Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
Be sure to use the data import function in your favorite app for working with data.
If you'd like to help improve these translations, Contact Us.

The Ma'ya Salawati of Indonesia

The Ma'ya Salawati of Indonesia, numbering approximately 5,400 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an indigenous ethnic group from Salawati Island, which is part of the Raja Ampat Islands in West Papua, Indonesia. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Ma'ya is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3 Flash: Ma'ya

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Ma'ya (slz)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 5,400
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG022464
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile
Submit Updates

Pray for the Ma'ya Salawati of Indonesia

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.

Pray Now!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

30%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Ma'ya
Language Family: Austronesian

76%
%
Ma’ya Speakers

Media Resources in Ma'ya:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Ma'ya:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Ma'ya bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Ma'ya Salawati 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 Ma'ya Salawati:
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 Ma'ya Salawati of Indonesia

For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
readPsalm 18:31

As people look to their own efforts for hope, pray they will have the opportunity to learn and believe in the Lord, who is the only Rock worthy of their faith.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
readPsalm 1:1-2

Pray that God will call out many sons and daughters from among them and give them a deep love for His Word.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
readIsaiah 53:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will find comfort and spiritual healing as they remember the wounds of Christ, who understands their suffering because He also walked through suffering on their behalf.

And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
readMatthew 10:14-15

Pray for God to raise up and send out believers to share the gospel with those in this people group who do not yet follow Christ. Pray that they will be welcomed with open arms so that the people they share with will hear and receive the good news with joy.

Ma'ya Across Countries (ROP3 - 106437) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▲
Ma'ya SalawatiPG022464Ma'ya SalawatiIndonesia5,400No Longer UnreachedMa'yaProtestantism

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.

Scroll to Top