The Gelao of China

The Gelao of China, numbering approximately 2,200 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority concentrated in Guizhou, with smaller communities in Guangxi, Yunnan, and Sichuan, whose ancestral Gelao language belongs to Kra-Dai. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and White Gelao is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Miao / Hmong
Primary Language(s): White Gelao (giw)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 2,200
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG006741
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Gelao of China

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

91%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: White Gelao
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

1%
%
Duoluo Speakers

Media Resources in White Gelao:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in White Gelao:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the White Gelao bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent 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 Gelao:
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

Pray specifically for the Gelao of China

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
readIsaiah 59:2

Pray that those who are separated from God will turn to Him in humility and repentance, seeking His forgiveness and the restoration of a right relationship with their Heavenly Father.

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.

And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
readZechariah 2:11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have a heart that longs to see all people from all parts of the world worshiping Jesus as He deserves.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
read1 John 1:5

Pray that God will raise up believers who can share the gospel with people who don't know the good news of Jesus, that God is light and in him, there is no darkness at all.

Gelao Across Countries (ROP3 - 103287) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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