The Acehnese of Indonesia

The Acehnese of Indonesia, numbering approximately 4,880,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Austronesian people of northern Sumatra whose identity was shaped by the Aceh Sultanate and centuries of interaction among indigenous, Malay, and other regional populations. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Achinese is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Acehnese

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Aceh of Sumatra
Primary Language(s): Achinese (ace)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 4,880,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022477
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Acehnese 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Achinese
Language Family:

95%
%
Aceh Speakers

Media Resources in Achinese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Achinese:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Today's Aceh Version, 1997✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Achinese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Acehnese 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.

Next steps for the Acehnese:
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

Pray specifically for the Acehnese of Indonesia

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
readRomans 5:10

Pray that any who may be enemies of God will grasp the depth of God's love demonstrated through Christ's death for the ungodly, and be reconciled to Him.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
readMatthew 13: 45-46

Pray that they will recognize the treasure of knowing Christ Jesus and be willing to give up everything else to gain Him.

In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?
readPsalm 56:10-11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the Lord's promises, knowing that He will uphold them with His righteous right hand.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
readEphesians 6:11

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will put on the full armor of God so that they will be able to stand against the schemes of the enemy.

Acehnese Across Countries (ROP3 - 100036) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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