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
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
Be sure to use the data import function in your favorite app for working with data.
If you'd like to help improve these translations, Contact Us.

PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Maru of China

The Maru of China, numbering approximately 31,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic group indigenous to Myanmar and widely distributed along the border area between Myanmar's Kachin state and China's Dehong Dai-Jingpo autonomous prefecture in Yunnan province and can also be known as Lhao Vo. They are an Diaspora people, in the Other Tibeto-Burmese people cluster of the Tibetan / Himalayan Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Protestantism. They primarily speak Lhao Vo.

Maru in China photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Asia Harvest-Operation Myanmar

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Other Tibeto-Burmese
Primary Language(s): Lhao Vo (mhx)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Protestantism
Population: 31,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007279

Prayer Card
Submit Updates

Pray for the Maru 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!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Protestant… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lhao Vo
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

%
Lhao Vo Speakers

Media Resources in Lhao Vo:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Lhao Vo:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lhao Vo bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Maru

The Maru 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 Maru

The Maru 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 Maru

The Maru 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 Maru of China

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
readMark 10:15

Pray for those who might be trapped in pride, that God will humble them and give them a childlike faith and complete dependence on Him through faith in Christ.

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

As mobile phones, radio, and satellite television, and other technologies become more available worldwide, pray for people who are developing digital gospel resources so that others can easily access the gospel.

He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.
readIsaiah 25:8

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice in the hope of the Lord's coming, when He will swallow up death forever and wipe away their tears.

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”
readPsalm 96:10

Pray for God to put in the hearts of believers to go to the lost and testify about the Lord who reigns.

Maru (ROP3 - 106361) 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.

Scroll to Top