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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Striped Karen of Myanmar

The Striped Karen of Myanmar, numbering approximately 13,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Myanmar. They are an Indigenous people, in the Karen people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Animism. They primarily speak Riang Lai.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Karen
Primary Language(s): Riang Lai (yin)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Animism
Population: 13,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG009524
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Pray for the Striped Karen of Myanmar

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion - Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Riang Lai
Language Family: Austroasiatic

%

Media Resources in Riang Lai:

Films:

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Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Riang Lai:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Riang Lai bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Striped Karen

The Striped 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 Striped Karen

The Striped 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 Striped Karen

The Striped 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 Striped Karen of Myanmar

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
read1 John 3:8

Pray for those living in darkness to recognize the destructive power of sin and the victory Christ has won over it.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
readPsalm 16:11

Pray that God will make a way for His path of life to be revealed to many so that they may come into His presence and experience abundant joy and eternal pleasures at His right hand.

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
readMatthew 18:19

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they find other believers to pray with, and that they will trust God to answer their requests according to His will.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
readJohn 1:5

Pray that when discouraging days come, those who cross cultures for the sake of the gospel will be comforted as they remember that the light of Christ is stronger than the darkness that surrounds them.

Striped Karen (ROP3 - 109556) 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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