The Pacoh Kado live in the Salavan Province of southern Laos, with tribespeople residing within communities primarily along the eastern border touching Vietnam. However, representative pockets of the Pacoh Kado have migrated as far as the province's western border touching Thailand. As their name indicates in English as "Mountaineers," the Pacoh Kado strategically cultivated villages either within their region's steep terrain or in dense forest environments. Pacoh Kado tribespeople also reside in Salavan, the province's central city, as well as in smaller rural villages as Khongxedone and Sanmouay. The Pacoh Kado are classified as a Mon-Khmer people cluster and as a Katuic people group, whose members have geographic roots both in Cambodia and in Vietnam.
The Pacoh Kado predominantly speak their namesake language of Pacoh. Alternatively spelled Paco and Pokoh, the unique linguistic composition of Pacoh presents a challenge for communicating with outsiders. Thus, some of the traveling Pacoh Kado tribe members have learned Lao, the national official language, as well as learned Vietnamese, mainly for trading purposes outside their villages. The Pacoh Kado make their living through slash-and-burn agriculture techniques. For generations, hunting, trapping, and cultivating horticulture products were among the Pacoh Kado's primary means for supporting their communities. Now the Pacoh Kado are shifting towards implementing traditional farming techniques, as commonly practiced in Southeast Asia, to preserve the environment and have reliable harvest results. Once such crops are ready for harvesting, the Pacoh Kado feed themselves and profit from selling their excess. Despite this adjustment in agricultural methodology, the Pacoh Kado remain self-sufficient through the egalitarian sharing of resources within their communities.
The Pacoh Kado's original religious beliefs derive from ethnic Lao religions practiced from previous generations. As animists, the Pacoh Kado still construct spirit houses on their village outskirts and at places of historical significance, as their prayers uplifted to multiple gods, ghosts, and deity forms are what they share in fear. This indigenous ethnic minority group has started to look beyond previously held concepts, because of God's redemptive means of speaking to the Pacoh Kado himself and also sending Laos and international missionaries of the Christian faith to come to this people group's villages in order to share the gospel truths. Through such evangelistic efforts, a growing minority among the Pacoh Kado are choosing and following Jesus, with church planting efforts continuously expanding.
The Pacoh Kado people group has benefited from nationalistic inclusion, with Lao national resources available despite the group's geographic distance from the greater Lao society. However, literacy remains low among the Pacoh Kado people group who do not receive the same educational opportunities as their fellow Lao because of their community isolation. Refraining from assimilation has prevented access and awareness of what the Pacoh Kado truly need.
Pray for the continual safety of Pacoh Kado, as they seek both resources and contribute towards Lao' greater sustainability efforts, while also preserving their tribal heritage and contributing to their community's needs.
Laos remains as one of the world's communist nations. Intercede that as government officials turn to Jesus in mass, their decisions would propel more of the Pacoh Kado and other among Laos' yet-to-believe communities to also turn their lives over to Jesus.
Pray for the Pacoh Kado believing community, who are now equipped to minister, to have plenty of safe and productive engagement with their fellow tribespeople to show Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world that they and all humanity needs.
Pray that God strengthens the Pacoh Kado church leadership to help younger and yet-to-believe individuals better understand God as Father, so they can humbly follow Him with healthy senses of awe and adoration, instead of hesitantly approaching Him out of utter fear as they previously did as animists with false gods.
Scripture Prayers for the Pacoh Kado in Laos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacoh_people
https://grokipedia.com/page/pacoh_people
| Profile Source: Joshua Project |
