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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Cook Islands Maori of New Zealand

The Cook Islands Maori of New Zealand, numbering approximately 75,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Polynesian ethnic group indigenous to Rarotonga, the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands and can also be known as Atiu. They are an Indigenous people, in the Polynesian people cluster of the Pacific Islanders affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Protestantism. They primarily speak Cook Islands Maori.

Cook Islands Maori in New Zealand photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Anonymous

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Peoples
Country: New Zealand
People Cluster: Polynesian
Primary Language(s): Cook Islands Maori (rar)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Protestantism
Population: 75,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG009615
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Cook Islands Maori of New Zealand

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: Christianity - Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Protestant… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Cook Islands Maori
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Cook Islands Maori Speakers

Media Resources in Cook Islands Maori:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Cook Islands Maori:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Cook Islands Maori bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Cook Islands Maori

The Cook Islands Maori 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 Cook Islands Maori

The Cook Islands Maori 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 Cook Islands Maori

The Cook Islands Maori 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 Cook Islands Maori of New Zealand

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
readJohn 3:19

Pray that God will have mercy on those who love the darkness they are walking in and turn from their sin to faith in Christ.

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
readMark 4:20

Pray that those who have never encountered the gospel will have the opportunity to receive it, and that it will fall on good soil and bear much fruit.

Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered.
readPsalm 105:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice as they remember His wonders, miracles, and perfect judgements.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
read2 Corinthians 5:21

Pray that Christians will cross cultures and share the hope of Christ, and that many will trust the One who took their sins and offers them His righteousness.

Cook Islands Maori (ROP3 - 102284) 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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