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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Bhisti of India

The Bhisti of India, numbering approximately 682,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a community of India and can also be known as Abbasi, Pakhali, Sakka, Maski, Mashki, Shaikh Abbasi, Sekh Abbasi, Sheikh Abbasi, Saqqa, Bhisti, Parkhali. They are an Indigenous people, in the Urdu people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Urdu.

Bhisti in India photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Steve Evans - Flickr Steve Evans - Flickr Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Urdu
Primary Language(s): Urdu (urd)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 682,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041446
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Bhisti of India

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Sunni Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Urdu
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Urdu Speakers

Media Resources in Urdu:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Urdu:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Urdu bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Bhisti

The Bhisti 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 Bhisti

The Bhisti 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 Bhisti

The Bhisti 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 Bhisti of India

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self- made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
readColossians 2:23

Pray for those without Christ, that they will see the emptiness of human traditions and turn to the truth and grace found in Jesus.

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.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.
readHebrews 10:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will love and encourage one another, spurring each other on to live lives that honor God.

And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
read2 Corinthians 12:28

Ask God to raise up believers who will faithfully proclaim the good news and equip others to do the same.

Bhisti (ROP3 - 111569) 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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