The Berau of Indonesia

The Berau of Indonesia, numbering approximately 14,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Indonesia They are an Indigenous people, with Berau (Merau) as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Banjar of Kalimantan people cluster of the Malay Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Malay, Berau.

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

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Banjar of Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Malay, Berau (bve)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 14,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022553
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Berau 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: Malay, Berau
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Malay, Berau Speakers

Media Resources in Malay, Berau:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Malay, Berau:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Malay, Berau bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Berau 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 Berau:
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 Berau of Indonesia

Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him.
readIsaiah 45:24

Pray that those who are weary and burdened by their own righteousness will find rest in the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ alone.

The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
readPsalm 146:9

Pray for God to watch over people, wherever they are, and cause them to meet believers who will share the gospel with them clearly and lovingly.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
readColossians 3:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
readLuke 10:1

Ask God to raise up, send out, and sustain Christians who can go together to share the good news of Jesus with those who need it.

Berau Across Countries (ROP3 - 106151) 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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