The Arawe of Papua New Guinea

The Arawe of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 7,700 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea They are an Indigenous people, with Arawe as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the New Guinea people cluster of the Pacific Islander Peoples. Their primary religion is Protestantism. They primarily speak Solong.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Solong (aaw)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 7,700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG019295
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Arawe 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

50%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Solong
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Solong Speakers

Media Resources in Solong:

Films:

No entries found for: Solong(aaw). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Solong:

Or check out the Solong bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), 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): Significantly Reached People Group, (LPI: 6), > 20% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical (GSEC: 6), this people group is greater than or equal to 10% evangelical

Next steps for the Arawe:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Arawe 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.

Next steps for the Arawe:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Arawe 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 Arawe:
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 Arawe of Papua New Guinea

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
readPsalm 51:1

Give thanks to God that He is able to forgive all the sins people might commit, and pray that many who don't yet know this will hear the good news and turn to Him for mercy.

The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
readPsalm 146:9

Pray for God to watch over people, wherever they are, and cause them to meet believers who will share the gospel with them clearly and lovingly.

We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.
readPsalm 75:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will give thanks to the Lord for His wondrous works and declare His goodness to all people.

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
readJohn 7:38

Ask God to raise up believers and sustain them as they cross cultures to share hope with those who need it. Pray that many might come to know Christ and that streams of living water will flow from their hearts so they will never thirst again.

Arawe Across Countries (ROP3 - 100473) 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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