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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Wa of Myanmar

The Wa of Myanmar, numbering approximately 1,000,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Myanmar. They are an Indigenous people, in the Mon-Khmer people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Buddhism - Theravada. They primarily speak Wa, Parauk.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Mon-Khmer
Primary Language(s): Wa, Parauk (prk)
Primary Religion(s): Buddhism - Theravada
Population: 1,000,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG009538
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Pray for the Wa of Myanmar

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Buddhism - Theravada
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Wa, Parauk
Language Family: Austroasiatic

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Media Resources in Wa, Parauk:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Wa, Parauk:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Wa, Parauk bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Wa

The Wa 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 Wa

The Wa 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 Wa

The Wa 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 Wa of Myanmar

For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
readPsalm 18:31

As people look to their own efforts for hope, pray they will have the opportunity to learn and believe in the Lord, who is the only Rock worthy of their faith.

Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
readPsalm 47:6

Pray that believers will have a heart to invite others to trust in Christ alone so that they might sing praises to His name.

We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.
readPsalm 75:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will give thanks to the Lord for His wondrous works and declare His goodness to all people.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
read2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will be faithful as they walk through trials and will have an opportunity to be a witness to others in this people group of the goodness of God.

Wa, Parauk (ROP3 - 110476) 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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