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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Bunan of China

The Bunan of China, numbering approximately 2,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an indigenous community of China . They are an Indigenous people, in the Tibetan people cluster of the Tibetan / Himalayan Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Buddhism - Tibetan. They primarily speak Gahri.

Bunan in China photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Operation China, Asia Harvest Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Tibetan
Primary Language(s): Gahri (bfu)
Primary Religion(s): Buddhism - Tibetan
Population: 2,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG006700

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Pray for the Bunan of China

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Buddhism - Tibetan
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

%
Buddhism - Tibetan Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gahri
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

%
Gahri Speakers

Media Resources in Gahri:

Films:

No entries found for: Gahri(bfu). Help build some!

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Gahri:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Gahri bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Bunan

The Bunan 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 Bunan

The Bunan 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 Bunan

The Bunan 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 Bunan of China

"...And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
readLuke 8:8

Pray that the seeds of truth will take root in the hearts of those who are far from Jesus and that He will lead them from darkness to light.

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 are searching for a way to God and desiring truth will encounter the good news of eternal life and accept it.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
readIsaiah 53:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will find comfort and spiritual healing as they remember the wounds of Christ, who understands their suffering because He also walked through suffering on their behalf.

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
readJohn 1:35-36

Pray for those God sends to cross cultures to share the gospel, that they might faithfully share the good news of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Bunan reported in the following countries (ROP3):

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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