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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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The Semawa of Indonesia

The Semawa of Indonesia, numbering approximately 471,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an indigenous Sumbawa people of western and central Sumbawa Island, whose ancestral homeland is traced to the Jereweh area of West Sumbawa. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Sumbawa is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Bali-Sasak
Primary Language(s): Sumbawa (smw)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 471,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022776
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Pray for the Semawa 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

82%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sumbawa
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Sumbawa Speakers

Media Resources in Sumbawa:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Sumbawa:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sumbawa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Semawa 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 Semawa:
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 Semawa of Indonesia

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
readRomans 6:4

Pray that those who need to surrender their lives to Christ will confess their sins and trust in Him, being united with Him in His death and resurrection, walking in newness of life.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
readPsalm 34:4

Pray for each who becomes a child of God to share the hope of eternity with family and friends.

Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
readPsalm 25:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the merciful nature and steadfast love of God as they walk with Him daily.

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that God who is in heaven will place believers in the lives of people who need to encounter the gospel and that He will reveal to them the truth of what they hear.

Sumbawa Across Countries (ROP3 - 109602) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▲Religion
SemawaPG022776SemawaIndonesia471,000Engaged yet UnreachedSumbawaSunni 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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