Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Maru of China

The Maru of China, numbering approximately 31,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic group indigenous to Myanmar and widely distributed along the border area between Myanmar's Kachin state and China's Dehong Dai-Jingpo autonomous prefecture in Yunnan province and can also be known as Lhao Vo. They are an Diaspora people, in the Other Tibeto-Burmese people cluster of the Tibetan / Himalayan Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Protestantism. They primarily speak Lhao Vo.

Maru in China photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Asia Harvest-Operation Myanmar

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Other Tibeto-Burmese
Primary Language(s): Lhao Vo (mhx)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Protestantism
Population: 31,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007279

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Pray for the Maru of China

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Protestant… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lhao Vo
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

%
Lhao Vo Speakers

Media Resources in Lhao Vo:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Lhao Vo:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lhao Vo bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Maru

The Maru are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Maru

The Maru are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Next steps for the Maru

The Maru are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Maru of China

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
readRomans 8:1

Pray that God will reassure those who may be struggling with the cost of following Jesus that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
readPsalm 19:3

Pray that God will lead them to His Word, and where it is not available, ask that He will raise up those who will produce gospel media in their heart language.

This God - his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
readPsalm 18:30

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have access to His Word and the ability to understand it, so that they can grow in their faith and find refuge in Him.

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.
readPsalm 57:9

Pray that God will raise up believers among them who will boldly go and share the gospel with people nearby and with those far away.

Maru reported in the following countries (ROP3):

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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