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The Central Maewo of Vanuatu

The Central Maewo of Vanuatu, numbering approximately 2,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Austronesian people of Maewo, Vanuatu's rainiest island, whose traditional life centers on secret men's societies and whose language is spoken by adults but fading among youth. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Central Maewo is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Vanuatu
People Cluster: Vanuatu
Primary Language(s): Central Maewo (mwo)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 2,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG010981
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Pray for the Central Maewo of Vanuatu

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Central Maewo
Language Family: Austronesian

68%
%
Maewo, Central Speakers

Media Resources in Central Maewo:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Central Maewo:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Central Maewo bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Central Maewo 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 Central Maewo:
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 Central Maewo of Vanuatu

But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
readPsalm 130:4

Pray that God will bring those who have hard hearts to repentance and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
readLuke 13:3

Pray that the lost will repent and believe the gospel, for without it, they will perish.

For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.
readPsalm 149:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged and feel immeasurably loved as they meditate on the fact that God takes pleasure in them.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
readMatthew 28:19-20

Ask God to bring people among this group to faith in Jesus who will be obedient to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded.

Central Maewo Across Countries (ROP3 - 101923) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Central MaewoPG010981Central MaewoVanuatu2,500No Longer UnreachedCentral MaewoProtestantism

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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