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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Bhutia of India

The Bhutia of India, numbering approximately 254,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group indigenous to the Transhimalayan region that separates India and Nepal from Tibet They are an Indigenous people, in the Tibetan people cluster of the Tibetan Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Sherpa.

Bhutia in India photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Kandell, Alice S. - Library of Congress Kandell, Alice S. - Library of Congress Licensed under CC0 1.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Tibetan
Primary Language(s): Sherpa (xsr)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 254,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041587
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Bhutia of India

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sherpa
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

%
Sherpa Speakers

Media Resources in Sherpa:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Sherpa:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sherpa bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Bhutia

The Bhutia 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 Bhutia

The Bhutia 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 Bhutia

The Bhutia 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 Bhutia of India

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
readPsalm 1:6

As many look for hope in worldly pleasures, pray they will hear and accept salvation through Christ, turn from destruction, and experience joy in the way of righteousness.

O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
readPsalm 104:24

Pray that they will see the wisdom and power of God in His creation and praise Him for His mighty works.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
readPsalm 27:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, God will strengthen them when they face persecution of any kind for Jesus' name’s sake.

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
readIsaiah 51:11

Pray that, as God sends people to cross cultures and share the good news of Jesus, many will turn to the Lord in repentance and faith and start a personal relationship with Him that will bring them everlasting joy.

Bhotia (ROP3 - 111608) 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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