Welcome back to the UPG of the Week. This week we are covering the Kunbi in India!

Region: India - Gujarat

Stratus Index Ranking (Urgency): 19

>It has been noted to me by u/JCmathetes that I should explain this ranking. Low numbers are more urgent, both physically and spiritually together, while high numbers are less urgent. The scale is 1-177, with one number assigned to each country. So basically on a scale from Afghanistan (1) to Finland (177), how urgent are the peoples physical and spiritual needs.

Delhi, India

Ahmedabad

Climate: Indian climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive the economically and culturally pivotal summer and winter monsoons. The Himalayas prevent cold Central Asian katabatic winds from blowing in, keeping the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations at similar latitudes. The Thar Desert plays a crucial role in attracting the moisture-laden south-west summer monsoon winds that, between June and October, provide the majority of India's rainfall. Four major climatic groupings predominate in India: tropical wet, tropical dry, subtropical humid, and montane. Temperatures in India have risen by 0.7 °C (1.3 °F) between 1901 and 2018. Climate change in India is often thought to be the cause. The retreat of Himalayan glaciers has adversely affected the flow rate of the major Himalayan rivers, including the Ganges and the Brahmaputra. According to some current projections, the number and severity of droughts in India will have markedly increased by the end of the present century.

Safdarjung Tomb, Delhi

Indian Himalayas

Terrain: India has a wild and varied geography. On the south, India projects into and is bounded by the Indian Ocean—in particular, by the Arabian Sea on the west, the Lakshadweep Sea to the southwest, the Bay of Bengal on the east, and the Indian Ocean proper to the south. The Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar separate India from Sri Lanka to its immediate southeast, and the Maldives are some 125 kilometres (78 mi) to the south of India's Lakshadweep Islands across the Eight Degree Channel. India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, some 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) southeast of the mainland, share maritime borders with Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia.

The northern frontiers of India are defined largely by the Himalayan mountain range, where the country borders China, Bhutan, and Nepal. Its western border with Pakistan lies in the Karakoram and Western Himalayan ranges, Punjab Plains, the Thar Desert and the Rann of Kutch salt marshes. In the far northeast, the Chin Hills and Kachin Hills, deeply forested mountainous regions, separate India from Burma. On the east, its border with Bangladesh is largely defined by the Khasi Hills and Mizo Hills, and the watershed region of the Indo-Gangetic Plain.

The Ganges is the longest river originating in India. The Ganges–Brahmaputra system occupies most of northern, central, and eastern India, while the Deccan Plateau occupies most of southern India. Kangchenjunga, in the Indian state of Sikkim, is the highest point in India at 8,586 m (28,169 ft) and the world's third highest peak. The climate across India ranges from equatorial in the far south, to alpine and tundra in the upper regions of the Himalayas. Geologically, India lies on the Indian Plate, the northern part of the Indo-Australian Plate.

The Thar Desert in India

The Ganges River

Wildlife of India: India is home to a large variety of wildlife. It is a biodiversity hotspot with its various ecosystems ranging from the Himalayas in the north to the evergreen rain forests in the south, the sands of the west to the marshy mangroves of the east.India is home to several well-known large animals, including the Indian elephant, Indian rhinoceros Bengal tiger, Asiatic lion, Indian leopard, snow leopard, and clouded leopard. Bears include sloth bear, sun bear, the Himalayan black bear, the Himalayan brown bear, and deer and antelopes include the chausinga antelope, the blackbuck, chinkara gazelle, chital, sambar (deer), sangai, Tibetan antelope, goa (antelope), Kashmir stag, musk deer, Indian muntjac, Indian hog deer, and the barasinga. It is home to big cats like Bengal tiger, Asiatic lion, Indian leopard, snow leopard, caracal, and clouded leopard. Various species of caprines, including Bhutan and Mishmi takin, Himalayan and red goral, Himalayan serow, red serow, Himalayan tahr, Siberian ibex, markhor, and Nilgiri tahr, as well as the kiang and Indian wild ass can be found. Wild sheep include blue sheep and argali. Gaur, wild water buffalo, wild yak, zebu, and gayal are also found. Small mammals include Indian boar, pygmy hog, Nilgiri marten, palm civet, red panda, binturong, and hog badger. Aquatic mammals include Ganges river dolphin and finless porpoise. Reptiles include king cobra, Indian cobra, bamboo pit viper, Sri Lankan green vine snake, common krait, Indian rock python, Burmese python, reticulated python, mugger crocodile, gharial, saltwater crocodile and Indian golden gecko. Notable amphibians include the purple frog, Indian tree frog and Himalayan newt. Birds include Indian peacock, great Indian hornbill, great Indian bustard, ruddy shelduck, Himalayan monal, Himalayan quail, painted stork, greater and lesser flamingo, and Eurasian spoonbill.

Unfortunately, India does have monkeys. Ugh.

Tiger crossing the road in India

Environmental Issues: Air pollution, poor management of waste, growing water scarcity, falling groundwater tables, water pollution, preservation and quality of forests, biodiversity loss, and land/soil degradation are some of the major environmental issues India faces today.

Languages: India has 122 major languages and 1599 other languages. So, I will not type them out. Here are a few: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Meitei, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. The Yadav speak Hindi

Government Type: Federal parliamentary constitutional republic

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People: Kunbi Peoples in India

Kunbi woman

Population: 19,457,000

Estimated Foreign Workers Needed: 389+

Beliefs: The Kunbi people in India are roughly 0.05% Christian. That means out of 19 million, there are maybe 9,000 believers amongst them.

They are Hindu by faith and worship many deities. Their main festivals are Ugadi, Akshade and Dussehra. They play bhajans and kirtans.

temple in Gujarat

History: Gujarat was one of the main central areas of the Indus Valley Civilisation, which was spread across modern-day northern India and Pakistan. It contains ancient metropolitan cities from the Indus Valley Civilisation such as Lothal, Dholavira and Gola Dhoro. The ancient city of Lothal was where India's first port was established. The ancient city of Dholavira is one of the largest and most prominent archaeological sites in India, belonging to the Indus Valley Civilisation. The most recent discovery was Gola Dhoro. Altogether, about fifty Indus Valley settlement ruins have been discovered in Gujarat.

