The Yapese of Micronesia

The Yapese of Micronesia, numbering approximately 12,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Micronesian ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the island of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Yapese is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Micronesia
People Cluster: Micronesian
Primary Language(s): Yapese (yap)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 12,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG018396
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Yapese of Micronesia

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: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

62%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Yapese
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Yapese Speakers

Media Resources in Yapese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Yapese:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Yapese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Yapese:
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

Pray specifically for the Yapese of Micronesia

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
readMatthew 6:7-8

Pray that those who don't have a relationship with their Creator will come to know a God who hears their every need, freeing them from empty rituals and drawing them into a real, trusting relationship with Him.

Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
readMark 10:14b

Praise Jesus for the way He loves children, asking that many will learn the truth about Him and come to Him unhindered.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
readTitus 3:4-5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and might struggle with temptation to trust in their own works, they will remember that it is only because of God's mercy that they have been saved.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
readActs 1:8

Pray that God will raise up believers who are willing to cross cultures and boldly share the good news of Jesus with the lost in this people group and from every nation.

Yapese Across Countries (ROP3 - 110981) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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 Data Standards section.

Scroll to Top