The Wahau Kenyah of Indonesia

The Wahau Kenyah of Indonesia, numbering approximately 9,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Wehea, or Wahau, subgroup of the Modang-Kenyah peoples along the Mahakam River's tributaries in East Kalimantan's Kutai Regency, tracing ancestral origin to the Apo Kayan Highlands where Kenyah populations concentrated most heavily until the early 1980s. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Wahau Kenyah is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Borneo-Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Wahau Kenyah (whk)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 9,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG022621
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Pray for the Wahau Kenyah 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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Wahau Kenyah
Language Family: Austronesian

76%
%
Kenyah, Wahau Speakers

Media Resources in Wahau Kenyah:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Wahau Kenyah:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Wahau Kenyah bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Wahau Kenyah 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.

Next steps for the Wahau Kenyah:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Wahau Kenyah of Indonesia

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
readPsalm 73:26

Pray that those who are lost and struggling to find hope will find their strength and hope in God, recognizing Him as their portion and deliverer forever.

Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!
readPsalm 150:2

Pray for the gospel to advance among those who are living in darkness. Pray that they will come to know Jesus and praise Him for all that He has done.

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
readDeuteronomy 6:6-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will hide God's Word in their hearts, let it shape their conversations and daily lives, and pass on their faith to the next generation.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
readJohn 1:5

Pray that when discouraging days come, those who cross cultures for the sake of the gospel will be comforted as they remember that the light of Christ is stronger than the darkness that surrounds them.

Kenyah, Wahau Across Countries (ROP3 - 104841) 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.

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