The Tondano of Indonesia

The Tondano of Indonesia, numbering approximately 175,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Indonesia. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Manado Malay is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Minahasa-Sangir of Sulawesi
Primary Language(s): Manado Malay (xmm)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 175,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG022883
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Tondano 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: Manado Malay
Language Family: Austronesian

85%
%
Malay, Manado Speakers

Media Resources in Manado Malay:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Manado Malay:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2017 LAI✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Manado Malay bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Tondano 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 Tondano:
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 Tondano of Indonesia

"...And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
readLuke 8:8

Pray that the seeds of truth will take root in the hearts of those who are far from Jesus and that He will lead them from darkness to light.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
readPsalm 25:5

Pray that the gospel will advance and that God will lead people in His truth, bringing many to salvation.

For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.
readPsalm 149:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged and feel immeasurably loved as they meditate on the fact that God takes pleasure in them.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will patiently endure hardships as they share the gospel, knowing that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise.

Tondanou Across Countries (ROP3 - 110151) 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.

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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