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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Pitilu of Papua New Guinea

The Pitilu of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 2,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea They are an Indigenous people, with Pitilu as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the New Guinea people cluster of the Pacific Islander Peoples. Their primary religion is Roman Catholicism. They primarily speak Leipon.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Leipon (lek)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 2,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG010378
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Pray for the Pitilu of Papua New Guinea

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

79%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Leipon
Language Family: Austronesian

65%
%
Leipon Speakers

Media Resources in Leipon:

Films:

No entries found for: Leipon(lek). Help build some!

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Leipon:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Leipon 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): Marginally Reached People Group, (LPI: 4), 3% to 6% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical (GSEC: 5), this people group is greater than or equal to 5% evangelical

Next steps for the Pitilu:
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 Pitilu 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 Pitilu:
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 Pitilu 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 Pitilu:
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 Pitilu of Papua New Guinea

Behold, I stand at the door and?knock.?If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,?I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
readRevelation 3:20

Pray that those who have not opened their hearts to Jesus will hear His knock and invite Him in as their Savior and Lord.

"You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet."
readMatthew 5:13

Pray that the lost will have the opportunity to hear a Christian witness of how the gospel can bring hope and that they will put their faith in Christ.

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
readRomans 6:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, God will lead those who might hesitate in getting baptized to trust Him as they obey His command, even when obedience is hard.

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.
read3 John 1:2

Ask God to grant protection and good health — both physical and spiritual — to those He sends cross-culturally to share the gospel.

Pitilu Across Countries (ROP3 - 108065) 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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