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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Qashqai of Iran

The Qashqai of Iran, numbering approximately 2,075,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Iran and can also be known as Ghashghai, Kashkai. They are an Indigenous people, in the Azerbaijani people cluster of the Turkic Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Shia. They primarily speak Kashkay.

Qashqai in Iran photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: IAWTIran - Wikimedia IAWTIran - Wikimedia Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Central Asian Peoples
Country: Iran
People Cluster: Azerbaijani
Primary Language(s): Kashkay (qxq)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Shia
Population: 2,075,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024203

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Shia
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Shia Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kashkay
Language Family: Turkic

%
Kashkay Speakers

Media Resources in Kashkay:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Kashkay:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Kashkay bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Qashqai

The Qashqai 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 Qashqai

The Qashqai 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 Qashqai

The Qashqai 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 Qashqai of Iran

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
readProverbs 8:17

As many search for hope, pray they will discover materials that will lead them to Jesus and explain the gospel in a way they will resonate with.

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
readPsalm 127:3

Pray that God will bless this generation of children, that they will come to know Jesus early in life and follow Him always.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
readPsalm 51:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Him, and God will help them to proclaim His praise and declare His goodness all day long.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that God will send and sustain believers to cross cultures and share the gospel with the lost. Ask that He will give them His heart for the lost and that many will believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life.

Qashqai (ROP3 - 108219) 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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