The Kombai of Indonesia

The Kombai of Indonesia, numbering approximately 6,100 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Papuan hunter-gatherer people of Mappi Regency who stayed hidden from outsiders until a Dutch missionary's first contact roughly 35 years ago, known for treehouses built for defense and flood protection, with types for residence, lookout, and seclusion. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Wanggom is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Wanggom (wng)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 6,100
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG022956
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Kombai of Indonesia

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

50%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Wanggom
Language Family: Nuclear Trans New Guinea

76%
%
Wanggom Speakers

Media Resources in Wanggom:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Wanggom:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Wanggom bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Kombai 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 Kombai:
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 Kombai of Indonesia

And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you."
read1 Samuel 13:13a

Pray that those who are walking in disobedience will recognize their sin and to turn to God.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."
readIsaiah 52:7

Pray that those who don't know the good news of peace and salvation through Jesus Christ will have an opportunity to receive it. Pray that it will bring hope and healing to their souls.

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
read1 Corinthians 3:7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be unified in making disciples and be used by God to further His kingdom near and far.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
read1 Corinthians 15:3-4

Pray that God will raise up believers to go to the lost and faithfully proclaim the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection so that all may have an opportunity to access and believe.

Kombai Across Countries (ROP3 - 105147) 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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