The Maru of Myanmar

The Maru of Myanmar, numbering approximately 150,000 people, are Engaged yet 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. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Maru is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Other Tibeto-Burmese
Primary Language(s): Maru (mhx)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 150,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG009482
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Maru of Myanmar

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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

87%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Maru
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Lhao Vo Speakers

Media Resources in Maru:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Maru:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Common Language Version✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Maru bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

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.

Next steps for the Maru:
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

Pray specifically for the Maru of Myanmar

Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.
readJerremiah 32:17

Pray that the God who made the heavens and the earth by the power of His outstretched arm, the One who is able to save those who are lost, will show His great love and mercy to those who are walking in darkness.

Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
readPsalm 96:2

Pray that gospel resources will reach this generation so that they will receive the good news and sing to the LORD, bless His name, and tell of His salvation each day.

This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
readEphesians 5:32-33

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will grasp the profound mystery of Christ's love for the Church, reflecting this love in their marriages.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
read1 Corinthians 9:20

Pray that believers from similar cultures will be compelled by Christ's love to reach people who don't know the gospel, and that those people will receive the good news with joy.

Maru Across Countries (ROP3 - 106361) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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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