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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Vao of Vanuatu

The Vao of Vanuatu, numbering approximately 3,400 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Vanuatu. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Vao is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Vanuatu
People Cluster: Vanuatu
Primary Language(s): Vao (vao)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 3,400
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011089
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Pray for the Vao of Vanuatu

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

46%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Vao
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Vao Speakers

Media Resources in Vao:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Vao:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Vao bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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): Pioneer Unreached People Group, (LPI: 1), 0.1% or Greater but Less than 0.5% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Vao:
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

Pray specifically for the Vao of Vanuatu

For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
readIsaiah 48:11

Pray that those who have been living for their own glory will turn to the One who is worthy of all praise and find their true identity in Him.

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed"
readGalatians 3:8

Ask the Lord to fulfill His promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed by advancing the gospel to every people group who has yet to receive it.

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
readHebrews 10:39

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, and faithfully follow God, they will share Christ boldly with those around them.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
readHebrews 4:12

Pray that God will make His living and active Word available to everyone in this people group so that many will respond to the gospel. Ask Him to provide Jesus-followers to walk with new believers as they grow in Him.

Vao Across Countries (ROP3 - 110515) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
VaoPG011089VaoVanuatu3,400Unengaged and UnreachedVaoRoman 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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