Who are the Shan?

Once proud feudal rulers of vast lands in Burma, China, and Thailand, the Shan are now a people with no land to call their own. The Shan are oppressed - politically, economically, physically, culturally, and spiritually - and their communities suffer from illiteracy, addiction, prostitution, AIDS, poverty, broken families, and a loss of hope. Still, they are a very proud race, deriving great joy from their heritage. 

 

Their Buddhist faith, intricately combined with animism, is deeply rooted in the culture of the Shan. Life decisions that contradict the wishes of the parents and society are rare. Although there is a published Bible in the majority dialect and a small established church, very few Shan have ever heard about Jesus. As one of the largest unreached people groups in Southeast Asia, with a population between 5 and 7 million, they are a people in need of the Gospel of Christ.