The Southern Gaisu of China

The Southern Gaisu of China, numbering approximately 59,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a people of China They are an Indigenous people, with Gaisu as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Other Tibeto-Burmese people cluster of the Tibetan Peoples. Their primary religion is Chinese Folk Religion. They primarily speak Chinese, Mandarin.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Gaisu, Southern

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Other Tibeto-Burmese
Primary Language(s): Chinese, Mandarin (cmn)
Primary Religion(s): Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 59,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG006739
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Southern Gaisu 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Chinese Folk Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

85%
%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Chinese, Mandarin
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%

Media Resources in Chinese, Mandarin:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Chinese, Mandarin:

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Or check out the Chinese, Mandarin bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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): Expanding Unreached People Group, (LPI: 2), 0.5% to 2% 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 Southern Gaisu:
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 Southern Gaisu 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 Southern Gaisu:
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 Southern Gaisu 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 Southern Gaisu:
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 Southern Gaisu of China

O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
readPsalm 10:17-18

Pray that God, in accordance with His good character, will give justice to those who are oppressed by sin and that they will know that His offer of salvation is for everyone.

There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
readPsalm 19:3

Pray that God will lead them to His Word, and where it is not available, ask that He will raise up those who will produce gospel media in their heart language.

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.

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
readMatthew 6:9b-10

Pray that God will raise up Christians who are driven by a desire to see God's name worshiped, His kingdom come, and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Ask Him to send them to the lost in this people group and sustain them.

Gaisu, Southern Across Countries (ROP3 - 114057) 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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