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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Mountain Arapesh of Papua New Guinea

The Mountain Arapesh of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 33,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea; a dialect subgroup of Bukiyip (ape). 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 Bukiyip.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Bukiyip (ape)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Protestantism
Population: 33,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG010251
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Pray for the Mountain Arapesh 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: Bukiyip
Language Family: Nuclear Torricelli

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Media Resources in Bukiyip:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Bukiyip:

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Or check out the Bukiyip bible resources at Bible.com

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Next steps for the Mountain Arapesh

The Mountain Arapesh 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 Mountain Arapesh

The Mountain Arapesh 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 Mountain Arapesh

The Mountain Arapesh 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 Mountain Arapesh of Papua New Guinea

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
read1 Timothy 6:9

Pray for those, rich and poor, who have put their trust in worldly things, and ask that they will be honest with themselves, acknowledge their need for God and turn to Him.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise).
readEphesians 6:1-2

Pray that God will bring young men and women to faith in Jesus and that the fruit of their faith will be a powerful testimony as they honor their parents.

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
readHebrews 10:39

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, and faithfully follow God, they will share Christ boldly with those around them.

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
read2 Thessalonians 3:1-3

Pray that the Word of God will spread throughout this people group and be honored. Ask God to establish His people and guard them from the evil one, testifying to this whole people group of His great faithfulness.

Arapesh, Mountain (ROP3 - 106828) 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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