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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Lao of Vietnam

The Lao of Vietnam, numbering approximately 206,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Lao community in Vietnam descended from migrants from Laos that preserves the language, traditions, and cultural heritage of the Lao people. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Lao is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Vietnam
People Cluster: Lao
Primary Language(s): Lao (lao)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 206,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011173
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Pray for the Lao of Vietnam

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lao
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

100%
%
Lao Speakers

Media Resources in Lao:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Lao:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Revised Lao Version✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lao bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

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 Lao:
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

Pray specifically for the Lao of Vietnam

And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
readMatthew 6:16

Pray that those who live to please men and not God will turn from the emptiness of seeking approval from others and find true satisfaction in the treasure of a personal relationship with God.

Moses said, "Please show me your glory." And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy."
readExodus 33:18-19

Pray that many will come to know the glory of God, which is revealed in Jesus Christ, and that they will rejoice in the mercy He offers them.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
read1 Peter 2:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will embrace their identity as God's chosen people, royal priests, and holy nation, living out their faith with purity and devotion.

I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessing.
read1 Corinthians 9:23

Ask God to give believers a deep desire to share the gospel with those who don't know the truth about God's redemption plan, and to provide them with opportunities to do so cross-culturally.

Lao Across Countries (ROP3 - 105643) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

8 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
LaoPG011173LaoVietnam206,000Unengaged and UnreachedLaoEthnoreligion
LaoPG046485LaoUnited States236,000Engaged yet UnreachedLaoTheravada Buddhism
LaoPG009467LaoMyanmar26,000No Longer UnreachedLaoTheravada Buddhism
LaoPG009139LaoLaos3,975,000Engaged yet UnreachedLaoTheravada Buddhism
LaoPG000172LaoFrance19,500Engaged yet UnreachedLaoTheravada Buddhism
LaoPG043429LaoCanada17,000Engaged yet UnreachedLaoTheravada Buddhism
LaoPG020442LaoCambodia41,000Engaged yet UnreachedLaoTheravada Buddhism
LaoPG017347LaoArgentina2,300Unengaged and UnreachedLaoTheravada Buddhism

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 Data Standards section.

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