San Diu in Vietnam

People Name:	San Diu
Country:	Vietnam
10/40 Window:	Yes
Population:	186,000
World Population:	186,000
Primary Language:	Chinese, Yue
Primary Religion:	Ethnic Religions
Christian Adherents:	0.50 %
Evangelicals:	0.01 %
Scripture:	Complete Bible
Online Audio NT:	Yes
Jesus Film:	Yes
Audio Recordings:	Yes
People Cluster:	Yao-Mien
Affinity Bloc:	Southeast Asian Peoples
Progress Level:

Introduction / History

The San Diu of Vietnam speak a Chinese Guandong dialect that belongs to the Sino Tibetan language. They are supposed to have come from Guandong in China to Vietnam about three or four hundred years ago.

The San Diu live mainly in Vietnam's Quang Ninh Province.

What Are Their Lives Like?

The San Diu grow rice and maize in dry fields. They mostly eat rice. They live in cottages in villages. Every village has an elected leader to look after them.

People need the approval of their parents before they get married. They have rituals for both marriages and funerals.

When the San Diu build a house, others come to help. The owner of a house invites an elder to bring fire, seeds and a lime pot to the home.

The San Diu use the lunar calendar. They love to sing. There is an opportunity for missionaries who like singing to make friends with them and perhaps introduce worship music.

What Are Their Beliefs?

The San Diu have festivals where they worship ancestors, the shaman and the kitchen god. They use an incense bowl to worship the dead. They also worship earth spirits.

What Are Their Needs?

The San Diu need to put their trust in the God of Creation rather than spirits that have no power to help them.

Prayer Points

Pray that the leaders of the San Diu will come to salvation and lead others among them to Jesus Christ.

Pray for a spiritual hunger that will lead the San Diu people to the foot of the cross.

Pray for an unstoppable movement to Christ among the San Diu people.