The ancient history of Gujarat was enriched by the commercial activities of its inhabitants. There is clear historical evidence of trade and commerce ties with Egypt, Bahrain and Sumer in the Persian Gulf during the time period of 1000 to 750 BCE. There was a succession of various polities such as the Mauryan dynasty, Satavahana dynasty, Gupta Empire, Gurjara-Pratihara Empire, as well as regional ones such as the Western Satraps, the Kingdom of Valabhi, the Kingdom of Gujarat, the Sultanate of Gujarat, and finally the Kingdom of Baroda.

The early history of Gujarat includes the imperial grandeur of Chandragupta Maurya who conquered a number of earlier states in what is now Gujarat. Pushyagupta, a Vaishya, was appointed the governor of Saurashtra by the Mauryan regime. He ruled Girinagar (modern-day Junagadh) (322 BCE to 294 BCE) and built a dam on the Sudarshan lake. Emperor Ashoka the Great, the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, not only ordered his edicts engraved in the rock at Junagadh, but also asked Governor Tusherpha to cut canals from the lake where an earlier Indian governor had built a dam. Between the decline of Mauryan power and Saurashtra coming under the sway of the Samprati Mauryas of Ujjain, there was an Indo-Greek defeat in Gujarat of Demetrius. In 16th-century manuscripts, there is an apocryphal story of a merchant of King Gondophares landing in Gujarat with Apostle Thomas. The incident of the cup-bearer torn apart by a lion might indicate that the port city described is in Gujarat.

For nearly 300 years from the start of the 1st century CE, Saka rulers played a prominent part in Gujarat's history. The weather-beaten rock at Junagadh gives a glimpse of the ruler Rudradaman I (100 CE) of the Saka satraps known as Western Satraps, or Kshatraps. Mahakshatrap Rudradaman I founded the Kardamaka dynasty which ruled from Anupa on the banks of the Narmada up to the Aparanta region bordering Punjab. In Gujarat, several battles were fought between the Indian dynasties such as the Satavahana dynasty and the Western Satraps. The greatest and the mightiest ruler of the Satavahana dynasty was Gautamiputra Satakarni who defeated the Western Satraps and conquered some parts of Gujarat in the 2nd century CE.

In the early 8th century, the Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate established an empire in the name of the rising religion of Islam, which stretched from Spain in the west to Afghanistan and modern-day Pakistan in the east. Al-Junaid, the successor of Qasim, finally subdued the Hindu resistance within Sindh and established a secure base. The Arab rulers tried to expand their empire southeast, which culminated in the Caliphate campaigns in India fought in 730; they were defeated and expelled west of the Indus river, probably by a coalition of the Indian rulers Nagabhata I of the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty, Vikramaditya II of the Chalukya dynasty and Bappa Rawal of the Guhila dynasty. After this victory, the Arab invaders were driven out of Gujarat. General Pulakeshin, a Chalukya prince of Lata, received the title Avanijanashraya (refuge of the people of the earth) and honorific of "Repeller of the unrepellable" by the Chalukya emperor Vikramaditya II for his victory at the battle at Navsari, where the Arab troops suffered a crushing defeat.

In the late 8th century, the Kannauj Triangle period started. The three major Indian dynasties – the northwestern Indian Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty, the southern Indian Rashtrakuta dynasty and the eastern Indian Pala Empire – dominated India from the 8th to 10th centuries. During this period the northern part of Gujarat was ruled by the northern Indian Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty and the southern part of Gujarat was ruled by the southern Indian Rashtrakuta dynasty. However, the earliest epigraphical records of the Gurjars of Broach attest that the royal bloodline of the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty of Dadda I, II and III (650–750) ruled south Gujarat. Southern Gujarat was ruled by the Indian Rashtrakuta dynasty until it was captured by the Indian ruler Tailapa II of the Western Chalukya Empire.

The Chaulukya dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Gujarat from 960 to 1243. Gujarat was a major center of Indian Ocean trade, and their capital at Anhilwara (Patan) was one of the largest cities in India, with a population estimated at 100,000 in the year 1000. Under the rule of Subhatvarman (1194–1209 CE), a Parmara ruler in central India, Jainism faced hardships as a result of the ruler's animosity towards the religion. Subhatavarman attacked Gujarat and plundered large number of Jain temples in Dabhoi and Cambay in 11th century. Subhatavarman, during his campaigns in Lata, destroyed numerous Jain temples. After 1243, the Solankis lost control of Gujarat to their feudatories, of whom the Vaghela chiefs of Dholka came to rule the Kingdom of Gujarat. In 1292, the Vaghelas became tributaries of the Yadava dynasty of Devagiri in the Deccan. Karandev of the Vaghela dynasty was the last Hindu ruler of Gujarat. He was defeated and overthrown by the superior forces of Alauddin Khalji from Delhi in 1297. With his defeat, Gujarat became part of the Delhi Sultanate, and the Rajput hold over Gujarat would never be restored.

After the Ghoris had assumed a position of Muslim supremacy over North India, Qutbuddin Aibak attempted to conquer Gujarat and annexe it to his empire in 1197, but failed in his ambitions. An independent Muslim community continued to flourish in Gujarat for the next hundred years, championed by Arab merchants settling along the western coast. From 1297 to 1300, Alauddin Khalji, the Turko-Afghan Sultan of Delhi, destroyed the Hindu metropolis of Anhilwara and incorporated Gujarat into the Delhi Sultanate. After Timur sacked Delhi at the end of the 14th century, weakening the Sultanate, Gujarat's Muslim Khatri governor Zafar Khan Muzaffar (Muzaffar Shah I) asserted his independence, and his son, Sultan Ahmed Shah (ruled 1411–1442), established Ahmedabad as the capital. Khambhat eclipsed Bharuch as Gujarat's most important trade port. Gujarat's relations with Egypt, which was then the premier Arab power in the Middle East, remained friendly over the next century and the Egyptian scholar, Badruddin-ad-Damamimi, spent several years in Gujarat in the shade of the Sultan before proceeding to the Bahmani Sultanate on the Deccan Plateau.

