Akha
Located very near to the borders of two Creative Access Nations is a center to serve as a ministry base for reaching out to Akha people living in Myanmar, China, and Laos. One of the high ranking officials invited us to share the gospel in his village. 19 people received baptism during the occasion, and another 21 believed in different villages in March. It is so encouraging that many people believed in the Lord Jesus Christ!

 

Another Akha village turned to Christ with ten families believing. There are only six villages left in that large region that have no Christian families. Pray that the Gospel seed will sprout out soon in these remaining six villages. Leadership training programs have been going on smoothly. The location is changed from time to time so that members in different villages can benefit from the teaching.

 

There are positive signs of God at work among the Akha in Laos and China. The Lord is calling some individuals to join the Akha / Hani team.

 

White Tai
Most of the 270,000 White Tai (who are named for the color of their women's clothing) live in northern Vietnam along the banks of the Red and Black Rivers. The White Tai are not native to the land. Originally from China, they emigrated south to Vietnam because of unceasing pressure by the Chinese.

 

The White Tai are extremely polite, respectful, and hospitable. Children are brought up to respect those of a higher rank, and to be independent and self-reliant. Rural farmers rank below craftsmen, merchants, and city government officials. Families are the core of White Tai society. In rural villages, the entire immediate family often lives together.

 

An almost equal division of labor by sex distinguishes the White Tai. Both men and women plow, till, fish, cook, care for the children, clean house, and wash clothes. Tai culture has changed dramatically as a result of the transition from a feudal to a socialist society. Farmers now belong to agricultural cooperatives, and small-scale industrialization has helped turn Tai agricultural peasants into a Vietnamese working class.

 

Over half of the White Tai combine folk animism (belief that non-living objects have spirits) with Buddhism. They worship various spirits and objects, and also believe that people have "multiple personal souls."

 

The White Tai have been deeply scarred by all of the fighting and bloodshed in the past. They desperately need healing and new spiritual hope.

 

Pray:

• for additional laborers to work among the White Tai in Vietnam.
• God will raise up prayer teams who will continue to break up the spiritual soil of Vietnam through intercession.
• God will speed the completion of the Jesus film and other evangelistic materials into the Tai Don language.
• God to anoint the Gospel as it goes forth via radio to the White Tai.
• God to strengthen, encourage, and protect the small number of White Tai Christians.
• God will raise up qualified linguists to complete the translation of the Bible into the White Tai language, Tai Don.