2025 Field Guide: Maliyali
Miracles Among the Maliyali
Several families of mission workers have served and continue to serve among the Maliyali. The work is measured on the BLESS Progress Scale as a combination of Stages 6, 7, and 8: new Believers are being discipled, local Believers are now discipling others, and disciple-makers are being equipped to lead the local church.
Maliyali
Update from the field
Deep within the highlands of Papua New Guinea, surrounded by rainforest and steep mountain ridges, the Maliyali people live largely untouched by the outside world. Their language is unique. Their culture, shaped by generations of animistic tradition, is intricate and binding. And until recently, they had never heard the name of Jesus.
That is no longer true.
In 2017, a team of missionaries made their home among the Maliyali. Their work has been slow, patient, costly, and beautiful. With machete-cleared trails underfoot and tin-walled offices for study, these missionaries have devoted themselves to learning the Maliyali language, understanding the culture, and translating the Word of God into the heart language with clarity. This faithful team was blessed to witness the birth of the first Maliyali church.
Today, the Maliyali church is in its early but very real stages of growth. Around 80 believers have been baptized. They’ve heard Acts, Romans, and Ephesians, and are walking through 1 Corinthians. They’ve received communion, they’ve learned of Christ’s love for His bride, and they are beginning to teach one another what it means to live in light of the gospel. For a people who once lived in fear of spirits and retaliation, this is a miracle!
As miraculous as these spiritual breakthroughs are, the growth does not come without pain. Two recent witch killings just outside the village brought fresh horror and heartbreak to the community. The church is surrounded by a culture that normalizes violence as justice and fear as a form of protection from evil. Maliyali believers must choose, often daily, between truth and tradition, between new hope in Christ and walking in the way things always have been.
One woman, Jaklin, stood on the Word of God instead of paying compensation when she was falsely accused of sorcery. The result? She and her family were nearly killed and had to flee for their lives. The church grieves her absence, but the body of believers stands strengthened by her courage and commitment to Jesus. Her story, and others like it, are already shaping the theology and conviction of this young church.
Through literacy programs, translation work, medical assistance, and daily life together, the team continues to walk with the church through each messy, miraculous step. Men like Sam Wain, who once lived in habitual adultery, now praise God for two years of faithfulness to his wife. Women like Waswana now read the Bible and write reflections in their own language, expressing joy at being transferred from Satan’s “string bag” into the arms of God.
One man who nearly murdered his wife in rage is now asking fellow believers to help him resist that anger when it flares up. Another man, who took a second wife against counsel, is being pursued with truth and love by a community that now believes God’s design for marriage is better than culture’s expectations.
The Maliyali are wrestling with truth. They are beginning to sing, to preach, to translate, and to live as light in the depths of the jungle. A Bible teachers' course is underway, and literacy students are graduating and receiving books for the first time in their own language: Voice of the Martyrs stories that will continue to fuel their faith. Medical supplies continue to save lives on a weekly basis, and new believers are growing in boldness to share the gospel with their neighbors and families.
One Maliyali student, Waswana, shared her story of redemption in her literacy homework one day:
The Story of Why I’m Joyful
Before, I was in Satan’s string bag and worshipping him.
I was living with covered eyes.
Father God - God Yawe - He brought me back to Himself.
I am so thankful! I should have gone to hell… but God got me back.
My sin, Jesus took it and gave me His righteousness.
I have looked to and trusted in Jesus. There is no other road.
Jesus is my only Road. Thank you!
I’m joyful and because of all this I’m getting baptized.
My husband, my father and mother-in-law, and his brothers and sisters are all getting baptized!
I’m so happy!
Waswana and her fellow community members are experiencing the "inexpressible and glorious joy" we read about in 1 Peter 1:8 (NIV). Among the Maliyali, the light of Christ is breaking through!
Prayer requests
- For the Maliyali believers to stand firm in truth, especially in the face of witchcraft accusations and community pressure to conform.
- For the teachers in training, that they would grasp Scripture clearly and teach faithfully while the missionaries are away.
- For healing and protection—physically and spiritually—for both the Maliyali church and the missionary team.
- For the translation team, especially Nathan and Chad, as they continue to work on Scripture from the U.S., that clarity and accuracy would remain their hallmark.
- For the young church, that they would grow in unity, in wisdom, and in love—and one day carry the gospel beyond their mountains to every Maliyali village still in darkness.
