Would You Pray for the Hijaz Arab People of Saudi Arabia?
Hijazi Arabs are one of the largest unreached people groups in the world with 11,127,000 in population. There are almost no followers of Jesus among the Hijazi Arabs and no confirmed, sustained movements for Jesus. They are in critical need of cross-cultural workers, (this includes both Mission workers with other careers and Global Marketplace Multipliers).
The Hijazi Arabs (who are often simply called Saudi Arabs) live largely on the Red Sea coast or in themain urban areas of Saudi Arabia. They speak Arabiya, which is also called Hijazi Arabic. As one might expect, being in the land of Mecca and Medina, the Hijazi Arabs are overwhelmingly Muslim (99.91%). Historically and legally, it has been illegal for Saudi citizens to convert to Christianity, nor can one display the Bible publicly. Those who do convert must practice their faith secretly. There has been openness displayed of late to Coptic Christians, but it is unknown if it is for public relations or signs of a more significant broader trend.
Although historically a livestock-centric economy, the riches of oil transformed the Saudi economy in an unprecedented way in the last 50 years. Many foreign workers have moved to Saudi Arabia in recent decades from Africa and Southeast Asia, but statistically almost no westerners have moved there. This may be able to change in coming years, as new visa opportunities for business make it possible.
Please pray for the Hijazi Arabs people in Saudi Arabia and that these new openings might make it possible for an underground church led by Hijazi Arabs to take root and flourish even in hard circumstances. God has not forgotten the Hijazi Arabs, so pray that the LORD would send workers into His harvest since 4 in 10 people worldwide still do not have access to the good news of Jesus Christ.
*Unreached People Groups (UPG) are those who lack Gospel access and have very little Christian presence. These groups often reside in remote areas or regions with barriers like culture, language, or geography, hindering sharing about Jesus Christ. Global Marketplace Multipliers (GMM) is spotlighting UPGs with over 10 million people, known as “Frontier People Groups,” who are the most unreached. We’re creating a page of this UPG series, including this one, which in the end will cover about 35 of the most unreached people groups.