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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Hemshin of Turkiye

The Hemshin of Turkiye, numbering approximately 14,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Turkish speaking Muslim community with historic roots in the Hemşin district in the province of Rize, Turkey. They are an Indigenous people in the Armenian people cluster of the Eurasian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Armenian, Western and their primary religion is Sunni Islam.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: CharlesFred - Flickr CharlesFred - Flickr Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Turkiye
People Cluster: Armenian
Primary Language(s): Armenian, Western (hyw)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 14,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG048629
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Pray for the Hemshin of Turkiye

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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

85%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Armenian, Western
Language Family: Indo-European

40%
%
Armenian, Western Speakers

Media Resources in Armenian, Western:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Armenian, Western:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Armenian, Western 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: 1), 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 Hemshin:
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 Hemshin 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 Hemshin:
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 Hemshin 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 Hemshin:
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 Hemshin of Turkiye

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.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
readRomans 10:14

Pray that the gospel will advance among those who don’t know the good news of salvation in Jesus so that they might believe and trust in Jesus.

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
readDeuteronomy 6:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and might, as they strive to live lives that honor and glorify Him.

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
readLuke 18:29-30

Pray that God will raise up people to go and share the gospel and help them trust His promise that anyone who has left those they treasure for the sake of the kingdom of God will receive many times more in this life and in the life to come.

Hemshinli Across Countries (ROP3 - 115399) 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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