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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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The Sobei of Indonesia

The Sobei of Indonesia, numbering approximately 3,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Austronesian ethnolinguistic community of Sarmi Regency, Papua, Indonesia. They maintain a distinct coastal identity rooted in island settlements, maritime traditions, clan networks, and the renowned Terfo weaving tradition. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Sobei is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Sobei

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Sobei (sob)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 3,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG023048
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Pray for the Sobei 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

81%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sobei
Language Family: Austronesian

75%
%
Sobei Speakers

Media Resources in Sobei:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Sobei:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sobei bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Sobei 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 Sobei:
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 Sobei of Indonesia

For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
readPsalm 18:31

As people look to their own efforts for hope, pray they will have the opportunity to learn and believe in the Lord, who is the only Rock worthy of their faith.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
readJohn 3:14-15

Pray that the lost will look to Jesus lifted up on the cross and believe in Him, gaining eternal life with God.

And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be.”
readGenesis 15:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust God to keep His promises.

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
read2 Corinthians 1:11

Pray that many people will join in praying for the spread of the gospel here, and that God will answer these prayers by drawing more people to Himself.

Sobei Across Countries (ROP3 - 109368) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
SobeiPG023048SobeiIndonesia3,000No Longer UnreachedSobeiProtestantism

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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