Arab, Najdi Bedouin of Iraq

Coming in 2nd on the "Most Unreached People Groups" over at the Joshua Project are the Bedouins of Iraq.

Who Are They? The Najdi Bedouin of Iraq are like most Bedouins. They make their dwellings near the deserts found in the Middle East. Usually recognized by their black tents made of goat hair, the Najdi Bedouin are a nomadic people who live on the outskirts of the deserts during the hot summer months and deeper within the desert during the winter. They eat mostly unleavened bread, products made from goat milk and yogurt with dates that they find in the desert oasis. They are a proud people who allow marriage only within their own people to preserve their lineage.

What do they Believe? It should be no surprise that they practice Islam. They are Sunni Muslims and practice the five pillars of Islam.

Status of Evangelization: There are very few known believers amongst the Najdi Bedouin of Iraq (or for any Bedouins for that matter). Mainly, because their beliefs require that a convert from Islam to Christianity is to be killed. Also, due to their nomadic nature, it is hard to interact with Bedouins and thus makes it hard to share the Gospel with them. No agencies or churches have engaged them. Maybe your church could be the first! They also do not have the scriptures in their language in any format.

How Can You Pray/Get Involved? For prayer, you can visit the
Joshua Project. By the way, half the links for prayer on this website are down, so there aren't many avenues to learn how to pray for these people outside of the JP. You can also visit here to learn more.

SPECIAL: Zaramo of Tanzania

We have slightly detoured our top 10 most unreached people groups from the Joshua Project to highlight the Zaramo of Tanzania.

Who are they? The Zaramo of Tanzania are farmers who live mainly in the area surrounding Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. There are about 737,000 Zaramo, all of them surprisingly living in that green blob on the map to the left. There are only about .73% of them professing to be evangelical believers (about 5,380). Their society is an agricultural society; they raise mangoes, cashews, oranges, coconuts and rice, with a few other crops like tobacco and corn. Livestock is also important in the life of the Zaramo and for them, none more important than the chicken. Their society is matrilineal, which means that the family lineage is traced through the mother. Despite the fact that the society is matrilineal, they still practice polygamy.

What do they believe? A few centuries ago the Zaramo were introduced to Islam. Like most African Muslims they practice a mixture of Islam and tribal superstitions. For instance, the Joshua Project says that most Zaramo fear witchcraft and poison and they blame nearly every death on this.

Status of Evangelization/Needs: As mentioned above, only about .73% of all Zaramo are evangelical believers. Several societies have committed to working amongst them, as well as a group of churches. They have the NT in their language, but they do not yet have the Jesus Film or any radio broadcasts in their language.

How can you pray? As always you can learn about the Zaramo at the Joshua Project. But I've summarized that information for you here.

Other places you can visit:

Global Prayer Project

Global 12 Project


Also, visit Faith Comes by Hearing to learn how you could sponsor MP3 bibles in their language, or any other unreached people groups language.

The Aimaq, Taimani of Afghanistan

Over at the Joshua Project you can find a top ten list of the most unreached people groups in the world. Weighing at #1 are the Aimaq, Taimani of Afghanistan.

Who Are They? The Taimani are a large population of Char Aimaq people (a make up of four smaller clans within the Aimaq). Thus, the Char Aimaq are actually a sub-group of the Aimaq people.

Located in the mountains of Afganistan the Taimani are a semi-nomadic people. Like many peoples in Central Asia, they were nomadic before certain interactions with the U.S.S.R. brought about a change. They now leave only seasonally to graze their cattle in different, more fertile lands. They have practically disappeared off the map, sociologically speaking, since the time of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Therefore, there is not a lot of new information about the Aimaq and their language (Aimaq).

What do they believe? The Taimani are Hanafi Sunni Muslims. You can learn more about that here . This is the largest sect of Sunni Islam (49%). They know the Bible stories mentioned in the Koran but view Christianity, as most Islamic people, as heresy.

Status of Engagement: Right now there are zero believers known amongst the Taimani Aimaq. No surprise since they are #1 on the list given to us by Joshua project. Currently there is at least one agency committed to reaching the Aimaq.

They are hard to reach because of their isolation from the rest of the world. As they have said over at the Joshua Project, "The remote location and wide dispersion of the Taimani have made them hard to reach with the Gospel. At the present time, there is no Christian witness available to the Taimani. Prayer is the first step toward seeing them reached with the Light of the Gospel."

Learn More/Prayer: Since prayer requests change I won't list them here. But, here are some websites you can visit to learn more and get prayer requests for the Taimani Aimaq. You can also subscribe to a prayer letter for them on the first link.

Prayer Requests from the IMB
World Cultures (You can scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the bibliography to read about them.)

Would your church Get involved with the Taimani Aimaq?