Gayo in Indonesia

The Gayo have only been reported in Indonesia
Population
Main Language
Largest Religion
Christian
Evangelical
Progress
Progress Gauge

Introduction / History

The Gayo live in the isolated central mountains of Aceh province on the island of Sumatera. Their homeland lies in the Bukit Barisan Range ("Parade of Mountains") which has elevations of over 12,000 feet and extends more than one thousand miles. Most Gayo live in the Central Aceh and Southeast Aceh regencies. The Gayo language has four dialects: Lut, Serbejadi-Lukup, Lut and Luwes. Their language does not have a writing system, but folk tales, stories and poetry are passed down in oral tradition. The Gayo are close neighbors to the strongly Islamic Aceh people. In the past, the sultans of Aceh conquered the Gayo region and made the Gayo slaves. After the initial Dutch resistance (during which many Gayo were killed), the Dutch occupied the area from 1904-1942. During this time, the Gayo developed a thriving cash crop economy in vegetables and coffee. During the occupation and during the last several decades of Indonesian independence, the Gayo have gained access to higher levels of education and participated to some degree in the Islamization and modernization of their area.


Where Are they Located?

They live in the and around the Gayo Highlands of Central Aceh. They have also embraced survivors of the Aceh Civil War and the 2004 Tsunami.


What Are Their Lives Like?

Their main source of income is coffee, growing Arabica coffee, which is often referred to as the very best Arabica and Luwak coffee. They are very poor and uneducated. From their traditional dances one can see the root and greatest challenge they face, namely suicide (all ages) due to hopelessness.


What Are Their Beliefs?

Most Gayo are Muslims, but lacking orthodox understanding of the religion. Many Gayo people believe in good and bad spirits and in holy men, both dead and alive. They regularly give ritual offerings and sacrifices to the spirits, to holy men and to their ancestors. The Gayo people broke away from the Batak Karo people of North Sumatra, because the Batak Karo people are Christians and the people of Gayo are Muslim.


What Are Their Needs?

The Gayo need medical workers to improve the low understanding of health matters. The Gayo also need help in overcoming erosion and dangerous landslides, which at times block important transportation routes in their area. They need more investors to save them from the corrupt buyers enslaving them with in debt and forcing the coffee farmers to sell to them alone. They need quality education systems and health care.


Prayer Points

Pray for people to show Jesus to the gentle-hearted Gayo people desperately searching for hope and life.


Scripture Prayers for the Gayo in Indonesia.


References

Additional information from personal correspondence.


Profile Source:   IPN, 2011   Copyrighted ©   Used with permission  

People Name General Gayo
People Name in Country Gayo
Alternate Names Gajo
Population this Country 345,000
Population all Countries 345,000
Total Countries 1
Indigenous Yes
Progress Scale 1
Unreached Yes
Frontier People Group Yes
GSEC 1  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed 7
People ID 11837
ROP3 Code 103264
ROP25 Code 302615
ROP25 Name Gayo
Country Indonesia
Region Asia, Southeast
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 42  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Location in Country Aceh Province, Central Aceh, East Aceh, Gayo Lues, and Southeast Aceh regencies. North Sumatra highland region near Mount Sembuang.   Source:  Ethnologue 2016
Country Indonesia
Region Asia, Southeast
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 42  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Location in Country Aceh Province, Central Aceh, East Aceh, Gayo Lues, and Southeast Aceh regencies. North Sumatra highland region near Mount Sembuang..   Source:  Ethnologue 2016
Map of Gayo in Indonesia Ethnolinguistic map or other map

Primary Religion: Islam
Major Religion Percent
Buddhism
0.00 %
Christianity  (Evangelical 0.01 %)
0.03 %
Ethnic Religions
5.00 %
Hinduism
0.00 %
Islam
94.97 %
Non-Religious
0.00 %
Other / Small
0.00 %
Unknown
0.00 %
Primary Language Gayo (345,000 speakers)
Language Code gay   Ethnologue Listing
Language Written Yes   ScriptSource Listing
Total Languages 1
Primary Language Gayo (345,000 speakers)
Language Code gay   Ethnologue Listing
Total Languages 1
People Groups Speaking Gayo

Primary Language:  Gayo

Bible Translation Status  (Years)
Bible-Portions Yes  (2020)
Bible-New Testament No
Bible-Complete No
Possible Print Bibles
Amazon
World Bibles
Forum Bible Agencies
National Bible Societies
World Bible Finder
Virtual Storehouse
Resource Type Resource Name Source
Film / Video Jesus Film: view in Gayo Jesus Film Project
Photo Source Copyrighted © 2024  Anonymous  All rights reserved.  Used with permission
Map Source People Group location: IMB. Map geography: ESRI / GMI. Map design: Joshua Project.  
Profile Source IPN, 2011  Copyrighted ©  Used with permission 
Data Sources Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more.



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