The Kelana of Papua New Guinea

The Kelana of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 1,600 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Gitua is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Gitua (ggt)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 1,600
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG010051
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Kelana 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

45%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gitua
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Gitua Speakers

Media Resources in Gitua:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Gitua:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Gitua bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Kelana 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 Kelana:
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 Kelana of Papua New Guinea

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.
readPsalm 62:1

Pray that those who are troubled and don't know about the God who saves will hear the good news and find rest in the one true God who can offer salvation for their souls.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
readPsalm 67:4

Pray that God will use ways from in-person witnesses to digital gospel resources to bring the joy of His salvation to everyone so that they can be glad in Him and sing for joy.

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
readDeuteronomy 6:6-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will hide God's Word in their hearts, let it shape their conversations and daily lives, and pass on their faith to the next generation.

And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
readLuke 10:2

Ask God to send out laborers into His harvest field, raising up believers from around the world to go and proclaim the kingdom of God with those who need to hear it.

Kelana Across Countries (ROP3 - 104811) 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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