The Tai Nua of Laos

The Tai Nua of Laos, numbering approximately 15,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Tai-Kadai-speaking ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the border area of southwest China and eastern Myanmar. They mostly adhere to Animism and Tai Nüa is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Laos
People Cluster: Tai
Primary Language(s): Tai Nüa (tdd)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 15,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG020951
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Tai Nua of Laos

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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

90%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tai Nüa
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

100%
%
Tai Nüa Speakers

Media Resources in Tai Nüa:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Tai Nüa:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Tai Nüa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Tai Nua:
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

Pray specifically for the Tai Nua of Laos

"For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." Those who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?" But he said "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:25-27

Pray that the lost who think they have everything they need will recognize their spiritual poverty apart from Jesus and turn to Him in faith.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
readMatthew 24:14

Pray that the gospel of God's kingdom will reach more people and that they will respond in faith, becoming disciples of Jesus Christ.

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
readLuke 18:17

Pray that as people trust in Christ, they will have simple, childlike confidence that He will provide for their needs.

And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand."
readRomans 15:20-21

Pray that God will send believers to cross cultures and proclaim the gospel where Christ has not been named, so that the nations might glorify God for His mercy.

Tai Nua Across Countries (ROP3 - 109720) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 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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