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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Lihir of Papua New Guinea

The Lihir of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 27,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea. They are an Indigenous people, in the New Guinea people cluster of the Pacific Islander Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Protestantism. They primarily speak Lihir.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Lihir (lih)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Protestantism
Population: 27,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG010136
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Pray for the Lihir of Papua New Guinea

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lihir
Language Family: Austronesian

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Media Resources in Lihir:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Lihir:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lihir bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Lihir

The Lihir 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 Lihir

The Lihir 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 Lihir

The Lihir 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 Lihir of Papua New Guinea

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."
readLuke 1:46-47

Pray that those who are lost will recognize their need for a Savior and joyfully embrace the mercy that God offers.

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
readPsalm 2:10-11

Pray for the rulers and authorities here to seek the Lord and serve Him only. Pray that the people they lead will be amazed by the work of God in their lives.

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.
read1 Peter 3:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will always be prepared to share the reason for the hope that they have in Jesus with gentleness and respect.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that God will send and sustain believers to cross cultures and share the gospel with the lost. Ask that He will give them His heart for the lost and that many will believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life.

Lihir (ROP3 - 105763) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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