Lolo Religion

Unreached People. The Lolo in Vietnam are an unreached people group, with no known Christians. They are surrounded by other tribal people who are equally unreached.

Their bondage is to a mix of traditions, but the dominant belief system is ancestor worship, with aspects of animism and polytheism. The Lolo are very religious and understand that life is more than materialism. In this, they are correct. Unfortunately, they know no other way to deal with spiritual things than to try to worship or appease their ancestors and other false gods and spirit beings. Thus they are unknowingly involved in the worship of spirits that, if they exist at all, are demonic.

Ancestor Worship. The Lolo are ancestor worshipers. But they also worship and appease a large number of deities, ghosts and disembodied spirits. This means that the religious world-view of the Lolo, like most minority groups in Vietnam, is complicated. Their beliefs combine elements of ancestor worship and animism, as well as other superstitious ideas. Animism holds that both living and non-living things possess spirits. They also believe in yin and yang, which is derived from Taoism, for example. These beliefs create a life of fear that involves a dread of the spirit world. The Lolo hold regular rituals determined by the lunar calendar. They invoke the Spirit of the Earth to watch over the harvest, to ensure plenty of food for the entire village. After the fields are ploughed, they make offerings to the Spirit of the Field. They celebrate Tet (the Lunar New Year), the New Rice Festival, the double five festival (on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month), and the fifth of July festival (fifth day of the fifth calendar month).

Shamanism. Like the Tay, Nung, Lahu and many other minority people, the Lolo worship their ancestors. They believe that the spirits of their ancestors can assist and bless them. The Lolo worship five generations of "close" ancestors as well as "remote" ancestors who died six or more generations ago. Each family keeps two altars, the altar to the ancestors being in the kitchen of the house. But the formal rituals held to honor the family ancestors are held at the home of the clan chief. The altars have wooden statues with faces drawn in black charcoal, representing the ancestors. The Lolo system of pictographic writing (dating from the 1600's or earlier) was mostly used by shamans, and the texts often involved details of rituals. Two main gods of the Lolo are Mit Do and Ket Do. Ket Do is believed to be the creator, who governs the universe and creates human beings. Mit Do governs the earth and protects the earthly inhabitants. But they also believe in many other deities.

Other Beliefs. The bronze drums are symbolic of the Lolo culture. They have a legend of a great flood that covered the earth. God saved two children by putting them in two bronze drums. A young girl was in a larger drum, and her little brother in a smaller one. The drums floated and saved their lives. When the flood waters receded, the two children found themselves on the top of a mountain, and became the ancestors of the Lolo People. Another version of this legend says that one family was saved by God by means of a large wooden boat. Three sons of the family were the progenitors of all the races of mankind, including the Lolo.

Their belief system, like that of most tribal groups, includes a system of taboos or forbidden actions which are designed to avoid offending the spirits. They live lives dominated by fear of the evil spirits, who beset them on all sides. Fear of the spirit world is a pervasive part of daily life, deadly serious matters of life and death. These people are trapped in their belief system, living in darkness, waiting for the light. Rituals still involve the ceremonial slaughter of animals for sacrificial purposes.

Funerals. When a Lolo person dies, his relatives perform a "dance of the spirits". This dance is believed to help the deceased's soul find its way to the place of the honored ancestors. The son-in-law plays a critical part of the funeral ceremony. At the dance he carries a large bag on his shoulders that contains a large cloth ball. The ball represents the head of the deceased, and is said by some to be a carryover from ancient customs of head-hunting. The son-in-law also must carry one end of the coffin during the funeral procession. He and the brothers of the widow must throw the first hands full of earth on the grave. The bronze drums of the family are played during the funeral ceremony, and traditional songs are also sung at this time. Only single men or men whose wives are not pregnant are allowed to play the drums at funerals. Some Lolo reserve the drums for use only at funerals, and keep the drums hidden when not in use.

Christian Witness. The Lolo in Vietnam have never heard a clear presentation of the claims of Jesus Christ. There is not even a single known Christian believer or church among the Lolo. They are a distinct and unique people group without any Gospel witness and without any knowledge of the Name of Jesus Christ. There is no Lolo version of the Jesus film available, nor are there gospel recordings. There is no Lolo Bible available, nor are there even portions of the Bible translated. The fact that people group is small and the language is little understood has discouraged translation work, no doubt. Similarly, there are no Lolo radio broadcasts.

This means that the Christian literature needs of the Lolo have received no attention from the Christian community. These are people for whom Jesus died, but they remain spiritually cut off from Christian influence.