The Karen of Australia

The Karen of Australia, numbering approximately 4,200 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic subgroup of the Karen, an ethnic group of Sino-Tibetan language-speaking people indigenous to the Kayin State in southeastern Myanmar They are an Diaspora people, with Karen as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Karen people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Protestantism. They primarily speak Pwo Eastern Karen.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Karen

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Australia
People Cluster: Karen
Primary Language(s): Pwo Eastern Karen (kjp)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 4,200
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG043753

Pray for the Karen of Australia

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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Pwo Eastern Karen
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Karen, Pwo Eastern Speakers

Media Resources in Pwo Eastern Karen:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Pwo Eastern Karen:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Pwo Eastern Karen bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Karen 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 Karen:
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 Karen of Australia

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.

...I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
readPsalm 13:5

Ask God to bring many to trust in His unfailing love and cause their hearts to rejoice in His salvation.

For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.
readPsalm 149:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged and feel immeasurably loved as they meditate on the fact that God takes pleasure in them.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
readActs 1:8

Pray that God will raise up believers who are willing to cross cultures and boldly share the good news of Jesus with the lost in this people group and from every nation.

Karen, Pwo Eastern Across Countries (ROP3 - 104659) 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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