Shah e Alam, a famous Sufi saint of the Chishti order who was the descendant of Makhdoom Jahaniyan Jahangasht from Bukhara, soon arrived in a group that included Arab theologian Ibn Suwaid, several Sayyid Sufi members of the Aydarus family of Tarim in Yemen Iberian court interpreter Ali al-Andalusi from Granada, and the Arab jurist Bahraq from Hadramaut who was appointed a tutor of the prince. Among the illustrious names who arrived during the reign of Mahmud Begada was the philosopher Haibatullah Shah Mir from Shiraz, and the scholar intellectual Abu Fazl Ghazaruni from Persia who tutored and adopted Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, author of the Akbarnama. Later, a close alliance between the Ottoman Turks and Gujarati sultans to effectively safeguard Jeddah and the Red Sea trade from Portuguese imperialism, encouraged the existence of powerful Rumi elites within the kingdom who took the post of viziers in Gujarat keen to maintain ties with the Ottoman state.

Humayun also briefly occupied the province in 1536, but fled due to the threat Bahadur Shah, the Gujarat king, imposed. The Sultanate of Gujarat remained independent until 1572, when the Mughal emperor Akbar conquered it and annexed it to the Mughal Empire. The Surat port (the only Indian port facing west) then became the principal port of India during Mughal rule, gaining widespread international repute. The city of Surat, famous for its exports of silk and diamonds, had reached a par with contemporary Venice and Beijing, great mercantile cities of Europe and Asia, and earned the distinguished title, Bab al-Makkah (Gate of Mecca).

The Age of Discovery heralded the dawn of pioneer Portuguese and Spanish long-distance travel in search of alternative trade routes to "the East Indies", moved by the trade of gold, silver and spices. In 1497, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama is said to have discovered the Europe-to-India sea route which changed the course of history, thanks to Kutchi sailor Kanji Malam, who showed him the route from the East African coasts of Mozambique sailing onwards to Calicut off the Malabar coast in India. Later, the Gujarat Sultanate allied with the Ottomans and Egyptian Mamluks naval fleets led by governor-generals Malik Ayyaz and Amir Husain Al-Kurdi, vanquished the Portuguese in the 1508 Battle of Chaul resulting in the first Portuguese defeat at sea in the Indian Ocean.

For the best part of two centuries, the independent Khatri Sultanate of Gujarat was the cynosure of its neighbours on account of its wealth and prosperity, which had long made the Gujarati merchant a familiar figure in the ports of the Indian Ocean. Gujaratis, including Hindus and Muslims as well as the enterprising Parsi class of Zoroastrians, had been specialising in the organisation of overseas trade for many centuries, and had moved into various branches of commerce such as commodity trade, brokerage, money-changing, money-lending and banking.

By the 17th century, Chavuse and Baghdadi Jews had assimilated into the social world of the Surat province, later on their descendants would give rise to the Sassoons of Bombay and the Ezras of Calcutta, and other influential Indian-Jewish figures who went on to play a philanthropical role in the commercial development of 19th-century British Crown Colony of Shanghai.[97] Spearheaded by Khoja, Bohra, Bhatiya shahbandars and Moorish nakhudas who dominated sea navigation and shipping, Gujarat's transactions with the outside world had created the legacy of an international transoceanic empire which had a vast commercial network of permanent agents stationed at all the great port cities across the Indian Ocean. These networks extended to the Philippines in the east, East Africa in the west, and via maritime and the inland caravan route to Russia in the north.

When the cracks had started to develop in the edifice of the Mughal Empire in the mid-17th century, the Marathas were consolidating their power in the west, Chatrapati Shivaji, the great Maratha ruler, attacked Surat in southern Gujarat twice first in 1664 and again in 1672. These attacks marked the entry of the Marathas into Gujarat. However, before the Maratha had made inroads into Gujarat, the Europeans had made their presence felt, led by the Portuguese, and followed by the Dutch and the English. The Peshwas had established sovereignty over parts of Gujarat and collected taxes and tributes through their representatives. Damaji Rao Gaekwad and Kadam Bande divided the Peshwa territory between them, with Damaji establishing the sway of Gaekwad over Gujarat and making Baroda (present day Vadodara in southern Gujarat) his capital. The ensuing internecine war among the Marathas was fully exploited by the British, who interfered in the affairs of both Gaekwads and the Peshwas.

In Saurashtra, as elsewhere, the Marathas were met with resistance. The decline of the Mughal Empire helped form larger peripheral states in Saurashtra, including Junagadh, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar and a few others, which largely resisted the Maratha incursions.

In the 1600s, the Dutch, French, English and Portuguese all established bases along the western coast of the region. Portugal was the first European power to arrive in Gujarat, and after the Battle of Diu, acquired several enclaves along the Gujarati coast, including Daman and Diu as well as Dadra and Nagar Haveli. These enclaves were administered by Portuguese India under a single union territory for over 450 years, only to be later incorporated into the Republic of India on 19 December 1961 by military conquest.

The British East India Company established a factory in Surat in 1614 following the commercial treaty made with Mughal Emperor Nuruddin Salim Jahangir, which formed their first base in India, but it was eclipsed by Bombay after the English received it from Portugal in 1668 as part of the marriage treaty of Charles II of England and Catherine of Braganza, daughter of King John IV of Portugal. The state was an early point of contact with the west, and the first British commercial outpost in India was in Gujarat.

Later in the 17th century, Gujarat came under control of the Hindu Maratha Empire that arose, defeating the Muslim Mughals who had dominated the politics of India. Most notably, from 1705 to 1716, Senapati Khanderao Dabhade led the Maratha Empire forces in Baroda. Pilaji Gaekwad, first ruler of Gaekwad dynasty, established the control over Baroda and other parts of Gujarat.

The British East India Company wrested control of much of Gujarat from the Marathas during the Second Anglo-Maratha War in 1802–1803. Many local rulers, notably the Maratha Gaekwad Maharajas of Baroda (Vadodara), made a separate peace with the British and acknowledged British sovereignty in return for retaining local self-rule.

An epidemic in 1812 killed half the population of Gujarat.

