Approximately 600 Eupa Akha live in the Boun-Tai District of Phongsali Province in northern Laos. The Eupa Akha are a distinct tribe or ethnic group of Akha who migrated into Laos from southern China some time during the past century. Outsiders and tourists often presume the Akha have lived in their present locations since ancient times, but this is simply not the case. The first Akha village in Thailand, for example, was only established in 1903.
Former missionary and author Paul Lewis, who worked among the Akha for about 50 years, states that "although the Akha have no written history, a rich heritage of legends, proverbs, and rituals gives them a sense of who they are and what being an Akha means.... They feel their ancestors are the source of life and have provided them with the knowledge of how to cope with daily situations. Seeing himself as a link in this chain of life, an Akha is sustained in the hour of need, and challenged to play his part now so that later others will take care of him as their ancestor."18
In Laos the Akha are also known by their Lao name Ikor or simply Ka. The Akha remain one of the most isolated groups in Laos. They prefer to remain separate from the Lao and other ethnic groups and are only rarely seen in urban centers. Their isolation is reflected in statistics from the 1995 Lao census, which found that only 3.8% of Akha adults could read Lao (including a mere 0.7% of Akha women); while 94.3% of Akha adults had never attended any level of school at any time in their lives (including 98% of women). Of the numerous ethnic groups in Laos, only the Lahu record similar rates of illiteracy and education.
The religion of the Akha is a mixture of ancestor worship and animism. Numerous local deities are appeased, such as the spirit of the village, the forest, house, water, fire, mountains, etc.
There are no known Christian believers among the Eupa Akha in Laos. This is not the result of them having rejected the Gospel, but simply because they have never had the chance to hear it. Their situation is made more urgent when it is realized that large numbers of Akha often respond to the Gospel when they have the opportunity.
Despite their low literacy, pray many Akha in Laos would hear about God through video and audio tools.
Ask God to raise up laborers to plant churches among the Eupa Akha.
Pray the Gospel would break through the forces of animism and ancestor worship practiced by the Akha.