Introduction / History

The Amapari and the Oiapoque are the two groups of the Wayampis. They live in French Guiana and Brazil.

What Are Their Lives Like?

They are proud of their language and identity. The Wayampis live in an extended-family structure. The same term used for their mother is also used for their mother's sisters. The society is patriarchal and matrilocal, meaning that families generally stay near their mother's family. The Wayampis generally marry within their tribal group to cross-cousins, which sometimes makes it difficult for young people to find potential spouses.

The Wayampi are a friendly people open to developing new relationships with people who they perceive to have a genuine interest in them. Daily sustenance is provided through hunting/gathering, and farming. Staples of the diet include manioc, game, and crops they raise, such as corn.

They live in thatched-roof houses which have no walls and may be one or two levels. Men generally wear loincloths and women wear wrap-around skirts.

What Are Their Beliefs?

Though there are lingering traditional beliefs, the Wayampis are solidly Christian. They have influences from both Roman Catholics and Protestants. God can use them as Christ’s ambassadors to other Indigenous peoples in South America.

What Are Their Needs?

Needs range from medical care to agricultural training, cultural adjustment, and education as they adjust to increasing contact with the outside world. Scripture work has been made more difficult by expatriates' inability to gain direct access to village

Prayer Items

Pray that soon, there will be a revival in Wayampi churches, drawing them closer to the Lord and giving them a holy eagerness to obey the Great Commission.
Pray for Wayampi disciples who make disciples who will make even more disciples.
Pray for them to look only to the Lord for their spiritual and physical needs.

Scripture Prayers for the Wayampi, Oiapoque in French Guiana.

References

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