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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

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
readMatthew 11:28

Pray for those who are tired, weary, and burdened by the weight of sin to encounter Jesus and experience the rest that only He can give.

For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples.
readLuke 2:30

Pray that the lost will see the salvation of God, and that they will trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
readRomans 10:12

Pray that as people from different backgrounds place their faith in Christ, they will be unified by their faith Him.

And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
readLuke 10:2

Ask God to send out laborers into His harvest field, raising up believers from around the world to go and proclaim the kingdom of God with those who need to hear it.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic 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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