Introduction / History

Georgian-speaking Azerbaijanis fall into two groups: Yereti Georgians who are Orthodox Christians; and the Inghiloi, who are Shi'ite Muslims. Of these, the Inghilois are what the late Dr. Ralph D. Winter once called "hidden peoples," that is, peoples who are out of sight of missiologists and the Church at large. The Inghilois are apparently unknown even to students of Islam because they are not in Weekes' global survey, Muslim Peoples. They are truly a hidden people. We usually now use the term "unreached" people groups, since some groups lack a gospel witness whether or not they are on any missionary's radar screen.

Education in Azerbaijan is provided in the national language of Azerbaijani, but also in Georgian and Russian. The Bible is available in all three languages. Thanks to education and commerce, many Inghilois are bi- or multilingual. However, Azerbaijani is increasingly the preferred language among the Inghilois.

Prayer Points

* Pray that the Inghilois will no longer be hidden to the Church; they are not hidden from God.
* Pray that the Georgian Orthodox Church gets a vision for reaching Muslim Inghilois with the gospel of Christ.
* Pray that Muslim Inghilois will want to read the Bible and that God's Word will bear fruit to eternal life in them.
* Pray for more Christian radio broadcasts in the Azerbaijani language.