Aeka in Papua New Guinea

People Name:	Aeka
Country:	Papua New Guinea
10/40 Window:	No
Population:	5,700
World Population:	5,700
Primary Language:	Aeka
Primary Religion:	Christianity
Christian Adherents:	86.00 %
Evangelicals:	15.00 %
Scripture:	Translation Needed
Online Audio NT:	No
Jesus Film:	No
Audio Recordings:	Yes
People Cluster:	New Guinea
Affinity Bloc:	Pacific Islanders
Progress Level:

Introduction / History

The Aeka people live in 28 villages and hamlets in the low-lying land around the Kumusi and Ope Rivers. Most of the area is covered with rainforest and sago swamp, though some land by the road is cultivated for growing oil palm. Some families own oil palm blocks and earn money by selling the fruit to an oil palm processing company.

What Are Their Lives Like?

People mostly eat taro, bananas and sago, which they grow and harvest themselves. They also keep pigs, which may grow to be very large.

The small nation of Papua New Guinea has more languages being used than any other country in the world—more than 800. It is one of the most rural nations with only 18 percent of the people living in cities. It is one of the world's least explored so that here are many plants and animals waiting to be discovered.

What Are Their Beliefs?

The Anglican Church was the first mission to evangelize the Aeka area, in the late 1930s. All Aeka people would say that they are Christians, although most do not regularly attend church. A cargo cult is active in Oro Province, and some Aeka people are members of the cult. The cargo cult involves ancestor worship for material benefit, which people often mix with traditional and Christian beliefs.

What Are Their Needs?

A retired Anglican priest is trying to translate church materials into Aeka, his mother tongue. Most people do not speak a language other than Akea well so cannot understand the Bible well in another language.