Pray for Tibetans

The need to pray for Tibetans has never been greater! They are one of the most hard to reach and resistant ethnic groups in the world. Learn about the 6 million Tibetans below, then pray for Tibetans over time with our Tibetan Prayer Plan or by praying Scripture over Tibetans.

Introduction

Tibet — a land of snow-capped mountains, ancient monasteries, and the unique Tibetan Buddhist religion — captures the imagination of many. But for Christians, Tibet is more than a remote destination; it’s a place where millions of lost souls are waiting to hear and believe the life-changing, soul-saving gospel of Jesus Christ.

Western Misconception

Westerners see Tibetans as peaceful people, pursuing enlightenment through meditation and compassion toward mankind. But in reality, the Tibetan practices of spinning prayer wheels, prostrations, reciting mantras and giving alms are often done from a place of deep-seated fear. The fear is that if they don’t do these practices, they won’t earn enough “merit” and will face a terrible next life of reincarnation as a “hungry ghost” as punishment from vengeful gods. Most Westerners don’t know that the foundation of Tibetan Buddhism is the Bön religion, with its shamanistic and animistic practices done to appease the fierce, angry, and vengeful gods and spirits.

Even though Tibetans are viewed as peaceful people who would never harm a sentient being, their history proves otherwise. Tibetans, especially the Khampa Tibetans, are known for being fierce warriors; rarely are they found without their sword at their side. Make no mistake: Tibetans will kill sentient beings. Afterward, they will simply try to earn enough merit to make up for the bad karma that they earned from the killing. Another option for Tibetans when they want to kill someone is for “something else” to kill their perceived threat. For example, Tibetans have been known to put people into wet animal hides, then hang them out to dry in the sun. When the animal hide contracts as it dries out, it suffocates the person inside. In this way, they didn’t kill the person, the animal hide did.

The misconception that Westerners have about Tibetan Buddhism stems from only being exposed to the Dalai Lama, the “peaceful and serene monks”, and Hollywood depictions of them. But this is the watered-down, Westernized version of Tibetan Buddhism meant for public consumption. At its core, there is fear, greed, violence, and evil demonic practices/

Reached, Unreached and Frontier Tibetan People Groups

Of the 58 Tibetan people groups throughout the world, none of them are considered reached. In fact, 50 of the 58 groups are classified as frontier people groups, meaning they are less than 0.10% evangelical Christian.

Below is a map of where Tibetan people groups are centered along the Himalayan range, on the Tibetan plateau, and off the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau.

5 Major Barriers to Reaching Tibetans

There are five major barriers to seeing Tibetans reached with the gospel: geopolitical, spiritual, linguistic, cultural, and geographic.

1. Geopolitical

Tibet was once its own country and kingdom, until the Chinese Communist Party took control of it in 1951. Since then, Tibetans have had numerous uprisings, riots, and self-immolations to protest against Chinese occupation. This is embarrassing for the Chinese government. They want to be viewed as ruling over a harmonious society that their people want to be a part of. They also don’t want foreign aid given to the Tibetan people to support their protests and fight for independence, so they limit foreign presence in Tibet by restricting who can get a special pass to visit the region. Those that are given a special pass are monitored closely. Police, military, and security cameras are ubiquitous in Tibet as a means of controlling both the Tibetans and foreign visitors.

Combining this extremely high level of surveillance with China’s laws against proselytyzing make sharing the gospel incredibly difficult.

2. Spiritual

While seen as a religion of peace and compassion, Tibetan Buddhism is a deeply demonic religion with intense strongholds. Tibetan Buddhism, blended with the ancient Bon religion, is the lifeblood of Tibetan culture. Religious rituals include spinning prayer wheels, hanging prayer flags, and circumambulating temples. With their religion so deeply intertwined with their cultural identity, any foreign threat to their spiritual heritage makes conversion feel like a deep cultural betrayal.

3. Linguistic

The Tibetan language has multiple dialects—Central (Lhasa), Kham, and Amdo—that are often mutually unintelligible. Translating the Bible and Christian materials into these dialects is a slow, complex process, and choosing the right terms for concepts like “God” or “sin” without Buddhist connotations remains a challenge.

