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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Kalbelia of India

The Kalbelia of India, numbering approximately 130,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a community of India and can also be known as Sapera. They are an Indigenous people, in the Hindi people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Hinduism - Folk. They primarily speak Mewari.

Kalbelia in India photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: HTO India - Pixabay

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Hindi
Primary Language(s): Mewari (mtr)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism - Folk
Population: 130,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041832
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Kalbelia of India

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Hinduism - Folk
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

%
Hinduism - Folk Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mewari
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Mewari Speakers

Media Resources in Mewari:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Mewari:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mewari bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Kalbelia

The Kalbelia 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 Kalbelia

The Kalbelia 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 Kalbelia

The Kalbelia 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 Kalbelia of India

The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever!
readPsalm 22:26

Pray that the lost will feel a deep hunger for God, be drawn to Him in their affliction, and find lasting satisfaction and salvation in Him alone.

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
readPsalm 96:7

Pray that entire households will come to faith in Jesus and that God will bless their families with faith in Him for generations to come.

Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
readMark 10:29-30

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will know that when they make sacrifices to follow Jesus, He is there with them and will bless them abundantly in this life and in the life to come.

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.

Kalbelia (ROP3 - 112389) 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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