The Azong of China

The Azong of China, numbering approximately 1,700 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an indigenous Yi subgroup of Jiangcheng County in southern Yunnan, maintaining a distinct Azong identity among several neighboring Yi communities They are an Indigenous people, with Azong as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Other Tibeto-Burmese people cluster of the Tibetan Peoples. They mostly adhere to Chinese Folk Religion and Eastern Nisu is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Other Tibeto-Burmese
Primary Language(s): Eastern Nisu (nos)
Primary Religion(s): Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 1,700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022152
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Azong of China

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: Chinese Folk Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

95%
%
Chinese Folk Religion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Eastern Nisu
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

70%
%
Nisu, Eastern Speakers

Media Resources in Eastern Nisu:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Eastern Nisu:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Eastern Nisu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Azong 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 Azong:
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 Azong of China

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 6:23

Pray that those who do know about God's free gift will hear and believe that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord and that they will joyfully accept this gift.

The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them.
readPsalm 104:8

Pray that they will see the hand of God in the beauty and order of the natural world, and that they will worship Him as the Creator and Sustainer of all things.

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.
readRomans 4:20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will not waver but will grow strong in their belief, knowing that the Lord rewards those who seek Him.

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
readMatthew 9:37-38

Pray that the Lord of the harvest will raise up believers to send out into His harvest field, which is ripe and ready.

Azong Across Countries (ROP3 - 114002) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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