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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Wolio of Indonesia

The Wolio of Indonesia, numbering approximately 241,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Austronesian-speaking ethnolinguistic grup indigenous to Buton Island in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. They are an Indigenous people, in the Tukangbesi of Sulawesi people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Wolio.

Wolio in Indonesia photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Anonymous Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Tukangbesi of Sulawesi
Primary Language(s): Wolio (wlo)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 241,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022801
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Wolio of Indonesia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Sunni Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Wolio
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Wolio Speakers

Media Resources in Wolio:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Wolio:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Wolio bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Wolio

The Wolio 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 Wolio

The Wolio 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 Wolio

The Wolio 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 Wolio of Indonesia

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
read1 John 4:10

Pray for those without the hope of Christ to understand the depth of God's love and the sacrifice He made for them.

...I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
readPsalm 13:5

Ask God to bring many to trust in His unfailing love and cause their hearts to rejoice in His salvation.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
read2 Corinthians 5:18

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will serve as God's ambassadors, sharing the message of reconciliation with others.

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
read2 Corinthians 3:16

Give thanks to God for believers around the world who are willing to cross cultures to share the gospel with those who are perishing. Pray that He will work through their witness to draw many to turn to Him.

Wolio (ROP3 - 110855) 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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