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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
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Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Batak Karo of Indonesia

The Batak Karo of Indonesia, numbering approximately 919,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Indonesia (Sumatra), central and north, west and northwest of Lake Toba. They are an Indigenous people, in the Batak-Nias of Sumatra people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Protestantism. They primarily speak Batak Karo.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Batak Karo

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Batak-Nias of Sumatra
Primary Language(s): Batak Karo (btx)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Protestantism
Population: 919,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG022484
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Batak Karo of Indonesia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Batak Karo
Language Family: Austronesian

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Media Resources in Batak Karo:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Batak Karo:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Batak Karo bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Batak Karo

The Batak Karo 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 Batak Karo

The Batak Karo 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 Batak Karo

The Batak Karo 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 Batak Karo of Indonesia

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
read1 John 1:9

Pray that God, who is faithful and just, will open the eyes of those who are lost and draw them to confess their sins and trust in Him to grant forgiveness.

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed"
readGalatians 3:8

Ask the Lord to fulfill His promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed by advancing the gospel to every people group who has yet to receive it.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
readRomans 10:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and sometimes have doubts, God will help them remember and trust the power of Jesus to save them from their sins.

Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!
readPsalm 105:2

Pray for God to saturate this place with the gospel and raise up believing men and women from among them to share the good news of Christ with those who have yet to encounter it.

Batak Karo (ROP3 - 114801) 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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