The Lembak of Indonesia

The Lembak of Indonesia, numbering approximately 100,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Muslim Malay-related people of the Barisan mountain borderlands between Bengkulu and South Sumatra provinces, farming rice, coffee, and rubber and speaking the Col language in dialects named Lembak Delapan, Beliti, and Kayu Agung. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Col is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Musi of Sumatra
Primary Language(s): Col (liw)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 100,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022510
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Lembak of Indonesia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

100%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Col
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Col Speakers

Media Resources in Col:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Col:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Col bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Lembak 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 Lembak:
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 Lembak of Indonesia

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
readMatthew 24:14

Pray that the message of hope will reach those who are wandering in darkness, offering them a path to eternal life.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
readLuke 2:17

Pray that the lost will receive the good news of salvation in God's Son, have hearts eager to share it with others, and that all who hear will respond with wonder and faith!

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
readColossians 3:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will set their minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, as they look to Christ for guidance and strength.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 6:23

Pray that God will bring people to faith who are excited about the eternal life they have in Christ and will want to cross cultures to share this hope with others.

Lembak Across Countries (ROP3 - 105706) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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