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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Samtao of Laos

The Samtao of Laos, numbering approximately 3,400 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Mon-Khmer ethnic group indigenous to the Shan state of Myanmar and can also be known as Samtuan, Con, Lao Soung (Highland), Kiorr. They are an Diaspora people, in the Mon-Khmer people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Samtao.

Samtao in Laos photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Anonymous

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Peoples
Country: Laos
People Cluster: Mon-Khmer
Primary Language(s): Samtao (stu)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 3,400
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): No Evangelicals, Churches or Resources
People Group ID: PG033463

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Samtao
Language Family: Austro-Asiatic

%
Samtao Speakers

Media Resources in Samtao:

Films:

No entries found for: Samtao(stu). Help build some!

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Samtao:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Samtao bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Samtao

The Samtao 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 Samtao

The Samtao 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 Samtao

The Samtao 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 Samtao of Laos

He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him
readLuke 10:34

Pray that the lost among them will experience the kind of compassion Jesus taught His followers to show others, and that they will trust in Him because He is the one who brings healing to the broken and lost.

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
read1 John 4:21

Pray that the good news of God's love will reach everyone in this people group, and that His love will compel them to love others as Christ has loved us.

He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.
readIsaiah 25:8

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice in the hope of the Lord's coming, when He will swallow up death forever and wipe away their tears.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
readLuke 10:1

Ask God to raise up, send out, and sustain Christians who can go together to share the good news of Jesus with those who need it.

Samtao 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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