The Ambonese of Indonesia

The Ambonese of Indonesia, numbering approximately 329,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Indonesia (Maluku). They are an Indigenous people, in the Maluku-Central people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Protestantism. They primarily speak Malay, Ambonese.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Maluku-Central
Primary Language(s): Malay, Ambonese (abs)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 329,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG022625
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Ambonese 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

%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Malay, Ambonese
Language Family: Austronesian

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Media Resources in Malay, Ambonese:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Malay, Ambonese:

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Or check out the Malay, Ambonese bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Ambonese

The Ambonese 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 Ambonese

The Ambonese 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 Ambonese

The Ambonese 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 Ambonese of Indonesia

For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.
readLuke 19:10

Pray that those who are lost will respond to the One who came to seek and save the lost, and experience the joy of being found.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
readMatthew 11:28-29

Please pray for them to lift their eyes to Jesus and find rest for their souls, lasting peace, and hope in Him.

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
readActs 2:46-47

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be devoted to the teaching of God's Word, to fellowship with one another, and to prayer.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
readEphesians 6:12

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures the discernment they need to recognize the spiritual battle they are fighting. Pray God will protect their faith as they abide in Him.

Ambonese (ROP3 - 100274) 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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