Malimasa in China

The Malimasa have only been reported in China
Population
Main Language
Largest Religion
Buddhism (Tibetan)
Christian
Evangelical
Progress
Progress Gauge

Introduction / History

The history of the Malimasa is shrouded in uncertainty, but their language suggests that they were once part of the Mosuo people who are today concentrated a considerable distance northeast of Weixi, on the Yunnan-Sichuan border. The Malimasa are still a purely matriarchal and matrilineal society, with women in complete control of all finances, possessions, and decision-making.

The other people in the Weixi region say they have viewed the Malimasa as a separate people group for at least one hundred years. The Chinese authorities, however, have included the Malimasa under the official Naxi nationality.


What Are Their Lives Like?

The Malimasa wear their own traditional dress, distinct from all other groups in the area. Women wear a large turban wrapped around their heads. Sickness and disease have long plagued people in this part of China.


What Are Their Beliefs?

The Malimasa are virtually all Tibetan Buddhist. There are a number of Tibetan, Lisu, and Naxi Christians in the Weixi area, but they have had little impact on the staunch belief system of the Malimasa.

Catholic missionaries from the Grand St. Bernard Order commenced work at Latsa Pass near Weixi in 1931. Several Protestant families also lived in Weixi prior to 1949. The great missionary statesman Hudson Taylor, writing of China's needs in general, stated, "The harvest here is indeed great, and the laborers are few and imperfectly fitted for such a work. And yet grace can make a few feeble instruments the means of accomplishing great things - things greater even than we can conceive." Taylor's passionate desire was that national believers would be given the leadership of their own churches and have control over their own affairs. He wrote, "I look upon foreign missionaries as the scaffolding around a rising building. The sooner it can be dispensed with, the better; or rather, the sooner it can be transferred to other places, to serve the same temporary use, the better."


What Are Their Needs?

The Malimasa need workers who can bring medical help along with the gospel. They need the touch of the Great Physician.


Prayer Points

Pray for Malimasa to seek the healing that only God can bring.
Pray for signs and wonders to happen among them and for great breakthroughs with a rapid multiplication of disciples and house churches.
Pray for bold workers who are driven by the love of the Holy Spirit to go to them.
Pray for an unstoppable movement to Christ among them.


Scripture Prayers for the Malimasa in China.


Profile Source:   Joshua Project  

People Name General Malimasa
People Name in Country Malimasa
Pronunciation Ma-lee-ma-sa
Alternate Names
Population this Country 600
Population all Countries 600
Total Countries 1
Indigenous Yes
Progress Scale 1
Unreached Yes
Frontier People Group Yes
GSEC 1  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed 1
PeopleID3 18572
ROP3 Code 114189
Country China
Region Asia, Northeast
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 19  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Location in Country Approximately 100 Malimasa families inhabit an area near the town of Weixi, in the northwest of Yunnan Province. Weixi, five hours by road from the city of Zhongdian, is at the juncture where the Tibetan and Chinese worlds meet. Joseph Rock, an intrepid explorer and botanist, described Weixi in the 1920s as "a forlorn place of about 400 houses.… The town boasts a wall of mud with a few dilapidated gates." The Malimasa people live in extremely remote communities. Severe snowfall often cuts their villages off from the outside world for weeks at a time during the winter months.   Source:  Operation China, 2000
Country China
Region Asia, Northeast
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 19  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Location in Country Approximately 100 Malimasa families inhabit an area near the town of Weixi, in the northwest of Yunnan Province. Weixi, five hours by road from the city of Zhongdian, is at the juncture where the Tibetan and Chinese worlds meet. Joseph Rock, an intrepid explorer and botanist, described Weixi in the 1920s as "a forlorn place of about 400 houses.… The town boasts a wall of mud with a few dilapidated gates." The Malimasa people live in extremely remote communities. Severe snowfall often cuts their villages off from the outside world for weeks at a time during the winter months..   Source:  Operation China, 2000
Primary Religion: Buddhism (Tibetan)
Major Religion Percent
Buddhism
95.00 %
Christianity  (Evangelical 0.00 %)
0.00 %
Ethnic Religions
5.00 %
Hinduism
0.00 %
Islam
0.00 %
Non-Religious
0.00 %
Other / Small
0.00 %
Unknown
0.00 %
Primary Language Naxi (600 speakers)
Language Code nxq   Ethnologue Listing
Language Written Yes   ScriptSource Listing
Total Languages 1
Primary Language Naxi (600 speakers)
Language Code nxq   Ethnologue Listing
Total Languages 1
People Groups Speaking Naxi
Photo Source Copyrighted © 2024  Operation China, Asia Harvest  All rights reserved.  Used with permission
Map Source Joshua Project / Global Mapping International  
Profile Source Joshua Project 
Data Sources Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more.


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