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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Yoy of Laos

The Yoy of Laos, numbering approximately 1,800 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an indigenous community of Laos. They are an Indigenous people in the Tai people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Yoy and their primary religion is Animism.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Yoy

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Laos
People Cluster: Tai
Primary Language(s): Yoy (yoy)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 1,800
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG009191
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Pray for the Yoy of Laos

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

90%
%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Yoy
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

68%
%

Media Resources in Yoy:

Films:

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Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Yoy:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Yoy bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Yoy:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Yoy 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.

Next steps for the Yoy:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Yoy 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.

Next steps for the Yoy:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Yoy of Laos

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
readMatthew 28:16-20

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will encounter the risen Savior and be transformed by the power of His resurrection, becoming disciples who make disciples.

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
readGenesis 2:7

Pray that Christians will be able to share the hope of Christ with suffering people and that He will breathe new life into their souls.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.
readHebrews 10:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will love and encourage one another, spurring each other on to live lives that honor God.

Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!"
readIsaiah 40:9

Pray for God to send and sustain believers to go and herald the good news to the lost here.

Yoy Across Countries (ROP3 - 111101) reported in the following countries:

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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