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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

View all resources

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

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.

Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
readPsalm 25:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the merciful nature and steadfast love of God as they walk with Him daily.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe."
readJohn 6:35-36

Praise God for the things such as bread that He has provided as natural conversation bridges to the gospel. Pray that believers will use any bridges He provides to share the gospel with those who do not yet know the good news.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic 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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