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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Vartavo of Vanuatu

The Vartavo of Vanuatu, numbering approximately 1,600 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Vanuatu and can also be known as Banan Bay. They are an Indigenous people, in the Vanuatu people cluster of the Pacific Islanders affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Protestantism. They primarily speak Banam Bay.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Vartavo

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Vanuatu
People Cluster: Vanuatu
Primary Language(s): Banam Bay (vrt)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Protestantism
Population: 1,600
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG011091
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Protestant… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Banam Bay
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Banam Bay Speakers

Media Resources in Banam Bay:

Films:

No entries found for: Banam Bay(vrt). Help build some!

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Bible Resources in Banam Bay:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Banam Bay bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Vartavo

The Vartavo are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Vartavo

The Vartavo 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.

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

Next steps for the Vartavo

The Vartavo 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Vartavo of Vanuatu

But he said, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:27

Praise God that He is the God of impossible things and that He is able to save even those who seem beyond hope.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 
read2 Timothy 4:3-4

Pray that the lost will be open to the truth of the gospel and turn from false teachings and myths to the sound doctrine of Christ in faith.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
readTitus 3:4-5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and might struggle with temptation to trust in their own works, they will remember that it is only because of God's mercy that they have been saved.

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

Ask God to raise up people who will trust in His sovereignty as they share the gospel, knowing that it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

Vartavo (ROP3 - 101775) 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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