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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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The Sawai of Indonesia

The Sawai of Indonesia, numbering approximately 12,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Indonesia. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Sawai is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Maluku-Northern
Primary Language(s): Sawai (szw)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 12,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG022705
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Pray for the Sawai 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

88%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sawai
Language Family: Austronesian

76%
%
Sawai Speakers

Media Resources in Sawai:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Sawai:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sawai bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Sawai 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 Sawai:
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 Sawai of Indonesia

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
readRevelation 3:20

Pray that those who have not opened their hearts to Jesus will hear His knock and invite Him in as their Savior and Lord.

Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.
readActs 18:8

Pray that rulers and leaders will access the gospel, respond in faith, and be baptized, uniting with Christ and His Church, and influence others to follow Him.

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
readJames 1:12

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged when they persevere under trial, knowing that when they have stood the test, they will receive the crown of life.

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
readIsaiah 51:11

Pray that, as God sends people to cross cultures and share the good news of Jesus, many will turn to the Lord in repentance and faith and start a personal relationship with Him that will bring them everlasting joy.

Sawai Across Countries (ROP3 - 108759) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▲Religion
SawaiPG022705SawaiIndonesia12,500No Longer UnreachedSawaiSunni Islam

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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