New Georgia Island rises from the western Solomon Islands as one of the most dramatic landmasses in Melanesia — mountainous, densely forested, and rimmed by some of the Pacific's most intricate lagoon systems. It is here, and along the northern edges of the adjacent Marovo Lagoon in Western Province, that the Hoava people make their home. A small Melanesian group, the Hoava speak their own Oceanic language, Hoava, which belongs to the Northwest Solomonic branch of the Austronesian family. Though Hoava speakers are typically multilingual — many also communicate in Roviana, Marovo, Solomon Islands Pijin, and English — the Hoava language is considered endangered, as it is not formally taught in schools and its speaker base has contracted sharply in recent decades.
The western Solomons have been inhabited for thousands of years, and New Georgia Island carries a rich and at times violent history. The region was a center of the Roviana cultural complex, with elaborate megalithic shrine networks dating to the 13th century. By the 18th and 19th centuries, New Georgia's peoples had become feared throughout the broader Solomons for headhunting raids that extended as far as Guadalcanal and Isabel. This practice, tied to religious beliefs about ancestral power and the acquisition of spiritual force, was suppressed by British colonial authorities in the early 1900s. The Methodist Mission arrived on New Georgia in 1902 under Rev. John Goldie, and its influence reshaped communal life significantly. The island also bore the weight of World War II, when fierce fighting during the New Georgia Campaign in 1943 brought destruction and foreign military forces into contact with local communities. The Solomon Islands achieved independence in 1978.
Daily life among the Hoava is anchored in the rhythms of subsistence — fishing in the rich lagoon waters of Marovo and the reef systems surrounding New Georgia, and tending gardens of taro, sweet potato, cassava, and other root crops. Fish, supplemented by coconut, pork, chicken, and garden vegetables, forms the core of the diet. Any surplus may be bartered at local markets or sold to supplement modest cash income. Most Hoava live in small coastal villages, often in houses built on or near the water, where the lagoon provides both food and transport. Access to electricity, healthcare, and other infrastructure remains limited in these rural communities.
The wantok system — a web of obligation, loyalty, and mutual support binding people who share the same language or community — organizes much of social life. Extended family networks are central to decisions about land, labor, marriage, and conflict resolution. Land in the Solomon Islands is held under customary tenure, and the clan's relationship to ancestral land carries deep significance that is both practical and spiritual. The concept of kastom — the living body of traditional customs passed from generation to generation — continues to shape how communities observe ceremonies, settle disputes, and understand their place in the world. Significant life events such as marriages and deaths draw extended family together for multi-day gatherings involving feasting, the exchange of shell money, and communal storytelling. Shell carvings, nguzunguzu (canoe prow ornaments), and other crafts remain part of the creative life of New Georgia's coastal peoples.
Christianity is the primary religion of the Hoava, with Protestantism — rooted in the Methodist mission legacy — holding the dominant place in community religious life. Church attendance and Christian identification are widespread, and the faith has been present in this region for well over a century.
Nevertheless, a meaningful segment of the Hoava community continues to place trust in the older spiritual framework that predates Christian influence. In the traditional worldview of New Georgia's peoples, the world is permeated by unseen forces: ancestral ghosts whose goodwill or displeasure shapes the outcomes of daily life, and nonhuman spirit beings inhabiting the forest, sea, and sky. These beliefs are not residual folklore — they represent genuine spiritual commitments, ways of understanding suffering, success, and the sacred through reliance on powers beyond the human. Rituals, offerings, and the careful observance of taboos have historically been means of soliciting the support of these spiritual forces for fishing, gardening, healing, and protection. Where such beliefs and practices continue alongside Christian profession, the two frameworks can coexist in ways that dilute the transforming power of the gospel. The Hoava, like all people, need the full truth of Jesus Christ — the only one who reconciles people to the living God and offers genuine freedom from every spiritual bondage.
There is currently no Bible translation in the Hoava language, and the written status of the language is uncertain, leaving the community without direct access to Scripture in their heart tongue.
Healthcare access in the remote villages of New Georgia and the Marovo Lagoon area remains inadequate, and the geographic isolation of these communities makes emergency medical care difficult to reach. Logging operations and commercial fishing interests have at times encroached on customary lands, threatening both livelihoods and the ecological health of the lagoon systems that sustain village life. Educational opportunities, particularly for secondary and higher education, require young people to travel far from home, straining family bonds and contributing to community fragmentation over time.
The absence of a Bible in Hoava is a significant spiritual gap. Without Scripture in their own language, believers are dependent on Pijin or English translations that may not penetrate with the same depth or clarity as the heart language would allow. The community also needs believers who have moved beyond inherited Christian identity to become genuine disciples equipped to disciple others — people who understand the gospel well enough to name, gently challenge, and pray for those whose trust remains divided between Christ and traditional spiritual powers. The church among the Hoava has the potential to become a sending community for the gospel to less-reached peoples across the Solomons, but that vision requires intentional investment in theological depth and evangelical conviction.
Pray for a committed team to begin the work of Bible translation in Hoava, so that God's word can take deep root in the language closest to people's hearts.
Pray that Hoava believers with living faith in Christ will grow bold in sharing the gospel with community members whose trust is still divided between Christian profession and traditional spiritual powers.
Pray for the physical well-being of Hoava villages — for healthcare access, sustainable fishing and farming livelihoods, and protection from the encroachment of outside commercial interests on customary lands.
Pray that the Hoava church, strengthened by the gospel, will become a sending force for the kingdom — reaching out to the least-evangelized peoples of the Solomon Islands and the broader Pacific.
Scripture Prayers for the Hoava in Solomon Islands.
| Profile Source: Joshua Project |
