The Pila of Papua New Guinea

The Pila of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 4,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea They are an Indigenous people, with Pila (Papua New Guinea) as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the New Guinea people cluster of the Pacific Islander Peoples. Their primary religion is Roman Catholicism. They primarily speak Miani.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Miani (pla)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 4,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG010375
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Pila of Papua New Guinea

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

77%
%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Miani
Language Family: Nuclear Trans New Guinea

65%
%

Media Resources in Miani:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Miani:

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Or check out the Miani 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): Marginally Reached People Group, (LPI: 4), 3% to 6% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical (GSEC: 5), this people group is greater than or equal to 5% evangelical

Next steps for the Pila:
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 Pila 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 Pila:
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 Pila 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 Pila:
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 Pila of Papua New Guinea

"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
readJohn 8:32

Pray for those who live enslaved to sin to hear and receive the truth of the gospel and be set free.

Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!
readPsalm 96:9

Pray that many who do not yet know Jesus will come to know Him and worship Him in the splendor of His holiness.

The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
readLamentations 3:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the goodness of the Lord as they wait on Him to answer their cries for help.

For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
read2 Corinthians 1:5

When any who might believe suffer for the sake of the gospel, ask God to deepen their understanding of His grace so that they may share it freely with those who have not received it.

Pila Across Countries (ROP3 - 114945) 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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