Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portuguese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Español | Tagalog / Filipino
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The Lisu of China

The Lisu of China, numbering approximately 841,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group inhabiting the mountainous regions of Myanmar, southwest China, Thailand, and the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Lisu is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Lisu
Primary Language(s): Lisu (lis)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 841,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007267
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Pray for the Lisu 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

41%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lisu
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Lisu Speakers

Media Resources in Lisu:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Lisu:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
North Thailand Christian Mission✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lisu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Lisu 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 Lisu:
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 Lisu of China

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self- made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
readColossians 2:23

Pray for those without Christ, that they will see the emptiness of human traditions and turn to the truth and grace found in Jesus.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
readRomans 10:14

Pray that the gospel will advance among those who don’t know the good news of salvation in Jesus so that they might believe and trust in Jesus.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.
readHebrews 10:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will love and encourage one another, spurring each other on to live lives that honor God.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
readPsalm 9:18

Pray that God will raise up believers who can help meet emotional and physical needs among this people group. Ask Him to open doors for them and give them the courage to walk into difficult situations and share the hope of the gospel boldly.

Lisu Across Countries (ROP3 - 105802) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

5 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
LisuPG007267LisuChina841,000No Longer UnreachedLisuProtestantism
LisuPG009523LisuMyanmar328,000No Longer UnreachedLisuProtestantism
Flowery/Southern LisuPG010847Flowery/Southern LisuThailand42,000No Longer UnreachedLisuAnimism
LisuPG049761LisuIndia2,600No Longer UnreachedLisuProtestantism
LisuPG050353LisuUnited States150No Longer UnreachedLisuProtestantism

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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