Gujarat was placed under the political authority of the Bombay Presidency, with the exception of Baroda State, which had a direct relationship with the Governor-General of India. From 1818 to 1947, most of present-day Gujarat, including Kathiawar, Kutch and northern and eastern Gujarat were divided into hundreds of princely states, but several districts in central and southern Gujarat, namely Ahmedabad, Broach (Bharuch), Kaira (Kheda), Panchmahal and Surat, were governed directly by British officials. In 1819, Sahajanand Swami established the first Swaminarayan Mandir in Kalupur, Ahmedabad.

Initially there was confusion over whether Junagadh would join India or Pakistan. This was resolved in 1947 with a plebiscite for full union with India following the next year.

After Indian independence and the partition of India in 1947, the new Indian government grouped the former princely states of Gujarat into three larger units; Saurashtra, which included the former princely states on the Kathiawad peninsula, Kutch, and Bombay state, which included the former British districts of Bombay Presidency together with most of Baroda State and the other former princely states of eastern Gujarat. Bombay state was enlarged to include Kutch, Saurashtra (Kathiawar) and parts of Hyderabad state and Madhya Pradesh in central India. The new state had a mostly Gujarati-speaking north and a Marathi-speaking south. Agitation by Gujarati nationalists, the Mahagujarat Movement, and Marathi nationalists, the Samyukta Maharashtra, for their own states led to the split of Bombay state on linguistic lines; on 1 May 1960, it became the new states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. In 1969 riots, at least 660 died and properties worth millions were destroyed. The first capital of Gujarat was Ahmedabad. The capital of Gujarat was moved to Gandhinagar in 1970. Nav Nirman Andolan was a socio-political movement of 1974. It was a students' and middle class people's movement against economic crisis and corruption in public life. This was the first and last successful agitation after the Independence of India that ousted an elected government.

The Morvi dam failure, in 1979, resulted in the death of thousands of people and large economic loss. In the 1980s, a reservation policy was introduced in the country, which led to anti-reservation protests in 1981 and 1985. The protests witnessed violent clashes between people belonging to various castes.

The 2001 Gujarat earthquake was located about 9 km south-southwest of the village of Chobari in the Bhachau taluka of Kutch District. This magnitude 7.7 shock killed around 20,000 people (including at least 18 in South-eastern Pakistan), injured another 167,000 and destroyed nearly 400,000 homes.

In February 2002, the Godhra train burning led to statewide riots, resulting in the deaths of 1,044 people – 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus, and hundreds missing still unaccounted for. The Swaminarayan Akshardham in Gandhinagar was attacked by two terrorists in September 2002, killing 32 people and injuring more than 80 others. National Security Guards intervened to end the siege killing both terrorists. On 26 July 2008 a series of 17 bomb blasts rocked Ahmedabad, killing and injuring several people.

The Mughal Emperor Akbar triumphantly enters Surat.

Culture: Typical qualification that all people groups can't be summed up in small paragraphs and this is an over generalization.

The traditional occupation of most of the Reddy groups is settled farming, followed by animal husbandry and paid labor. The majority of the Kunbi communities are non-vegetarian, and all the communities take rice as their staple cereal. Jowar, wheat, bajra and ragi are the other cereals they eat.

The Kunbi community have social divisions such as clans, lineage, subcastes and sects. These social divisions regulate marital alliances. They speak the Kannada and Telugu languages. Among the Kunbi people, cross-cousin marriages are allowed. Widow remarriage is not permitted. Being a dominant community, the Reddy have been primarily landlords and landholders. Social control is regulated through traditional caste and village councils. The Kunbi fear Christianity as an invading religious system to their families and communities.

Kunbi dancers

Cuisine:  Doing general Gujarati cuisine

Gujarati cuisine varies widely in flavour and heat, depending on a family's tastes as well as the region of Gujarat to which they belong. Gujarat is primarily a vegetarian state. Many communities such as Koli Patel, Ghanchi, Muslim communities and Parsis, however, do include seafood, chicken and mutton in their diet. The typical Gujarati thali consists of rotli, dal or curry, rice, and shaak (a dish made up of several different combinations of vegetables and spices, which may be either spicy or sweet). The thali will also include preparations made from pulses or whole beans (called kathor in Gujarati) such as moong or black-eyed beans, a snack item (farsaan) like dhokla, pathra, samosa, or fafda, and a sweet (mishthaan) like mohanthal, jalebi, or sevaiya. Some of the main dishes are dhokla, Undhyu, Jalebi fafda, Turia Patra, and Aamras puri.

Jalebi fafda

Prayer Request:

• For that God will send several Christian workers to work among them to meet their spiritual and physical needs.
• Pray for the Kunbi Christians to reach out to their own people.
• Pray that their men and women will give up smoking.
• Pray against Putin and his insane little war.
• Pray against the war happening in Iran. Pray for peace.
• Pray that in this time of chaos and panic that the needs of the unreached are not forgotten by the church. Pray that our hearts continue to ache to see the unreached hear the Good News.
• Pray for our nation (the United States), that we Christians can learn to come alongside our hurting brothers and sisters and learn to carry one another's burdens in a more Christlike manner than we have done historically
• Pray for our leaders, that though insane and chaotic decisions are being made, to the detriment of Americans, that God would call them to know Him and help them lead better.

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. (Romans 10:1)

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Here are the previous weeks threads on the UPG of the Week for from 2025 (plus a few from 2024 so this one post isn't so lonely). To save some space on these, all UPG posts made 2019-now are here, I will try to keep this current!

a - Tibet belongs to Tibet, not China.

b - Russia/Turkey/etc is Europe but also Asia so...

c - this likely is not the true religion that they worship, but rather they have a mixture of what is listed with other local religions, or they have embraced a postmodern drift and are leaving faith entirely but this is their historical faith.

Here is a list of definitions in case you wonder what exactly I mean by words like "Unreached".

Here is a list of missions organizations that reach out to the world to do missions for the Glory of God.

Welcome back to the UPG of the Week. This week we are covering an interesting minority in Morocco, Jewish Peoples in Morocco!

Region: Morocco - Northern Cities, Esp Casablanca and Rabbat

map

Stratus Index Ranking (Urgency): 29

>It has been noted to me by u/JCmathetes that I should explain this ranking. Low numbers are more urgent, both physically and spiritually together, while high numbers are less urgent. The scale is 1-177, with one number assigned to each country. So basically on a scale from Afghanistan (1) to Finland (177), how urgent are the peoples physical and spiritual needs.

