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

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
read1 Chronicles 16:26

Pray that those among them who are lost and seeking after worthless idols will have the opportunity to hear and respond to the good news, seeing that Jesus is better than any idol.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
readLuke 2:17

Pray that the lost will receive the good news of salvation in God's Son, have hearts eager to share it with others, and that all who hear will respond with wonder and faith!

I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
readPsalm 89:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will declare and record His faithfulness and love to be passed on from generation to generation.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
readIsaiah 43:19

Praise the God who is able to make a way forward, even when it seems impossible. Ask Him to do a new thing among this people group specifically and among the nations, raising up believers to go and share the gospel with individuals and places where it has not flourished before.

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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