Where the church stands in Myanmar
Myanmar's Christians are concentrated among its ethnic minorities: the Chin and Kachin are majority Christian, and the Karen have large churches. The Bamar majority, who make up most of the population, remain overwhelmingly Buddhist and among the least-reached large peoples in Asia.
Since the military coup of February 2021, airstrikes and ground offensives have hit churches, schools and villages in Chin, Kachin and Karenni states, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced. A powerful earthquake in March 2025 added devastation to a country already at war.
Signs of hope
Mature minority churches with a heart to reach the Bamar majority, even in wartime.
The honest difficulty
Civil war, military attacks on Christian areas, and a majority people with almost no believers.
What "Unreached" means
There is no indigenous community of believing Christians large enough to evangelise the rest of the nation without outside help. Commonly measured as under 2% evangelical.
In Myanmar the majority religious context is Buddhism (~88%). The largest population still considered without meaningful Gospel access is the The Bamar (Burman) Buddhist majority, plus Rakhine, Shan and Mon peoples.
How to pray for Myanmar
Prayer is not a substitute for going; it is how going begins. Take one of these for a week rather than all of them for a day.
- Pray for believers in Chin, Kachin and Karenni states under military attack.
- Pray for the Bamar people to encounter Jesus.
- Ask God for peace and an end to the civil war.
- Pray for families still recovering from the 2025 earthquake.
Questions people ask about Myanmar
Is Myanmar an unreached nation?
Myanmar is classified as unreached. There is no indigenous community of believing Christians large enough to evangelise the rest of the nation without outside help. Commonly measured as under 2% evangelical. Roughly 6% of the population identifies as Christian and about 5% as evangelical, with an estimated 90 of its 145 people groups still considered unreached. Figures are rounded estimates and vary by source and year.
How many Christians are there in Myanmar?
About 6% of Myanmar's roughly 55 million people identify as Christian — approximately 3.3 million people. Around 5% are evangelical. The largest group still without meaningful Gospel access is the The Bamar (Burman) Buddhist majority, plus Rakhine, Shan and Mon peoples.
How can I pray for Myanmar?
Pray for believers in Chin, Kachin and Karenni states under military attack. Pray for the Bamar people to encounter Jesus. Pick one of these, pray it for two minutes a day for a week, and ask one other person to pray it with you.