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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Boanaki of Papua New Guinea

The Boanaki of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 6,200 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Ghayavi is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Ghayavi (bmk)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 6,200
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG019331
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Pray for the Boanaki 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

36%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Ghayavi
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Ghayavi Speakers

Media Resources in Ghayavi:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Ghayavi:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2010 Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc.✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Ghayavi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Boanaki 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 Boanaki:
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 Boanaki of Papua New Guinea

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:20

As God's creation declares His glory, pray that multitudes who don't know Him will see the works of His hands and desire to know more about the Creator.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
read1 Timothy 2:1-2

Pray that leaders and those in authority will not thwart the spread of the gospel but put their faith in Christ, have hearts that are soft toward their people, and be freed from the temptations that power can bring.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
readJohn 10:28

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have assurance of eternal life, knowing that no one can snatch them out of the loving hand of Jesus.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
read1 Corinthians 9:20

Pray that believers from similar cultures will be compelled by Christ's love to reach people who don't know the gospel, and that those people will receive the good news with joy.

Boanaki Across Countries (ROP3 - 101521) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
BoanakiPG019331BoanakiPapua New Guinea6,200No Longer UnreachedGhayaviProtestantism

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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