Where the church stands in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia permits no church buildings and no public Christian worship of any kind. Yet perhaps a million Christians live in the kingdom, almost all of them foreign workers from the Philippines, India, Egypt, Ethiopia and elsewhere, meeting privately in homes and compounds.
Saudi believers from a Muslim background exist but are extremely few, and the cost of that decision is as high as anywhere on earth. Satellite media and the internet now reach into the kingdom in Arabic in ways nothing did a generation ago.
Signs of hope
Arabic-language media and the internet reaching inside a country no missionary can enter.
The honest difficulty
Leaving Islam can carry the death penalty in principle; no legal gathering, no church, no public witness.
What "Frontier" means
The least-reached category: fewer than 1 in 1,000 follow Jesus and there is no indigenous Gospel movement large enough to grow on its own. Most people here will never meet a Christian.
In Saudi Arabia the majority religious context is Islam (official; ~93% of citizens). The largest population still considered without meaningful Gospel access is the Saudi Arab (~20 million).
How to pray for Saudi Arabia
Prayer is not a substitute for going; it is how going begins. Take one of these for a week rather than all of them for a day.
- Pray for the handful of Saudi believers, at extraordinary personal cost.
- Ask God to bless migrant workers worshipping quietly in homes and compounds.
- Pray for Arabic media and internet ministry reaching Saudi homes.
- Pray for the millions who visit Mecca each year seeking God.
People groups in Saudi Arabia
A nation is not one people. These are the groups profiled on this site who live here — each with its own language, its own Scripture status, and its own reasons the Gospel has or has not reached it.
Questions people ask about Saudi Arabia
Is Saudi Arabia an unreached nation?
Saudi Arabia is classified as frontier. The least-reached category: fewer than 1 in 1,000 follow Jesus and there is no indigenous Gospel movement large enough to grow on its own. Most people here will never meet a Christian. Roughly 4% of the population identifies as Christian and about 1% as evangelical, with an estimated 39 of its 44 people groups still considered unreached. Figures are rounded estimates and vary by source and year.
How many Christians are there in Saudi Arabia?
About 4% of Saudi Arabia's roughly 34 million people identify as Christian — approximately 1.4 million people. Around 1% are evangelical. The largest group still without meaningful Gospel access is the Saudi Arab (~20 million).
What is the main religion in Saudi Arabia?
Religious affiliation in Saudi Arabia: Islam (official; ~93% of citizens). About 4% of the population identifies as Christian and about 1% as evangelical.
How many people groups are there in Saudi Arabia?
Joshua Project counts about 44 distinct people groups in Saudi Arabia, and 39 of them are considered unreached. Among the least-reached: Saudi Arab (~20 million).
How can I pray for Saudi Arabia?
Pray for the handful of Saudi believers, at extraordinary personal cost. Ask God to bless migrant workers worshipping quietly in homes and compounds. Pick one of these, pray it for two minutes a day for a week, and ask one other person to pray it with you.