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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
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The Southeastern Awu of China

The Southeastern Awu of China, numbering approximately 42,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a distinct Yi subgroup living in southeastern Yunnan Province, China. Although officially classified as Yi (彝族) by the Chinese government, they are ethnolinguistically distinct from many neighboring Yi groups and from the Northern Awu. They mostly adhere to Chinese Folk Religion and Awu is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Southeastern Awu

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Other Tibeto-Burmese
Primary Language(s): Awu (yiu)
Primary Religion(s): Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 42,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG006669
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Pray for the Southeastern Awu of China

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: Chinese Folk Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

93%
%
Chinese Folk Religion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Awu
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

70%
%
Awu Speakers

Media Resources in Awu:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Awu:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Awu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Southeastern Awu 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 Southeastern Awu:
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

Pray specifically for the Southeastern Awu of China

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:20

As God's creation declares His glory, pray that multitudes who don't know Him will see the works of His hands and desire to know more about the Creator.

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
readIsaiah 30:21

As the lost in this people group seek to know the truth of who God is, pray that the Spirit of God will draw them to Himself and guide them in the way they should go.

And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Him and have assurance that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!
readPsalm 105:2

Pray for God to saturate this place with the gospel and raise up believing men and women from among them to share the good news of Christ with those who have yet to encounter it.

Awu, Southeastern Across Countries (ROP3 - 113998) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Southeastern AwuPG006669Southeastern AwuChina42,000Engaged yet UnreachedAwuChinese Folk Religion

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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