Bouyei in Vietnam

People Name:	Bouyei
Country:	Vietnam
10/40 Window:	Yes
Population:	69,000
World Population:	3,371,600
Primary Language:	Bouyei
Primary Religion:	Ethnic Religions
Christian Adherents:	0.50 %
Evangelicals:	0.01 %
Scripture:	Portions
Online Audio NT:	Yes
Jesus Film:	Yes
Audio Recordings:	Yes
People Cluster:	Bouyei
Affinity Bloc:	Southeast Asian Peoples
Progress Level:

Introduction / History

The Bouyei immigrated into what is now northern Vietnam from China about 200 years ago. They have close cultural relations with the Nung and other Thai groups. Unfortunately, the rapid population growth in Vietnam has strained the limited social services and food supplies. To relieve these problems, the government set up what they call a "family planning program." They resettled several million people into new economic areas.

What Are Their Lives Like?

The Bouyei are primarily farmers and cattle producers. Generally, they live in houses built on stilts. Most also have a second home located on farm clearings where older people mind the crops, cattle, and poultry. Handicrafts are poorly developed, aside from the weaving of bamboo household items.
Traditionally, Bouyei women dressed elaborately, wearing fanned out skirts covering their knees. Today, they wear typical Vietnamese style clothing, which includes carrying embroidered cloth bags. Their hair is rolled around their heads, then tied with pink threads that are usually left dangling down their backs.
Each year the Bouyei celebrate their anticipated harvest in a festival called roong pooc. Every family owns land to plant rice, maize, sweet potatoes, cassava, gourds and vegetables. They use buffaloes for plowing, horses as beasts of burden, and poultry for meat and sacrificial offerings.
Communal, or shared land, is prominent in Bouyei society. Each village has a piece of forbidden forest called ma doong xia ("sacred forest"). They hold a ceremony twice a year at the biggest tree, called "the forest chief," honoring the village spirits. Bamboo structures at the village entrance hold offerings of pig, buffalo ears or chicken legs.
Bouyei society is patrilineal (inheritances are passed down through the males) and patriarchal (male-dominated). Families tend to be small. According to Bouyei tradition, a woman has three people to whom she must submit: her father before marriage, her husband, then her son after her husband's death. Formerly, girls were sold into marriage and rites were complex. Today, young people are free to choose their own marriage partners.

What Are Their Beliefs?

The Bouyei, like most other minority groups in Vietnam, practice ethnic religions. They worship a multitude of gods that are associated with the earth, water, fire and famous ancestors. They also worship various spirits. Most villages have local temples for worship. Folk literature and art are also of importance in religious life.
The Bouyei view the world as having three stages: the middle stage, which is life on earth; the stage of heaven, which is to be magnificent and glorious; and the stage underneath, which is believed to be cramped and shameful.

What Are Their Needs?

In rural most areas, there is a lack of adequate health care facilities. There is a tremendous need for evangelistic materials, Christian laborers, and intercessors to stand in the gap for these precious people. It will take Christians who are “wise as serpents” to get past the increasingly oppressive government policies.

Prayer Points

Ask the Lord to call people who are willing to share Christ with the Bouyei.
Ask God to give the few Bouyei believers opportunities to share the gospel with their own people.
Pray that God will open the hearts of Vietnam's governmental leaders to the gospel, leading to many Christ followers within the Hanoi government.
Ask God to raise up teams of intercessors who will stand in the gap for these precious people.
Ask the Lord to raise up a strong local church among the Bouyei of Vietnam.