The Rakahanga-Manihiki of Cook Islands

The Rakahanga-Manihiki of Cook Islands, numbering approximately 1,900 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the Cook Islands of Rakahanga and Manihiki. They are an Indigenous people, in the Polynesian people cluster of the Pacific Islander Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Protestantism. They primarily speak Rakahanga-Manihiki.

Rakahanga-Manihiki in Cook Islands photo
Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Rakahanga-Manihiki

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Cook Islands
People Cluster: Polynesian
Primary Language(s): Rakahanga-Manihiki (rkh)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Protestantism
Population: 1,900
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG008214
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Rakahanga-Manihiki of Cook Islands

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Protestant… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Rakahanga-Manihiki
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Rakahanga-Manihiki Speakers

Media Resources in Rakahanga-Manihiki:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Rakahanga-Manihiki:

Or check out the Rakahanga-Manihiki bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Rakahanga-Manihiki

The Rakahanga-Manihiki 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 Rakahanga-Manihiki

The Rakahanga-Manihiki 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 Rakahanga-Manihiki

The Rakahanga-Manihiki 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 Rakahanga-Manihiki of Cook Islands

"...And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
readLuke 8:8

Pray that the seeds of truth will take root in the hearts of those who are far from Jesus and that He will lead them from darkness to light.

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.
readActs 17:26-27

Pray that the lost will seek God and find Him, for He is not far from each one of us. Pray that they will have opportunities to access the gospel, learn God's purpose for their lives, and believe in Him.

For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
read2 Thessalonians 3:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will persevere according to God's command, walk in faith, and be strong so that they can resist the evil one’s deception.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
readMatthew 28:19-20

Ask God to bring people among this group to faith in Jesus who will be obedient to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded.

Rakahanga-Manihiki (ROP3 - 108282) 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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