Casablanca

Marakech

Climate: In terms of area, Morocco is comprised predominantly of "hot summer Mediterranean climate" (Csa) and "hot desert climate" (BWh) zones.

Central mountain ranges and the effects of the cold Canary Current, off the Atlantic coast, are significant factors in Morocco's relatively large variety of vegetation zones, ranging from lush forests in the northern and central mountains, giving way to steppe, semi-arid and desert areas in the eastern and southern regions. The Moroccan coastal plains experience remarkably moderate temperatures even in summer. On the whole, this range of climates is similar to that of Southern California.

In the Rif, Middle and High Atlas Mountains, there exist several different types of climates: Mediterranean along the coastal lowlands, giving way to a humid temperate climate at higher elevations. In the valleys, fertile soils and high precipitation allow for the growth of thick and lush forests. Cloud forests can be found in the west of the Rif Mountains and Middle Atlas Mountains. At higher elevations, the climate becomes alpine in character, and can sustain ski resorts.

The Atlas Mountain Range running into the Sahara

Tangier, Morocco

Terrain: The geography of Morocco spans from the Atlantic Ocean, to mountainous areas, to the Sahara desert. Morocco is a Northern African country, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria and the annexed Western Sahara. A large part of Morocco is mountainous. The Atlas Mountains are located mainly in the centre and the south of the country. The Rif Mountains are located in the north of the country. Both ranges are mainly inhabited by the Berber people. Most of the southeast portion of the country is in the Sahara Desert and as such is generally sparsely populated and unproductive economically.

Medina in Casablanca

Chefchaouen, Morocco

Wildlife of Morocco: There are at least 210 bird species in the nation as well as around 105 species of mammals. The Barbary lion is the official national animal of Morocco, unfortunately, as far as we know, the Barbary Lion is extinct. Among those animals in Morocco are Nile crocodiles, Fennec fox, Dorcas gazelle, golden jackals, addax, Common gundi, Barbary ground squirrel, Sand cat, Moorish wall gecko, Barbary sheep, Crested porcupine, Egyptian mongoose, North African hedgehog, The puff adder, Indian cobra, Egyptian cobra, horned viper, Flic-flac spider, African golden wolf, Striped hyena, and most importantly, Tree-climbing goats.

Unfortunately, Morocco does have some dumb monkeys, the Barbary macaque.

Nile Crocodile in Morocco

Environmental Issues: The number one problem effecting Morocco is desertification and every other problem tumbles into place from there the increased salinization of the soil in Morocco has led to increase of irrigation and further depletion of water resources that has then led to the drying of wetlands, displacement of animals and loss of biodiversity in a country that has many rich ecosystems. The harvesting of heavy metals exacerbates this problem by contaminating water sources and causing land erosion. It is impossible to imagine a world without information technology; however, the adverse effects that supplying this technology has on the environment may weigh out their overall use in the long run.

Languages: Arabic, Berber, Moroccan Arabic, Hassaniya Arabic, Berber, French, and Tachelhit. The Jews speak Judeo-Moroccan Arabic.

Government Type: Unitary parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy

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People: Jewish Peoples in Morocco

A Jewish Moroccan woman

Population: 21,000

Estimated Foreign Workers Needed: 3+

Beliefs: The Jewish people in Morocco are roughly 0% Christian. That means out of 21,000, there are maybe a small handful of believers amongst them.

Like all those who deny Christ, the Jewish peoples are deceived and follow a false god. For religious Jewish peoples, God (not the true God at this point) is the Supreme Being, the Creator of the universe, and the ultimate Judge of human affairs. Beyond this, the religious beliefs of the Jewish communities vary greatly. Orthodox Jewish peoples generally follow the traditional religious beliefs and practices found in the Jewish literature that interprets Scripture regarding ethical, religious, civil and criminal matters. Conservative Judaism is less traditional than Orthodox and combines different ethical, philosophical, and spiritual schools of thought. Reform Judaism is the most liberal form and interprets Jewish beliefs and practices in light of contemporary life and thought. Reform Jewish peoples do not believe that the Jewish Law is divinely revealed. They are not restricted to kosher (traditional, approved) foods, nor do they wear the skull cap (yarmulke) when praying or use Hebrew in prayer. All religious Jewish peoples believe in the coming of a Messianic Age, but only the Orthodox Jewish peoples look for a personal Messiah.

Not all Jewish peoples are religious. Some understand their "Jewishness" only as a social and cultural identity.

Temple Beth-El in Casablanca

History: Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community with possible origins dating back to before 70 CE. Concrete evidence of Jewish presence in Morocco becomes apparent in late antiquity, with Hebrew epitaphs and menorah-decorated lamps discovered in the Roman city of Volubilis, and the remains of a synagogue dating to the third century CE. In accordance with the norms of the Islamic legal system, Moroccan Jews had separate legal courts pertaining to "personal law" under which communities (Muslim sharia, Christian Canon law and Jewish halakha law-abiding) were allowed to rule themselves under their own system.

It is possible that some Jews fled to North Africa after the destruction of the First Temple in the sixth century BCE or the destruction of the Second Temple in the first century CE. It is also possible that they arrived on Phoenician boats (1500 BCE - 539 BCE). There is also a theory, supported by Ibn Khaldun, that Moroccan Jews were indigenous Imazighen (Berbers) who converted to Judaism, although the question of who converted them remains, and this theory has been rejected by most scholars. The Jewish community of Ifran, from the Tamazight word ifri meaning cavern, is supposed to date back to 361 BCE and is believed to be the oldest Jewish community in what is now Morocco.

The first irrefutable evidence of Jews in what is now Morocco, in the form of gravestone epitaphs in Hebrew at Volubilis and the ruins of a third century synagogue, dates back to late antiquity. This epigraphic evidence includes inscriptions in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin; "Matrona, daughter of Rabbi Yehuda, [may she] rest [in peace]" (מטרונא בת רבי יהודה נח) is inscribed in Hebrew, the only Hebrew inscription from the first centuries CE in the region. Emily Gottreich contends that Jewish migration to Morocco predates the full formation of Judaism, as the Talmud was "written and redacted between 200 and 500 CE."

