The Bohuai of Papua New Guinea

The Bohuai of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 4,700 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are one of three dialects of Tulu-Bohuai (rak), a language of Papua New Guinea and can also be known as Pelipowai, Pohuai. They are an Indigenous people, in the New Guinea people cluster of the Pacific Islanders affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Roman Catholicism. They primarily speak Tulu-Bohuai.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Tulu-Bohuai (rak)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Roman Catholicism
Population: 4,700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG009803

Pray for the Bohuai 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: Christianity - Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Roman Cath… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tulu-Bohuai
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Tulu-Bohuai Speakers

Media Resources in Tulu-Bohuai:

Films:

No entries found for: Tulu-Bohuai(rak). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Tulu-Bohuai:

Next steps for the Bohuai

The Bohuai 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 Bohuai

The Bohuai 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 Bohuai

The Bohuai 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 Bohuai of Papua New Guinea

For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
readPsalm 97:9

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will recognize the Lord as the Most High and turn from spiritual darkness to worship Him above all else.

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
readIsaiah 30:21

As the lost in this people group seek to know the truth of who God is, pray that the Spirit of God will draw them to Himself and guide them in the way they should go.

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
readPsalm 32:7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that God is their hiding place and that He will preserve them in the midst of trials.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
read2 Corinthians 5:20

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will be His ambassadors, faithfully imploring people on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God through Jesus.

Bohuai reported in the following countries (ROP3):

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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