The Yamalele of Papua New Guinea

The Yamalele of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 8,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea They are an Indigenous people, with Yamalele as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the New Guinea people cluster of the Pacific Islander Peoples. Their primary religion is Protestantism. They primarily speak Iamalele.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Yamalele

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Iamalele (yml)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 8,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG010645
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Yamalele of Papua New Guinea

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

47%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Iamalele
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Iamalele Speakers

Media Resources in Iamalele:

Films:

No entries found for: Iamalele(yml). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Iamalele:

Or check out the Iamalele bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Marginally Reached People Group, (LPI: 4), 3% to 6% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical (GSEC: 4), this people group is greater than or equal to 2% evangelical

Next steps for the Yamalele:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Yamalele are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Yamalele:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Yamalele are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Yamalele:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Yamalele of Papua New Guinea

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
readEphesians 6:12

Pray for those ensnared by the darkness of this world, that they will recognize the spiritual forces at work and turn to the light of Christ.

He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
readIsaiah 40:11

Pray that the lost will come to know the tender care of the Good Shepherd, who gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples."
readJohn 8:31

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Christ daily, depending on Him for every need.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
readEphesians 6:10

Ask God to strengthen believers with His mighty power so that as they cross cultures to share the gospel, they will stand firm against the schemes of the enemy.

Yamalele Across Countries (ROP3 - 110952) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

Scroll to Top