The Sembakung Murut of Indonesia

The Sembakung Murut of Indonesia, numbering approximately 4,200 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Indonesia. They are an Indigenous people, in the Borneo-Kalimantan people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Animism. They primarily speak Murut, Sembakung.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Borneo-Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Murut, Sembakung (sbr)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Animism
Population: 4,200
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG022613
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Pray for the Sembakung Murut of Indonesia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion - Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Murut, Sembakung
Language Family: Austronesian

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Media Resources in Murut, Sembakung:

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Bible Resources in Murut, Sembakung:

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Or check out the Murut, Sembakung bible resources at Bible.com

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Next steps for the Sembakung Murut

The Sembakung Murut 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 Sembakung Murut

The Sembakung Murut 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 Sembakung Murut

The Sembakung Murut 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 Sembakung Murut of Indonesia

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self- made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
readColossians 2:23

Pray for those without Christ, that they will see the emptiness of human traditions and turn to the truth and grace found in Jesus.

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
readActs 17:24-25

Pray that the good news will reach everyone in this people group and that many will come to know and serve the one true God who made the world and everything in it and lives today.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
read2 Corinthians 5:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will understand and experience the truth that in Christ, they are a new creation, and the old has gone and the new has come.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will patiently endure hardships as they share the gospel, knowing that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise.

Murut, Sembakung (ROP3 - 108823) 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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