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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Eastern Pwo Karen of Myanmar

The Eastern Pwo Karen of Myanmar, numbering approximately 1,270,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic subgroup of the Karen, an ethnic group indigenous to Kayin State in southeastern Myanmar They are an Indigenous people, with Karen as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Karen people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Animism. They primarily speak Karen, Pwo Eastern.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Asia Harvest-Operation Myanmar

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Karen
Primary Language(s): Karen, Pwo Eastern (kjp)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 1,270,000
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

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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

51%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

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

100%
%
Karen, Pwo Eastern Speakers

Media Resources in Karen, Pwo Eastern:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Karen, Pwo Eastern:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Karen, Pwo Eastern 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: 1), 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): Pioneer Unreached People Group, (LPI: 1), 0.1% to 0.5% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active 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 Eastern Pwo Karen:
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 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.

Next steps for the Eastern Pwo Karen:
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 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.

Next steps for the Eastern Pwo Karen:
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 Eastern Pwo Karen of Myanmar

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
readJohn 14:6

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will recognize Him as the only way to the Father and follow Him in faith.

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
readRomans 2:4

Pray that, in God's kindness and according to His nature, He will lead many to repentance.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.
readPsalm 23:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that the Lord is their shepherd, providing for their every need.

And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
read2 Corinthians 12:28

Ask God to raise up believers who will faithfully proclaim the good news and equip others to do the same.

Karen, Pwo Eastern Across Countries (ROP3 - 104659) 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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