The Ari of Papua New Guinea

The Ari of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 225 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea, Western province: Aramia River area, Ari and Serea villages. They are an Indigenous people in the New Guinea people cluster of the Pacific Islander Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Ari and their primary religion is Protestantism.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Ari

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Ari (aac)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 225
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG009711
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Ari of Papua New Guinea

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

40%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Ari
Language Family: Suki-Gogodala

65%
%
Ari Speakers

Media Resources in Ari:

Films:

No entries found for: Ari(aac). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Ari:

Or check out the Ari bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Significantly Reached People Group, (LPI: 6), > 20% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical (GSEC: 6), this people group is greater than or equal to 10% evangelical

Next steps for the Ari:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Ari are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Ari:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Ari are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Ari:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Ari of Papua New Guinea

As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God".
readRomans 3:10-11

Pray that God will have mercy on those living in broken relationship with Him, and that He will bring many to surrender and repentance at the throne of grace.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
readRomans 9:16

Pray that the merciful God who is at work in people's hearts will advance His gospel among them.

The LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
readNumbers 6:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that He has given them His favor and His presence.

"For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."
readActs 17:23

Pray that believers God sends to cross cultures will be sensitive to the spiritual needs of the people they serve, and will proclaim the truth of Christ to them in creative ways that they will understand.

Ari Across Countries (ROP3 - 114828) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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