Pathen Religion

Unreached People. The Pathen in Vietnam are a nearly unreached people group, with very few known Christians. Recently some Christians in surrounding tribal people groups have shared Christ with the Pathen.

The majority,however, are in bondage to a mix of traditions. The dominant belief system is ancestor worship, with aspects of animism, polytheism, and Taoism. The Pathen do understand that life is more than materialism. In this, they are correct. Unfortunately, they know of no other way to deal with spiritual things than to try to worship or appease the dead or other spirits. Of course, the false gods and spirit beings that they worship, if they exist at all, are demonic.

Ancestor Worship. The Pathen worship their ancestors. They also worship and appease a large number of deities, ghosts and disembodied spirits. Clearly, the religious world-view of the Pathen, like most minority groups in Vietnam, is complicated. Like the Tay, Nung, Lahu and many other minority people, the Pathen emphasize ancestor worship. They believe that the spirits of their ancestors can assist and bless them. The Pathen worship ancestors during festivals, and especially on New Year's or Tet holidays. Each family keeps an ancestral altar with offerings of rice, meat and water, as well as a container with joss-sticks. The male head of the house must call upon the ancestors to come and feast on the offerings and to protect the family from sickness, injury or other misfortune. Because the Pathen believe only sons can perform worship their ancestors, if a family has no sons the sons-in-law must take the responsibility of honoring and caring for the souls of the dead.

Animism. Animism holds that both living and non-living things possess spirits. These beliefs create a life of fear that involves a dread of the spirit world. They believe that some spirits are auspicious but others bring disaster and misfortune. The Pathen hold regular rituals to appease the spirits, as determined by the lunar calendar. In the past the Pathen worshipped fire and water, but today this practice has declined. In some places the Pathen believe a frog created the heavens and the earth. After a time of living in bliss, man destroyed the harmony of his peaceful existence by killing the frog. They teach that: "The frog's dying curse was to divide the world into a realm for humans and a realm for spirits. Before that time, mankind did not know sickness, and when a person would die, he would rise again from the dead on the 13th day. After the curse, this no longer happened." They believe that three animals (the dog, cat and pig) were friends of man and stole rice from the spirit world so that there would be abundant food. Because of this, the Pathen feed these animals before offering worship to the spirit of the rice.

Other Beliefs. They believe that the spirits of the rivers and streams are dangerous, as well as the spirits of anyone who died a violent or untimely death. 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. Taoist ideas are also incorporated into their world view.

Birth Customs. The Pathen do not immediately give a baby a name. At birth, the child is given a number, which indicates his rank within the family. The real name is not given until a coming of age ceremony, which is the time that the youngster is "introduced" to the family ancestors. The placenta is always buried under the floor of the house. After death, the Pathen believe that they must travel to the spiritual village of the ancestors, and that the deceased person's soul must retrieve the placenta and take it along so that the spirits can confirm that the person is really their descendant.

Funerals. When a person dies, a rifle is fired three times to announce the death. The coffin is made from a hollowed-out tree trunk. A married daughter will usually be responsible for the funeral offerings. A pig weighing about 50 pounds is usually sacrificed. If the family cannot afford a pig, they will offer seven roosters. Since the Pathen believe that each person has 12 souls, the coffin is filled with 12 measures of rice and 12 sandstone bowls are placed in the coffin as well.

Christian Witness. Many, if not most, Pathen in Vietnam have never heard a clear presentation of the claims of Jesus Christ. But since 1999, about 100 Pathen have accepted Christ through the testimony of neighboring Christians from another people group. Two Vietnamese churches are training leaders and providing study materials. This is encouraging. But the Pathen are a distinct and unique people group with very limited resources available in their own language. There is no Pathen version of the Jesus film available, nor are there gospel recordings. There is no Pathen Bible available, nor are there even portions of the Bible translated. The fact that the group is small with two languages has discouraged translation work, no doubt. Similarly, there are no Pathen radio broadcasts.

This means that the Christian literature needs of the Pathen have received little attention from the Christian community. These are people for whom Jesus died, but they are largely spiritually isolated from Christian influence. The efforts of their neighbors is excellent, but much remains to be done.