As Christianity was adopted by the Roman state, the church Councils of Carthage adopted policies that discriminated against adherents to Judaism. The Justinian edict of persecution for North Africa, issued after Vandal rule had been overthrown and Mauretania had come under the dominion of the Byzantines (534), was directed against the Jews as well as the Arians, the Donatists, and other dissenters. In the 7th century, the Jewish population of Mauretania received as a further accession from Iberian Peninsula those who wished to escape Visigothic legislation. At the end of the same century, at the time of the great Arab conquests in northwestern Africa, there were in Mauretania, according to the Arab historians, many Jews.

During the Late Middle Ages, and particularly after the expulsion of Jews mandated by the Alhambra Decree, many Sephardi Jews migrated from al-Andalus to the Maghreb as refugees fleeing the inquisition in Spain and Portugal. They are referred to as the Megorashim, while the Jews already in Morocco are referred to as the Toshavim. Many Sephardic Jews settled in Fez and Marrakesh. In the following centuries, Conversos who had been banished to Iberian colonial possessions in the Americas and the Atlantic reclaimed their Judaism and also resettled in Morocco.

In the mid 19th century, Moroccan Jews started migrating from the interior of the country to coastal cities such as Essaouira, Mazagan, Asfi, and later Casablanca for economic opportunity, participating in trade with Europeans and the development of those cities. The Alliance Israélite Universelle opened its first school in Tetuan in 1862.

After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, and due to domestic strife in the 1950s, the next several decades saw waves of Jewish emigration to Israel, France and Canada. Shay Hazkani found that of the 20,000 who performed aliyah in 1948-1949, 1,000 served in the IDF, of which 70 percent wished to return home to Morocco. Only 6 percent managed to do so, given such various bureaucratic obstacles as the Israelis’ confiscation of their passports. Moroccan Jews emigrated for a variety of reasons. Some have emigrated for religious reasons, some faced mistreatment, and others left for better economic prospects than they faced in post-protectorate Morocco. With every Arab-Israeli war, tensions between Arabs and Jews would rise, sparking more Jewish emigration. By the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the majority of Morocco's Jewish population had emigrated.

As a protectorate of France (from 1912-1956), parts of Morocco were influenced by the French, while the same was true for northern Morocco while under Spain’s protectorate (also from 1912-1956). During the French and Spanish protectorates, Moroccan Jews and Moroccan Muslims were classified based upon which Moroccan regions they called home. Certain remnants of these classifications can be felt today. These differences are reflected in language, foods, last names and even liturgy.  Early photographs of Moroccan Jewish families, taken in the early 20th century by German explorer and photographer Hermann Burchardt, are now held at the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.

During the late 1930s, many Jews in Morocco lived in desolate areas. This was in part due to increased taxation by French authorities. In 1936, Léon Blum, a Jewish man, was appointed as prime minister of France. This gave some Moroccan Jews hope that they may be able to become French citizens at some point, as Algerian Jews gained French citizenship with the Crémieux Decree. Algerian Jews were granted right of passage to France, and this only furthered the desire of Moroccan Jews to embrace French culture to the extent of the Algerian Jews.

During the Moroccan struggle for independence in the 1950s, several promises were made to ensure equal rights to the Jewish community in a future independent Morocco, in part due to lobbying efforts of Moroccan nationalists in the United States.

Today, a small Jewish community of 2,500 live in Morocco (most of whom in Casablanca). However, many young men emigrate to France and Israel. As of 2017, according to The Economist, "No Arab country has gone to the lengths of Morocco to revive its Jewish heritage. The country has restored 110 synagogues and has the Arab world's only Jewish museum. More than 50,000 Moroccan Jews in Israel visit Morocco each year.

Etching of Jewish home in Mogador, Darondeau (1807–1841)

Culture: Typical qualification that all people groups can't be summed up in small paragraphs and this is an over generalization.

Today there are not many Jewish people in Morocco. Most have migrated to Israel. Instead of speaking Hebrew or Ladino, they speak Judeo-Moroccan Arabic. This is a variation of the Arabic spoken in Morocco.

They have Henna parties before weddings.

Sweets served in a pre-wedding henna party

Cuisine: The Moroccan Jewish cuisine is the traditional cuisine of the Jewish community of Morocco. combines elements of the local Moroccan cuisine, the culinary traditions brought by Jews from other locations to Morocco, and the Jewish dietary laws (kashrut). Generally, there is some overlap between Jewish and their Muslim neighbors' cuisine in Morocco.

Pastilla is a traditional dish chicken pastry, which balances sweet and savory elements with a combination of tender and crunchy textures. Historically, it traces back to a 13th-century Andalusian pigeon stew that migrated to Morocco, where it evolved into a pie called bastiya. Over time, chicken replaced pigeon meat, and the dish became characterized by its use of delicate pastry sheets called "warqa," along with a dusting of powdered sugar and cinnamon. In the Jewish Moroccan cuisine of Casablanca, pastilla includes browned onions in the filling. Modern Israeli adaptations sometimes use filo sheets and shape the dish into cigars. This dish is often featured at weddings and celebrations.

The Jews of Morocco historically used a wide variety of vegetables, including potatoes, pumpkins, carrots, scallions, onions, fava beans, peas, fennel, celery, artichokes, eggplants, tomatoes, cauliflower, green and white beans, sweet and spicy peppers, zucchini, olives, and truffles, to accompany meat, chicken, fish, and stews, as well as in fresh and cooked salads, preservation, and pickling. Salads were spiced with pepper, olive oil, and cumin, and under the influence of French cuisine, vinegar was also used.

Sabbath and holiday meals typically began with mezze, or qamia, consisting of 6-8 types of salads, as well as pickled vegetables. Roasted and salted legumes, such as fava beans and chickpeas, were also served with mezze, along with alcoholic drinks or at the end of the meal. At the end of the meal, fresh fruits like apples, pears, oranges, grapefruits, quinces, figs, grapes, plums, and watermelon were served, as well as dried fruits such as figs, dates, plums, walnuts, almonds, carob, raisins, and more.

