The Lisu of Myanmar

The Lisu of Myanmar, numbering approximately 328,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as a Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group inhabiting the mountainous regions of Myanmar, southwest China, Thailand, and the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh They are an Indigenous people, with Lisu as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Lisu people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. 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: Myanmar
People Cluster: Lisu
Primary Language(s): Lisu (lis)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 328,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG009523
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Lisu 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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
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

Bible Resources in Lisu:

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

1 entry

Or check out the Lisu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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 Myanmar

But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven"
readMatthew 9:14

Pray that those who are spiritually dead will recognize their need for spiritual nourishment and turn to the One who offers true fulfillment.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
readIsaiah 40:8

Pray that everyone has access to God's Word and that those who hear the good news will turn from their sins and put their faith in Jesus the Messiah.

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
readRomans 6:11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will lay down all evil desires, dying to sin and living for Him alone.

For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
read2 Corinthians 1:5

When any who might believe suffer for the sake of the gospel, ask God to deepen their understanding of His grace so that they may share it freely with those who have not received it.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

5 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
LisuLisuChina840,000No Longer UnreachedLisuProtestantism
LisuLisuMyanmar328,000No Longer UnreachedLisuProtestantism
Flowery/Southern LisuFlowery/Southern LisuThailand42,000No Longer UnreachedLisuAnimism
LisuLisuIndia2,600No Longer UnreachedLisuProtestantism
LisuLisuUnited 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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