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The Kukuya of Papua New Guinea

The Kukuya of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 4,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Minaveha is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Minaveha (mvn)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 4,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG010099
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Pray for the Kukuya 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

45%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Minaveha
Language Family: Austronesian

55%
%
Minaveha Speakers

Media Resources in Minaveha:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Minaveha:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Minaveha bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Kukuya 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 Kukuya:
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 Kukuya of Papua New Guinea

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:20

As God's creation declares His glory, pray that multitudes who don't know Him will see the works of His hands and desire to know more about the Creator.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
readJohn 14:6

Pray that those who are searching for a way to God and desiring truth will encounter the good news of eternal life and accept it.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
readPsalm 51:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will quickly repent when they sin and walk with clean hearts and right spirits as they grow in their relationship with the Lord.

Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
readLuke 10:3

Ask God to raise up and send humble believers who will depend on Him as they go out like lambs among wolves to share the good news with those who need to hear it.

Kukuya Across Countries (ROP3 - 105367) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
KukuyaPG010099KukuyaPapua New Guinea4,500No Longer UnreachedMinavehaProtestantism

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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