To reach the 7 million Tibetans living in China, the most logical path for a non-native Chinese speaker would involve learning both Chinese and a dialect of Tibetan. Basic fluency in Chinese is necessary for anyone living in China. This typically takes 1-3 years of full time study. Next, this person would have to learn Tibetan in order to communicate the gospel to Tibetans and disciple them when they believe. Learning Tibetan would take another 2-3 years of full-time study because the language learning resources are so sparse.

Mobilizing native-Chinese speaking believers to reach Tibetans is highly advantageous, as it eliminates the need for learning Chinese and allows them to communicate with bilingual Tibetans.

4. Cultural

In the Tibetan Buddhist worldview, the highest form of human reincarnation is to be reincarnated as a Tibetan. Said another way, they’re above you. So why would they listen to you?

Further, in the Tibetan worldview, to be Tibetan is to be Tibetan Buddhist. Their religion is highly intertwoven with their cultural identity. As such, Tibetans than convert to Christianity face immense pressure from their family and the surrounding community to return to Buddhism.

5. Geographic

With an average elevation of over 14,800ft (4,500m), the Tibetan Plateau is also known as “The Roof of the World”. It is a harsh land, inhospitable to the non-acclimated. Missionaries that live at such high altitudes face significant health risks due to the lack of oxygen.

Population

The Tibetan population, estimated at 5.6 million people, is spread across China’s Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), parts of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan provinces, and in countries like India, Nepal, and Bhutan. Most Tibetans remain unreached, meaning they lack a strong enough Christian presence to evangelize their own people without outside help.

The following table shows the Tibetan populations in countries where their population is the highest.

Ethnic Groups

Tibetans are divided into 3 major subgroups that each have their own distinct dialects, culture, traditions, and lifestyle:

• Kham (2.0 million)
• Amdo (1.2 million)
• Central aka Ü–tsang (1.0 million)

Links above are to the largest people group profiles of the subgroup on Joshua Project.

Kham (2.0 million)

Found in eastern Tibet (Sichuan, Yunnan, and the TAR), Kham Tibetans, or Khampas, are the most populous subgroup, making up 37% of Tibetans in China. Khampa are known for their warrior-like reputation. Men are often found with their sword by their side. The Western Khampa Tibetans in particular have been described as “the epitome of an unreached people group”.

Amdo (1.2 million)

Living in northeastern Tibet (parts of Qinghai, Gansu, and Sichuan), Amdo Tibetans are famous for being nomadic herders living in remote areas with little exposure to the outside world. They make up about 22% of Tibetans in China. Their dialect is distinct, sharing only 70% lexical similarity with Lhasa Tibetan, which complicates outreach efforts.

Central (1.0 million)

Centered in the Tibet Autonomous Region, particularly around Lhasa, Central Tibetans represent about 19% of Tibetans in China. Lhasa, the city at the heart of Tibetan Buddhism, is home to iconic sites like the Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple. The venerable Mount Kailash in the Ngari Prefecture of the TAR is one of the most holy sites in all of Tibetan Buddhism and is the epicenter of the Saga Dawa festival. Central Tibetans speak the Lhasa dialect, considered to be the standard of the Tibetan language.

Medium and Small-Sized Tibetan People Groups

Five more Tibetan people groups have populations of 100,000 or more:

• Jiarong (250,000)
• Choni (170,000)
• Golog (167,000)
• Deqen (121,000)
• Shangri-la (103,000)

Finally, there are 37 people groups with populations less than 100,000 that make up the remaining 500,000 Tibetans.

Pray for Tibetans!

Now that you’ve learned about Tibetans’ people group status, barriers to reaching Tibetans, their ethnic group breakdown, and the Western misconception of Tibetans, it’s time to pray for Tibetans.

With our Tibetan Prayer Plan you will receive 1 email per week for 12 weeks where you will learn about and pray for the largest unreached Tibetan people groups.

With our Pray Scripture Prayer Plan you will receive 1 email per day for 40 days where you will pray Scripture over the Tibetans as a whole. Simply enter the word “Tibetans” into the people group field when you sign up!