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The Paama of Vanuatu

The Paama of Vanuatu, numbering approximately 12,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a small Melanesian island people of Vanuatu's Malampa Province, subsistence gardeners and fishers who embraced Christianity in the early 20th century while retaining traditional kastom beliefs in ritual and divination. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Paama is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Vanuatu
People Cluster: Vanuatu
Primary Language(s): Paama (pma)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 12,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG018416
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Pray for the Paama of Vanuatu

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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Paama
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Paama Speakers

Media Resources in Paama:

Films:
Title Link
JESUS View Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Paama:

Bible Name (Translation) Video Audio Text
2016 Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc ✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Paama bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Paama 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 Paama:
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 Paama of Vanuatu

Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
readRomans 11:22

Pray that God will transform those who persist in unbelief and, in His everlasting kindness, graft them into His family.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
readRomans 3:23

Pray that the gospel will advance and many will acknowledge that all have sinned, fall short of God's glory, and need a Savior to reconcile them to God.

"...I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
readMatthew 16:18b

Pray that God will build and grow His Church among this people.

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.

Paama Across Countries (ROP3 - 107726) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

1 people group

Photo People Group ID Name Country Population ▲ Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Paama PG018416 Paama Vanuatu 12,000 No Longer Unreached Paama Protestantism

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.

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