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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Chettiar (Tamil) of India

The Chettiar (Tamil) of India, numbering approximately 639,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a group of distinct merchant, banking, agricultural, and artisan communities (jātis) in South India, especially in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka. Ayira Vaisyar., Chetti, Chetty They are an Indigenous people, in the Bania people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Hinduism. They primarily speak Tamil.

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Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Bania
Primary Language(s): Tamil (tam)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 639,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041342

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Pray for the Chettiar (Tamil) of India

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tamil
Language Family: Dravidian

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Media Resources in Tamil:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Tamil:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tamil bible resources at Bible.com

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Next steps for the Chettiar (Tamil)

The Chettiar (Tamil) 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 Chettiar (Tamil)

The Chettiar (Tamil) 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 Chettiar (Tamil)

The Chettiar (Tamil) 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 Chettiar (Tamil) of India

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
readExodus 2:23-24

As the lost among them labor, groan, and cry out under false religions and sin, pray God will have mercy on them and hear their cries, that He will be their Rescuer from the kingdom of darkness and bring them into the kingdom of light.

And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
readZechariah 2:11

Pray that many will take refuge in the Lord and be His people who share the good news of salvation in Jesus with others.

Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.
readEphesians 6:18

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be alert and persistent in prayer for all believers, offering their requests with thanksgiving.

O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.
readPsalm 15:1-2

Ask God to send believers who will go and, with integrity, walk blamelessly and do what is right, speaking truth about the Lord with those who need to learn about His redemption plan.

Bania, Tamil (ROP3 - 116371) 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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