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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 |
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 |
General | Scripture Earth Gospel resources links | Scripture Earth |
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. |