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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Roro of Papua New Guinea

The Roro of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 22,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a dialect subgroup of Waima (rro), 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 language is Waima and their primary religion is Protestantism.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Waima (rro)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 22,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG010400
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Pray for the Roro 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

54%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Waima
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Waima Speakers

Media Resources in Waima:

Films:

No entries found for: Waima(rro). Help build some!

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Bible Resources in Waima:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Waima bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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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% or Greater but Less than 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 Roro:
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 Roro 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 Roro:
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 Roro 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 Roro:
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 Roro of Papua New Guinea

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
readRomans 5:10

Pray that any who may be enemies of God will grasp the depth of God's love demonstrated through Christ's death for the ungodly, and be reconciled to Him.

There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
readPsalm 19:3

Pray that God will lead them to His Word, and where it is not available, ask that He will raise up those who will produce gospel media in their heart language.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
read1 Peter 2:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will embrace their identity as God's chosen people, royal priests, and holy nation, living out their faith with purity and devotion.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
readHebrews 4:12

Pray that God will make His living and active Word available to everyone in this people group so that many will respond to the gospel. Ask Him to provide Jesus-followers to walk with new believers as they grow in Him.

Roro Across Countries (ROP3 - 115313) 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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