Watch The Yali Story

This is the story of a community of Stone-Age people living in the mountain jungles of Papua, (formerly called Irian Jaya). Until the 1960s, this unique culture existed without any idea of a world beyond their own isolated villages. The Yali were cannibals, warriors, and lived in fear of evil spirits. Just four decades ago, westerners entered their primitive world.

The foreign missionaries learned the Yali language and culture, taught the Yali to read and write, and translated with them the most published book in the world - the Bible. The Yali no longer live in fear, but live with faith, hope and love. The Yali live simple lives - without electricity, without running water, with very few possessions. Some would consider them primitive, but there is an intelligence, a simplicity, a dignity to their lives that is amazingly rare and beautiful.

A unique culture living centuries apart from the western world, this story documents the transformation from Stone-Age cannibals to scholars translating the Bible. God transformed their hearts - their churches are packed, they are no longer cannibals or warriors, they are Bible teachers and evangelists.