The Manam of Papua New Guinea

The Manam of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 16,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea and can also be known as Vulkan Islanders, Manam. They are an Indigenous people, with Manam as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the New Guinea people cluster of the Pacific Islander Peoples. Their primary religion is Protestantism. They primarily speak Manam.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Manam (mva)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 16,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG010175
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Manam 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

40%
%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Manam
Language Family: Austronesian

65%
%

Media Resources in Manam:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Manam:

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Or check out the Manam bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Significantly Reached People Group, (LPI: 6), > 20% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical (GSEC: 6), this people group is greater than or equal to 10% evangelical

Next steps for the Manam:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Manam 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 Manam:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Manam 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 Manam:
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 Manam of Papua New Guinea

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
readExodus 2:23-24

As the lost among them labor, groan, and cry out under false religions and sin, pray God will have mercy on them and hear their cries, that He will be their Rescuer from the kingdom of darkness and bring them into the kingdom of light.

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.

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.
readActs 4:29

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and face rejection by unbelievers in their communities, God will give them discernment, boldness, and encouragement to speak His Word.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
readJohn 1:12

Pray that believers will have the opportunity to clearly share the good news with the lost here, so that all people can be invited to trust in Jesus and become children of God.

Manam Across Countries (ROP3 - 106213) 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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