Oceania

Oceania comprises 27 countries and territories scattered across the Pacific, from Australia and New Zealand to the small islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. It is a continent of water: thousands of kilometers separate communities that nevertheless preserve languages, customs and histories distinctly their own.

In total, 1,358 ethnic groups live in this region, and 71 of them are still considered unreached with the gospel. Christianity arrived generations ago on many smaller islands and shaped local culture, but in specific pockets, especially among isolated Indigenous peoples and migrant minorities, the name of Jesus remains unknown.

On average, evangelization reaches 17.3% of the region’s population, a figure that conceals great internal differences: while some nations have strong churches rooted for centuries, others have only small, recently formed groups of believers. Of the 1,407 mapped ethnic groups, 1,138 still do not have the complete Bible in their own language, one of the world’s greatest translation challenges.

Praying for Oceania means praying for a vast mosaic of peoples and islands, many almost invisible to the rest of the world, yet fully known and loved by God.