truth.

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 that God will make His living and active Word available to everyone in this people group so that many will respond to the gospel. Ask Him to provide Jesus-followers to walk with new believers as they grow in Him.

Daro-Matu Across Countries (ROP3 - 102465) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Daro - MatuPG020227Daro - MatuMalaysia18,500No Longer UnreachedDaro-Matu MelanauSunni 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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