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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Eastern Pwo Karen of Myanmar

The Eastern Pwo Karen of Myanmar, numbering approximately 1,265,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic subgroup of the Karen, an ethnic group indigenous to Kayin State in southeastern Myanmar and can also be known as White Karen. They are an Indigenous people, in the Karen people cluster of the Tibetan / Himalayan Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Animism. They primarily speak Karen, Pwo Eastern.

Pwo Karen in United States photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Asia Harvest-Operation Myanmar

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Karen
Primary Language(s): Karen, Pwo Eastern (kjp)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Animism
Population: 1,265,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046601

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Pray for the Eastern Pwo Karen of Myanmar

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion - Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion - Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Karen, Pwo Eastern
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

%
Karen, Pwo Eastern Speakers

Media Resources in Karen, Pwo Eastern:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Karen, Pwo Eastern:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Karen, Pwo Eastern bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Eastern Pwo Karen

The Eastern Pwo Karen 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 Eastern Pwo Karen

The Eastern Pwo Karen 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 Eastern Pwo Karen

The Eastern Pwo Karen 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 Eastern Pwo Karen of Myanmar

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
readRomans 10:14

Pray that those who haven't heard will hear the Word of Christ and believe in Him, calling upon the name of the Lord to be saved.

And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
readActs 6:7

Pray that the Word of God will be increasingly available to these people in ways they will resonate with so that all may have a chance to respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.  

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples."
readJohn 8:31

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Christ daily, depending on Him for every need.

And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
readMatthew 10:14-15

Pray for God to raise up and send out believers to share the gospel with those in this people group who do not yet follow Christ. Pray that they will be welcomed with open arms so that the people they share with will hear and receive the good news with joy.

Karen, Pwo Eastern 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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