PRAY FOR THE THIRTY-ONE LARGEST FRONTIER PEOPLE GROUPS
As you view the photos below, invite the Holy Spirit to lead you in praying for these groups, starting with the suggested prayer. Read also the linked profiles about them on Joshua Project, or learn more about them up on Wikipedia or in the news. At the bottom of the page, find additional prayer suggestions specific to Muslim and Hindu peoples. (Note: RED indicates a Muslim people, while BLUE indicates Hindu.)
(REJOICE: Shortly after global prayer began for these original Frontier People Groups, researchers found that God had already answered prayer for 10% of the groups—even before we began calling on Him. Another three groups now have sustained Jesus movements. These six groups will be replaced in the next printing of the Pray for the 31 – Prayer Guide.)
(NOTE: The figures below are “best available” estimates from JoshuaProject.net, drawn from many sources with varying accuracy and age, extrapolated to today. As the Holy Spirit leads and answers our prayers, the situation can be different today from what is reported here. Joshua Project welcomes suggested updates.)
Praise God for the emerging Jesus movement among the Hausa of Niger that has moved this group out of the Frontier category!
Praise God for the believing Shaikh households in neighboring Jesus movements. Seek God for the Holy Spirit to lead these believing families in birthing Jesus movements among this largest of all Frontier People Groups.
Seek God for a Jesus movement to bring Rajput households and communities into a rich experience of God’s blessing, and spread through the Muslim and Hindu Rajput communities in both Pakistan and India.
Praise God for the emerging Jesus movement among the Hausa of Nigeria that has moved them out of the Frontier category!
Seek God for the Holy Spirit’s anointing on the believing households and many outside workers, that a Jesus movement will soon emerge among Moroccan Arabs.
Seek God for a Jesus movement to multiply His blessing among Kapu families and communities—healing and strengthening broken families and lifting this people group out of poverty.
Seek God for a Jesus movement to emerge among this large people group, and spread to the related Shaikh peoples of India and Bangladesh.
Seek God for a Jesus movement among the Dhobis to heal and strengthen their households and communities, and to provide improved career and education opportunities.
Praise God for the emerging Jesus movement among the Pashtun tribes of Pakistan that has moved this group out of the Frontier category!
Seek God for a Jesus movement to multiply God’s blessing among Kumhar households and communities.
Seek God for a Jesus movement to deliver the Kunbi people from fear and multiply God’s blessing among their households and communities.
Seek God for a Jesus movement to multiply God’s blessing among Arain households and communities.
Seek God for the Holy Spirit’s anointing on the believing households and many outside workers, that a Jesus movement will soon emerge among the Turks.
Seek God for a Jesus movement among to bring Teli families and communities into a rich experience of God’s blessing.
Seek God for a Jesus movement to rapidly multiply God’s blessing among the highly influential Brahmin families and communities of India.
Praise God for the emerging Jesus movement among the Azerbaijani Azeri Turk of Iran that has already moved them out of the Frontier category!
Seek God for a Jesus movement to bring Nai families and communities into a rich experience of God’s blessing, in ways appropriate for these oral learners.
Seek God for a Jesus movement to emerge among this large people group, and spread to the related Shaikh peoples of Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Seek God for a Jesus movement to bless and unite the Pathan communities of India, and spread to the related Pashtun of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Seek God for a Jesus movement among this largest and most widespread of China’s minorities to bring Hui families and communities into a rich experience of God’s blessing.
Praise God for the emerging Jesus movement among the Jat of Pakistan that has moved them out of the Frontier category!
Seek God for a Jesus movement to bring Rajput households and communities into a rich experience of God’s blessing, and to spread through the Muslim and Hindu Rajput communities in both India and Pakistan.
Seek God for a Jesus movement to bring Jat families and communities into a rich experience of God’s blessing, and to spread through the Muslim and Hindu Jat communities in India and Pakistan.
Praise God for the emerging Jesus movement among the Uzbek of Uzbekistan that has moved them out of the Frontier category!
Praise God for the emerging Jesus movement among the Arabs of Yemen that has moved them out of the Frontier category!
Seek God for a Jesus movement among this influential people group to bring Mahratta households and communities into a rich experience of God’s blessing.
Seek God for a Jesus movement to bring Uighur households and communities into a rich experience of God’s blessing, and for an end to the government “re-education” program which is reported to have imprisoned up to a million of these precious people.
Seek God for a Jesus movement among this agrarian people to bring Kurmi households and communities into a rich experience of God’s blessing.
Seek God for a Jesus movement among this generous people to bring Bania households and communities into a rich experience of God’s blessing.
Seek God for a Jesus movement among these oral learners to bring Ansari households and communities into a rich experience of God’s blessing.
Seek God for a Jesus movement in this influential segment of Indian society to bring Yadav families and communities into a rich experience of God’s blessing.
Prayer for the Frontier people groups
Among Frontier People Groups, so few identify with Jesus in any way that the people group as a whole assumes Jesus is only for other, “Christian” people groups.
Seek God for:
- The Lord of the Harvest to ekballo (thrust out) laborers among Frontier People Groups (Matthew 9:38; Luke 10:2), especially laborers with experience in strong Jesus movements among similar peoples.
- Jesus to receive the reward of His sufferings (Revelation 5:9, 7:9) through Jesus movements that multiply God’s blessing among each of these precious Frontier People Groups.
- Father God’s longing to be fully satisfied—that all people groups would turn to Him so that He might embrace and bless each one (Malachi 1:11; Acts 15:16–17).
The Holy Spirit to
- protect the laborers God sends and grant them supernatural wisdom in declaring and demonstrating the Kingdom of God,
- guard these laborers against ministry models that would be ineffective or counterproductive among Frontier People Groups, and
- lead these laborers in launching Jesus movements among each of these Frontier People Groups.
Prayer for muslims
Seek God for Jesus movements to set Muslims free from empty religious rituals that cannot cleanse their sin and shame, lead Muslims from the Qur’an to the Bible, and shower them with the blessing that comes in knowing, loving and serving God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit—as God has revealed Himself in Jesus and the Bible.
The first Muslims were previously a loose association of tribes that worshipped a variety of gods. Contact with Judaism and Christianity contributed to the rapid unification of these tribes under the worship of one God with similarities and differences to the revelation of God is Scripture.
While Muslim tradition claims the Bible has been corrupted, Islam’s holy Qur’an reveres “Isa al Masih” (Jesus the Messiah) above Muhammad, and calls Muslims to learn from the Bible and the “people of the book.” This provides natural bridges for the gospel fueling many Jesus movements among Muslims around the world.
Pray for God to lead Muslims households to open and discuss the Scriptures together, to know God as revealed in Jesus.
Prayer for Hindus
Seek God for Jesus movements to set Hindus free from the fears and empty religious rituals that cannot cleanse their sin and shame and shower them with the blessing that comes in knowing, loving and serving God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit—as God has revealed Himself in Jesus and the Bible.
In the Indus (Hindu) valley, the British encountered a wide variety of gods and related worship practices. This rich diversity of religions became known as “Hinduism.” Unlike other global religions (and despite common assumptions to the contrary) there are almost no universal beliefs or practices common to all Hindus.
Despite shared geography and languages, most Hindu people groups do share a strong generational commitment to their distinct identity, often rooted in the historic occupation of their people.
This impulse to preserve their generational identity keeps these groups from inter-marrying, or even eating or associating outside their group. This also isolates them from the good news of Jesus’ love.