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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Deaf Sri Lankans of Sri Lanka

The Deaf Sri Lankans of Sri Lanka, numbering approximately 165,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a community of individuals who are culturally Deaf and actively participate in Deaf culture, often using sign language as their primary means of communication. They are an Indigenous people in the Deaf people cluster of the Deaf Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Sri Lankan Sign Language and their primary religion is Ethnoreligion.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Deaf Sri Lankan

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Deaf Peoples
Country: Sri Lanka
People Cluster: Deaf
Primary Language(s): Sri Lankan Sign Language (sqs)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 165,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG047744
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Pray for the Deaf Sri Lankans of Sri Lanka

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sri Lankan Sign Language
Language Family: Sign Language

45%
%

Media Resources in Sri Lankan Sign Language:

Films:

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Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Sri Lankan Sign Language:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sri Lankan Sign Language bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Deaf Sri Lankans:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Deaf Sri Lankans 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.

Next steps for the Deaf Sri Lankans:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Deaf Sri Lankans 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.

Next steps for the Deaf Sri Lankans:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Deaf Sri Lankans of Sri Lanka

For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
readPsalm 97:9

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will recognize the Lord as the Most High and turn from spiritual darkness to worship Him above all else.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
readJohn 3:14-15

Pray that the lost will look to Jesus lifted up on the cross and believe in Him, gaining eternal life with God.

And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
readLuke 9:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will meditate on the stories of Jesus' miracles, be in awe of Him, and trust Him for everything they need.

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
readRomans 10:15

Pray that God will call many believers who will obediently go and share the gospel with those who desperately need it.

Deaf Sri Lankan Across Countries (ROP3 - 116551) 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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