The Bongos of Papua New Guinea

The Bongos of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 20,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea; a dialect subgroup of Kwanga (kwj). They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Kwanga is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Kwanga (kwj)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 20,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG009810
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Bongos 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

46%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kwanga
Language Family: Sepik

100%
%
Kwanga Speakers

Media Resources in Kwanga:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Kwanga:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1992 Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc.✓

1 entry

Or check out the Kwanga bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Bongos 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 Bongos:
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

Pray specifically for the Bongos of Papua New Guinea

The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.
readPsalm 6:9

Pray that lost people will hear the gospel and place their faith in Christ, knowing that He hears their plea and accepts their prayer.

And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
readActs 6:7

Pray that the Word of God will be increasingly available to these people in ways they will resonate with so that all may have a chance to respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
readRomans 10:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and sometimes have doubts, God will help them remember and trust the power of Jesus to save them from their sins.

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
readIsaiah 58:7

As believers cross cultures to share the good news of Christ, pray that God will sustain them and grow their faith as He gives them the compassion necessary to minister well to those in need.

Bongos Across Countries (ROP3 - 101601) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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