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

Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
readRomans 11:22

Pray that God will transform those who persist in unbelief and, in His everlasting kindness, graft them into His family.

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!
readPsalm 96:8

Pray for people here to humbly give God the glory due His name.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
readMatthew 18:20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged as they remember that Jesus is with them when they gather in His name.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
readEphesians 6:12

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures the discernment they need to recognize the spiritual battle they are fighting. Pray God will protect their faith as they abide in Him.

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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