The Irumu of Papua New Guinea

The Irumu of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 2,300 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Tuma-Irumu is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Tuma-Irumu (iou)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 2,300
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG020281
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Irumu 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

40%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tuma-Irumu
Language Family: Nuclear Trans New Guinea

100%
%
Tuma-Irumu Speakers

Media Resources in Tuma-Irumu:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Tuma-Irumu:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1997, 2011 Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc.✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Tuma-Irumu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Irumu 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 Irumu:
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 Irumu of Papua New Guinea

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.
readJohn 11:25

Pray for the many who have never heard about or understood the importance of what Jesus did for them, asking God to make a way for them to hear that the perfect Son of Man suffered, died, and rose again so that they might be saved.

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
readIsaiah 30:21

As the lost in this people group seek to know the truth of who God is, pray that the Spirit of God will draw them to Himself and guide them in the way they should go.

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
readPsalm 121:1-2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and experience hardship, God will remind them that their help comes from the One who made heaven and earth and that He is powerful to meet their needs.

There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.
readMark 7:15

Pray for Christians to take any opportunity to share the hope of Jesus with lost people here, praying they will be wise like Jesus as they share the truth about what can defile people and what can make them clean.

Irumu Across Countries (ROP3 - 104071) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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