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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Elkei of Papua New Guinea

The Elkei of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 3,600 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Elkei is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Elkei (elk)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 3,600
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG009887
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Pray for the Elkei 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

69%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Elkei
Language Family: Nuclear Torricelli

100%
%
Elkei Speakers

Media Resources in Elkei:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Elkei:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Elkei bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Elkei 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 Elkei:
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 Elkei of Papua New Guinea

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
readPsalm 96:5

Pray that those who are seeking after worthless idols will not be satisfied until they seek the truth and find it in Christ.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that the lost will not perish but come to repentance and that God's patience and long-suffering will lead them to salvation.

And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!"
readMark 7:9

Pray that as men, women, boys, and girls place their faith in Christ, they will let go of any traditions that do not honor Him.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
readPsalm 51:2

Pray that God will raise up believers to go and share the gospel with those in this people group who need to be washed of their iniquity and cleansed from their sins.

Elkei Across Countries (ROP3 - 102901) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▼LanguageReligion
ElkeiPG009887ElkeiPapua New Guinea3,600No Longer UnreachedElkeiRoman Catholicism

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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