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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Ponapeans of United States

The Ponapeans of United States, numbering approximately 4,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Micronesian ethnic group indigenous to the island of Pohnpei in the Caroline Islands They are an Diaspora people, in the Micronesian people cluster of the Pacific Islander Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Protestantism. They primarily speak Pohnpeian.

Ponapeans in Federated States of Micronesia photo
Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Ponapean

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: United States
People Cluster: Micronesian
Primary Language(s): Pohnpeian (pon)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Protestantism
Population: 4,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG047219
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Ponapeans of United States

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Protestant… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Pohnpeian
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Pohnpeian Speakers

Media Resources in Pohnpeian:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Pohnpeian:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Pohnpeian bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Ponapeans

The Ponapeans are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Ponapeans

The Ponapeans 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.

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

Next steps for the Ponapeans

The Ponapeans 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Ponapeans of United States

The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.
readProverbs 4:19

Pray that lost people will accept salvation through Christ, turn from destruction, and experience joy in the way of righteousness.

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.

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
read2 Corinthians 12:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will embrace their weaknesses, hardships, and difficulties, having hope because Christ's power is made perfect in their weakness.

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.

Ponapean (ROP3 - 108108) 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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