Introduction / History

The term Eastern Khumi is used to describe the speech varieties of Nisay, Nideun, Lemi, Khongtu, Likhy, and Rengsa spoken in the Sami region.

Where Are they Located?

The Eastern Khumi people groups live in the Sami region of Paletwa Township, Chin State, Myanmar. The landscape of their area is mountainous.

What Are Their Lives Like?

The village situation is quite complicated, since many of the villages in this area are mixed, with several people groups living together. However, some villages have only one group living in them.

The Eastern Khumi people speak related dialects and can understand each other's dialects well. The groups in this Eastern Khumi region generally understand one another's languages well due to both linguistic relatedness and frequent contact because of geographical proximity. The population of each of the Eastern Khumi people groups is quite small.

Most of the Eastern Khumi people can speak and understand Kaladan Khumi [cnk] to some extent. However, most of them cannot read Khumi literature, and the Khumi Bible is hard for most to understand.

Most of the Eastern Khumi people expressed considerable interest in reading and writing their own varieties. In fact, many of the Eastern Khumi groups have had at least some literature development. The Nisay, Lemi, and Likhy groups are currently working on language development activities. Al-most all the Eastern Khumi people expressed considerable interest in having a Bible translation in their own varieties. They do not seem very willing, however, to use another group's literature. The majority of the Eastern Khumi people are Christians. There are a wide variety of church denominations among them. They are currently using Khumi [cnk] and Burmese [mya] Bibles in their churches.

What Are Their Beliefs?

Among the Eastern Khumi Christians, there are many denominations, such as Baptist, Anglican, Evangelical Free Church of Myanmar (EFCM), Evangelical Reformed Church (ERC), Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, Church of Jesus Christ, Church of Christ, Missionary Baptist Church of Myanmar, Believer Church of Jesus Christ, Evangelical Revival Church, Gospel Baptist, Church on the Rock, etc.

Prayer Points

Scripture Prayers for the Chin, Eastern Khumi in Myanmar (Burma).