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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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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
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Zaiwa of China

The Zaiwa of China, numbering approximately 142,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Miri-Kachin-speaking ethnolinguistic group indigenous to parts of southwest China and eastern Myanmar They are an Indigenous people, in the Miri-Kachin people cluster of the Himalayan Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Chinese Folk Religion. They primarily speak Zaiwa.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Operation China, Asia Harvest Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Miri-Kachin
Primary Language(s): Zaiwa (atb)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 142,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007451
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Zaiwa of China

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion - Chinese Folk Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Zaiwa
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

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Media Resources in Zaiwa:

Films:

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Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Zaiwa:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Zaiwa bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Zaiwa

The Zaiwa 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 Zaiwa

The Zaiwa 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 Zaiwa

The Zaiwa 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 Zaiwa of China

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
readMatthew 4:16

Pray that those living in darkness and the shadow of death will see a great light and turn to the Lord for salvation.

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 day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
readActs 2:46-47

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be devoted to the teaching of God's Word, to fellowship with one another, and to prayer.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will patiently endure hardships as they share the gospel, knowing that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise.

Zaiwa (ROP3 - 110204) 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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