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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Loniu of Papua New Guinea

The Loniu of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 1,800 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea They are an Indigenous people, with Loniu as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the New Guinea people cluster of the Pacific Islander Peoples. Their primary religion is Protestantism. They primarily speak Loniu.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Loniu (los)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 1,800
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG010144
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Pray for the Loniu 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

45%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Loniu
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Loniu Speakers

Media Resources in Loniu:

Films:

No entries found for: Loniu(los). Help build some!

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Loniu:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Loniu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Significantly Reached People Group, (LPI: 6), > 20% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical (GSEC: 6), this people group is greater than or equal to 10% evangelical

Next steps for the Loniu:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Loniu 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.

Next steps for the Loniu:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Loniu 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 Loniu:
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 Loniu of Papua New Guinea

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
readMatthew 4:16

Pray that those living in darkness and the shadow of death will see a great light and turn to the Lord for salvation.

Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!
readPsalm 96:9

Pray that many who do not yet know Jesus will come to know Him and worship Him in the splendor of His holiness.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
readLamentations 3:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through trials, they will be satisfied with the Lord as their portion and will place all their hope in Him.

Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
readPsalm 149:3

Pray that God will send His people across cultures to share the gospel so that those who don't yet know the truth about Him might praise His name and share the hope of Christ with others.

Loniu Across Countries (ROP3 - 105856) 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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