2025 Field Guide: Kaykar
First Light in the Valleys of Kaykar
In the mist-covered valleys of Southeast Asia, the Kaykar people live in homes of bamboo and wood, raised above the ground to endure the rainy seasons. Life here is communal and cyclical—tending fields, weaving baskets, and honoring the spirits believed to dwell in every hill, river, and doorway. The Kaykar’s spiritual worldview is a blend of Buddhism and traditional animism, practiced not only in temples but in kitchens and courtyards alike. Here, ancestors are honored, and spiritual forces are carefully appeased.
Kaykar
Update from the field
Among the Kaykar, there is an ever-present tension between devotion and fear. It is not enough to be good; one must also be vigilant. If a child becomes sick or a dream unsettles the household, a shaman is called to interpret and restore spiritual balance. Rituals are performed, often late into the night, to call wandering souls back home or to send misfortune downstream in symbolic bark boats. Every gesture, every offering, is an effort to maintain harmony between the physical and the unseen.
Opening a new tourism business in the area, a small missionary team has been welcomed by the Kaykar. Their presence brings economic benefit to the region, and in return, they’re granted freedom to live and work among the Kaykar. This access allows them not only to offer meaningful employment and community engagement but also to build relationships that, over time, can open doors for spiritual discussions, too.
One evening, the team was invited across the road to join a family gathering–a celebration and a ceremony all in one. An elder woman had dreamt that a deceased relative was calling her into the next world. Days later, she fell in a rice field, the very place her relative had once died. Alarmed, her family called a shaman, who performed a soul-calling ritual by firelight. Strings were tied to her wrists to protect her. The missionaries, now considered friends of the locals, were invited to witness the ceremony and to share the commemorative meal. Through this intimate invitation, the team began to understand that their presence here and the connections they’re forming represent a deeply personal bond with the Kaykar.
To communicate in the people’s heart language, the team is working hard to master the Kaykar language (Stage 3 on the progress scale). Reaching fluency will allow them to develop teaching materials and, one day, share the story of Jesus in a way that will resonate most deeply with the people.
There is no existing church or Bible here, so this team will be the first to bring the truth of Jesus to the area. As they work diligently on their language skills and continue to form friendships among the Kaykar, they wait with hope, knowing the God who called them to this work will provide all they need to accomplish it.
Prayer requests
- Pray for steady progress in language learning, so the message of Jesus can one day be shared clearly in the Kaykar heart language.
- Pray for the team’s tour-based work to continue building favor with the community and local authorities.
- Pray for health, stamina, and wisdom as families balance business, language study, and parenting in a remote setting.
- Pray for spiritual openness, that beneath the rituals and routines, hearts would begin to long for a different kind of peace.
- Pray for perseverance and patience, that the team would hold fast to hope even when fruit is still unseen.
