Early missionaries' endeavours to ‘civilize’ and Christianize Papuan people, created a blueprint for the later, much more large-scale model for development of Dutch New Guinea, supported and carried out by the Dutch State in cooperation with the mission. This program was generally known under the much revealing title of ‘Volksopvoeding’, the raising and education of the people. These policies were carried out via interferences in the way children and adolescents were educated and raised. Women, households and sexuality played a pivotal role in these processes. Moreover, it literally built on lineages of Christian Papuans, some of which could be traced back to the early missionary efforts, such as the Studiefonds Nieuw Guinea. This paper in particular discusses the role of women, households and sexuality within this context.