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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
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
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Alu of China

The Alu of China, numbering approximately 9,300 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Tibeto-Burmese ethnolinguistic group indigenous to southwestern China's Yunnan province They are an Indigenous people, in the Other Tibeto-Burmese people cluster of the Tibetan Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Chinese Folk Religion. They primarily speak Nisu, Eastern.

Alu in Laos photo
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: Other Tibeto-Burmese
Primary Language(s): Nisu, Eastern (nos)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 9,300
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022145
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Pray for the Alu of China

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

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

%
Ethnoreligion - Chinese F… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nisu, Eastern
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

%
Nisu, Eastern Speakers

Media Resources in Nisu, Eastern:

Films:

No entries found for: Nisu, Eastern(nos). Help build some!

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Nisu, Eastern:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Nisu, Eastern bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Alu

The Alu 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 Alu

The Alu 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 Alu

The Alu 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 Alu 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.

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
readRomans 2:4

Pray that, in God's kindness and according to His nature, He will lead many to repentance.

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
readIsaiah 26:3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, the Lord will keep them in perfect peace as they trust in Him.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
readMatthew 28:19-20

Ask God to bring people among this group to faith in Jesus who will be obedient to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded.

Alu (ROP3 - 114830) 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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