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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Afshari of Afghanistan

The Afshari of Afghanistan, numbering approximately 13,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Afghanistan; a dialect subgroup of South Azerbaijani (azb) and can also be known as Afshari, Azeri. They are an Diaspora people, in the Azerbaijani people cluster of the Turkic Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Dari.

Afshari in Iran photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Frontiers

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Central Asian Peoples
Country: Afghanistan
People Cluster: Azerbaijani
Primary Language(s): Dari (azb)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 13,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG023947

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Pray for the Afshari of Afghanistan

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Sunni Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Dari
Language Family: Turkic

%
Dari Speakers

Media Resources in Dari:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Dari:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Dari bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Afshari

The Afshari 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 Afshari

The Afshari 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 Afshari

The Afshari 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 Afshari of Afghanistan

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."
readLuke 1:46-47

Pray that those who are lost will recognize their need for a Savior and joyfully embrace the mercy that God offers.

Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, "the kingdom of God has come near to you."
readLuke 10:8-9

Pray that the lost will receive messengers of the gospel with joy, turn from their sins, and be healed.

This God - his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
readPsalm 18:30

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have access to His Word and the ability to understand it, so that they can grow in their faith and find refuge in Him.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
readPsalm 139:14

Praise God for His creativity and power, and pray that He will raise up men and women from among them who are in awe of all He has done and want to go share the hope of Christ with others.

Afshari (ROP3 - 100096) 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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