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
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Pekal of Indonesia

The Pekal of Indonesia, numbering approximately 41,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Indonesia . They are an Indigenous people, in the Minangkabau-Rejang of Sumatra people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Pekal.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 International Mission Board-SBC - Jacob Talley Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Minangkabau-Rejang of Sumatra
Primary Language(s): Pekal (pel)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 41,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022527

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Pray for the Pekal of Indonesia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Sunni Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Pekal
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Pekal Speakers

Media Resources in Pekal:

Films:

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Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Pekal:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

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Next steps for the Pekal

The Pekal 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 Pekal

The Pekal 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 Pekal

The Pekal 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 Pekal of Indonesia

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
readJohn 16:33

Pray that those who don't have peace with God will find peace in Christ, even amid the troubles of this world.

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
read1 John 4:21

Pray that the good news of God's love will reach everyone in this people group, and that His love will compel them to love others as Christ has loved us.

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
readRomans 6:11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will lay down all evil desires, dying to sin and living for Him alone.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
read2 Corinthians 5:20

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will be His ambassadors, faithfully imploring people on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God through Jesus.

Pekal reported in the following countries (ROP3):

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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