Lachi, White in Vietnam

People Name:	Lachi, White
Country:	Vietnam
10/40 Window:	Yes
Population:	2,300
World Population:	2,300
Primary Language:	Lachi, White
Primary Religion:	Ethnic Religions
Christian Adherents:	0.50 %
Evangelicals:	0.05 %
Scripture:	Unspecified
Online Audio NT:	No
Jesus Film:	No
Audio Recordings:	No
People Cluster:	Tai
Affinity Bloc:	Southeast Asian Peoples
Progress Level:

Introduction / History

The Lati in Vietnam claim two historical founders of their race: Hoang Din Thung and Pu Lo To. They are reputed to have created many different species and to have educated the people how to live and farm.

Where Are they Located?

The White Lachi peoples live in Ha Giang and Lao Cai provinces of Vietnam.

What Are Their Lives Like?

Most White Lati live simple lives. They cultivate rice. Lati women are renowned for their skill in weaving and indigo dyeing. Each family clan owns drums and gongs which are used in ritual ceremonies. At weddings the groom's family must provide a suitable amount of money to the bride's parents to repay the cost of the girl's upbringing. Lati homes are constructed on stilts and consist of three sections. The largest room contains the ancestral altar.

What Are Their Beliefs?

The Lati hold annual ceremonies determined by the lunar calendar. They pray for seeds before they plant them, believing each seed has a soul. They invoke the spirits to watch over the harvest, to ensure plenty of food for the entire village. The New Rice Festival along with the New Year and Seventh Month festivals are the largest, most colorful, and most important festivals of the year.

What Are Their Needs?

The White Lati are blocked off from Christian witness because the atheistic governments of both China and Vietnam forbid evangelism. There are no known Lati believers on either side of the border, and no missionaries are known to have ever focused on them. The nearest Christian communities to the Lati are among the Hmong Daw and Hmong Leng, but the Lati do not share a common language with the Hmong. The two groups rarely have contact with each other.

Prayer Points

Ask for the Lord of the Harvest to send workers into this field to tell the White Lachi people that they have been specially created for a unique purpose: to know, love and worship Jesus Christ.
Pray for the White Lachi to find their way to the One who gives life to the full.
Pray for a strong discipling ministry that will transform White Lachi communities in Vietnam into His likeness.