Moroccan Pastilla

Prayer Request:

• Pray for the Lord to give the Jewish people in Morocco hearts that will want to please him. May they look to the Lord for guidance and truth, and not be satisfied with cultural traditions.
• Pray for Jewish people in Morocco to begin a movement to Jesus Christ, finding ways to exalt him while honoring their culture.
• Pray for the Lord to move among Jewish leaders in Morocco to open the doors to Christ's ambassadors.
• Pray against Putin and his insane little war.
• Pray against the war happening in Iran. Pray for peace.
• Pray that in this time of chaos and panic that the needs of the unreached are not forgotten by the church. Pray that our hearts continue to ache to see the unreached hear the Good News.
• Pray for our nation (the United States), that we Christians can learn to come alongside our hurting brothers and sisters and learn to carry one another's burdens in a more Christlike manner than we have done historically
• Pray for our leaders, that though insane and chaotic decisions are being made, to the detriment of Americans, that God would call them to know Him and help them lead better.

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. (Romans 10:1)

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Here are the previous weeks threads on the UPG of the Week for from 2025 (plus a few from 2024 so this one post isn't so lonely). To save some space on these, all UPG posts made 2019-now are here, I will try to keep this current!

a - Tibet belongs to Tibet, not China.

b - Russia/Turkey/etc is Europe but also Asia so...

c - this likely is not the true religion that they worship, but rather they have a mixture of what is listed with other local religions, or they have embraced a postmodern drift and are leaving faith entirely but this is their historical faith.

Here is a list of definitions in case you wonder what exactly I mean by words like "Unreached".

Here is a list of missions organizations that reach out to the world to do missions for the Glory of God.

Welcome back to the UPG of the Week. This week we are re-covering the very first post I did, the Masalit people in Sudan.

On a personal note, sorry its been 2 months since the last post, alot has been going on the Party household and so I've been stacked, especially on Mondays.

Region: Western Sudan

map

Stratus Index Ranking (Urgency): 5

>It has been noted to me by u/JCmathetes that I should explain this ranking. Low numbers are more urgent, both physically and spiritually together, while high numbers are less urgent. The scale is 1-177, with one number assigned to each country. So basically on a scale from Afghanistan (1) to Finland (177), how urgent are the peoples physical and spiritual needs.

Khartoum, the largest city in Sudan

https://preview.redd.it/gjyo2qtwviih1.png?width=2048&format=png&auto=webp&s=8bb361c1ab94df693ad4cd27d3359aabb4bfc803

Climate: The amount of rainfall increases towards the south. The central and the northern part have extremely dry, semi-desert areas such as the Nubian Desert to the northeast and the Bayuda Desert to the east; in the south, there are grasslands and tropical savanna. Sudan's rainy season lasts for about four months (June to September) in the north, and up to six months (May to October) in the south. The dry regions are plagued by sandstorms, known as haboob, which can completely block out the sun. The sunshine duration is very high all over the country but especially in deserts where it can soar to over 4,000 hours per year.

The Nile River in Sudan

Waterfall and mountains at Jebel Marrah, Central Darfur, Sudan

Terrain: Sudan's terrain is generally flat plains, broken by several mountain ranges. In the west, the Deriba Caldera (3,042 m or 9,980 ft), located in the Marrah Mountains, is the highest point in Sudan. In the east are the Red Sea Hills. The Blue Nile and White Nile rivers meet in Khartoum to form the Nile, which flows northwards through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. The Blue Nile's course through Sudan is nearly 800 km (497 mi) long and is joined by the Dinder and Rahad Rivers between Sennar and Khartoum.

Khartoum, where the blue and white niles meet.

Nubian temple ruins in the Nubian Desert.

Wildlife of Sudan: Most of the 287 or so species of mammal found in Sudan are small and nocturnal, being rodents, bats and insectivores. Elephant shrews also occur, and among the larger mammals are the crested porcupine and the rock hyrax. Big cats found in Sudan include lions, leopards and cheetahs. There are many species of antelope as well as giraffes, rhinoceroses and elephants, and monkeys are found in forested areas. Reptiles are abundant but mostly small and inconspicuous. Snakes are numerous and include the African rock python, the black mamba, the Egyptian cobra, the forest cobra, the black-necked spitting cobra, the boomslang and the puff adder. Crocodiles are found near the Nile and other water bodies and there are many species of lizard, the largest being the Nile monitor. The African spurred tortoise and the leopard tortoise occur in arid areas and several aquatic species of terrapin, such as the African helmeted turtle, occur in swamps and marshes.

Unfortunately, there are monkeys in Sudan, God rest their souls.

Wild leopard in Sudan

Environmental Issues: Sudan's current issues include inadequate supplies of potable water; wildlife populations threatened by excessive hunting; soil erosion; desertification; periodic drought.

Languages: Approximately 70 languages are native to Sudan^(.) Prior to 2005, Arabic was the nation's sole official language. In the 2005 constitution, Sudan's official languages became Arabic and English. The Masalit speak Masalit.

Government Type: Federal republic under a military junta?

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People: Masalit people in Sudan

Masalit women

Population: 556,000

Estimated Foreign Workers Needed: 11+

Beliefs: The Masalit people in Sudan are roughly 0.2% Christian. That means out of 556,000, there are maybe 5,000 believers amongst them. Thats roughly 1 believer for every 500 unbeliever.

The Masalit are almost completely Muslim. They began converting to Islam during the 1600s; and today they are completely Muslim. They first heard of Islam from Muslim mystics. The Masalit are increasingly becoming more orthodox in their faith. Islamic laws dominate their political and social lives, as well as their values. Most Masalit abstain from alcohol, pray five times a day, and seek religious counsel for important matters. Like most African Muslims, they look to the spirit world for their daily needs. They believe Allah, the god of Islam, is too distant to help them with practical matters.

The Great Mosque of Khartoum

History: Masalit tradition traces their origins to Tunisia. After migrating through Chad, they eventually settled in present-day Sudan.

