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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Elkei of Papua New Guinea

The Elkei of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 3,600 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Elkei is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Elkei (elk)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 3,600
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG009887
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Pray for the Elkei 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

69%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Elkei
Language Family: Nuclear Torricelli

100%
%
Elkei Speakers

Media Resources in Elkei:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Elkei:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Elkei bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Elkei 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 Elkei:
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 Elkei of Papua New Guinea

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
readPsalm 73:26

Pray that those who are lost and struggling to find hope will find their strength and hope in God, recognizing Him as their portion and deliverer forever.

...And that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
readLuke 24:47

Pray that the message of repentance and forgiveness through Jesus will reach everyone.

The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
readLamentations 3:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the goodness of the Lord as they wait on Him to answer their cries for help.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
readLuke 10:1

Ask God to raise up, send out, and sustain Christians who can go together to share the good news of Jesus with those who need it.

Elkei Across Countries (ROP3 - 102901) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
ElkeiPG009887ElkeiPapua New Guinea3,600No Longer UnreachedElkeiRoman Catholicism

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 Data Standards section.

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