Before 1874, the Masalit were divided between multiple polities in the region such as the Wadai Sultanate and the Sultanate of Darfur. However, after the conquest of the Sultanate of Darfur by the Ottomans and Egyptians in 1874, the Masalit were unified into a Sultanate by Hajjam Hasab Allah. However, Hajjam's rule was seen by the Masalit population as oppressive. Thus, he was ousted in 1883 by Ismail Abdel Nebi, who took control of the Sultanate. In 1895 the Masalit Sultanate was invaded by the Mahdist State; the Sultan escaped capture by putting himself under the protection of the sultan of Wadai. The fall of the Mahdist state in 1898 did not bring peace to western Darfur. 'Ali Dinar's accession to the throne of a restored Darfur Sultanate, and his claims of sovereignty over all small frontier states, ushered in a new period of conflict. In 1903 'Ali Dinar attacked and defeated the Masalit, and captured and executed their sultan. Subsequently the Sultan's brother, Taj al-Din Isma'il, rallied the Masalit forces and drove out the Darfuri army. The peace treaty of 1908 left 'Ali Dinar in de jure control of the Masalit, but in reality it placed Taj al-Din at the head of a small but proud Masalit state under the vassalage of the Sultanate of Darfur.

Masalit tribes were among the rebel groups that fought against the Sudanese central government and the pro-government Janjaweed militia during the War in Darfur that started in 2003. Reprisals and ethnic cleansing led to an estimated 170,000 deaths over two years, and intermittent violence persisted afterwards. As part of the 2023 civil war in Sudan, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) (a successor to the Janjaweed) launched a new campaign of ethnic cleansing in Darfur. In June 2023, Khamis Abakar, a Masalit and the governor of West Darfur, accused the RSF of genocide; he was later killed.

Armed with spear, bow and sword, and accompanied by deafening music, Wadai's forces held to the old methods- mass cavalry charges followed by the infantry. These were insufficient against modern weapons.

Culture: Typical qualification that all people groups can't be summed up in small paragraphs and this is an over generalization.

The Masalit (hereafter including the Massalat) are primarily farmers who raise millet, sorghum, peanuts, sesame, okra and various fruits. Honey, gum, leaves and other useful products are also gathered from the forests. Most of the grain is grown for domestic use, while the other crops are raised as cash crops. The Masalit obtain additional income by selling animals, tanning hides, sewing, transporting goods and brewing a type of millet-beer.

In addition to farming, the Masalit raise cattle, sheep and goats which are helpful in fertilizing their fields, as well as providing milk for the villagers. Though donkeys were their only means of transportation in the past, camels purchased from Arab nomads have recently become an important means of transportation.

Both men and women cultivate the fields, own land and animals, make decisions, and store their harvests separately. Although they share most of the household tasks, including raising the children, all of their financial responsibilities are kept separate. Some of the older Masalit children have their own fields where they cultivate their own crops.

Generally, the men tend to the livestock while the women cook, care for the young children, gather wood, and draw water. Economic activities are usually the responsibility of each individual. Therefore, each person takes responsibility for his own work.

Most of the Masalit live as nuclear families in village settlements. Their homes are made from forest products. The walls are made of grass mats, and the cone-shaped roofs are thatched with wild grasses. They are round and their frames are held up by strong wooden posts and poles. The huts are situated closely together to form small compounds. The compounds are surrounded by fences made from millet stalks. Each village consists of several compounds. Inside each village is a central masik, which is a shaded clearing where men gather to eat, drink, pray, socialize and discuss village affairs. The women do not socialize at the masik but visit one another at the village well or in each other's homes.

Masalit marriages generally take place between young couples in their early 20s. Polygamy (the practice of having multiple wives) is permitted and most men have two wives, sometimes more. Unfortunately, divorce is common among the Masalit.

Before a marriage is finalized, a man must pay a bride-price to the woman's family. He is also required to build a house in the bride's mother's compound. The couple will live in that house for at least one year while the new husband works in his mother-in-law's fields. When the couple has their first child, they then decide whether or not to stay in their home or resettle near the husband's family. This decision largely depends on the availability of fields.

Flag flown by Masalit nationalists?

Cuisine: I mean... Here's more about Sudanese food.

Sudanese cuisine is greatly affected by the historical cross-cultural influences of Arab, Nubian, Egyptian, Turkish, Greek, and Levantine cuisine in Sudan. Meals include elmaraara and umfitit, which are dishes made from sheep's offal (including the lungs, liver, and stomach), onions, peanut butter, and salt. They are eaten raw. A peanut butter salad called salatat dakwa is also eaten. A popular Sudanese mullah (savory stew) is mullah ahmar, a red mincemeat sauce that is eaten with asida, a dish consisting of boiled wheat flour molded into a ball. Asida is eaten across North Africa. Other mullahs will sometimes use waika, special sauce made from crushed okra and niaimiya,a spice mix that gives some mullahs a sticky yet flavorful texture.

salatat dakwa

Prayer Request:

• Pray for the Lord to give Masalit elders and family leaders dreams of the righteous and sovereign Lord.
• Ask the Lord to send forth laborers to work among the Masalit of Chad and Sudan.
• Ask God to use the small number of Masalit believers to share Christ with their own people.
• Pray the Masalit people to have the spiritual hunger it takes to seek, find and embrace the righteous God of Abraham.
• Pray against Putin and his insane little war.
• Pray against the war happening in Iran. Pray for peace.
• Pray that in this time of chaos and panic that the needs of the unreached are not forgotten by the church. Pray that our hearts continue to ache to see the unreached hear the Good News.
• Pray for our nation (the United States), that we Christians can learn to come alongside our hurting brothers and sisters and learn to carry one another's burdens in a more Christlike manner than we have done historically
• Pray for our leaders, that though insane and chaotic decisions are being made, to the detriment of Americans, that God would call them to know Him and help them lead better.

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. (Romans 10:1)

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Here are the previous weeks threads on the UPG of the Week for from 2025 (plus a few from 2024 so this one post isn't so lonely). To save some space on these, all UPG posts made 2019-now are here, I will try to keep this current!

a - Tibet belongs to Tibet, not China.

b - Russia/Turkey/etc is Europe but also Asia so...

c - this likely is not the true religion that they worship, but rather they have a mixture of what is listed with other local religions, or they have embraced a postmodern drift and are leaving faith entirely but this is their historical faith.

Here is a list of definitions in case you wonder what exactly I mean by words like "Unreached".

Here is a list of missions organizations that reach out to the world to do missions for the Glory of God.