Word Alive Magazine - Spring 2011

Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada • Spring 2011

Wycliffe Canada is “A” Grade Charity

How Bible translation for PNG’s Mandara people is rocking their world.

UP

Blossoming with Nkonya Scriptures Penetrating Every Last Cell

Foreword Spring 2011 • Volume 29 • Number 1 Word Alive, which takes its name from Hebrews 4:12a, is the official publication of Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada. Its mission is to inform, inspire and involve the Christian public as partners in the worldwide Bible translation movement.

Editor: Dwayne Janke

Immeasurably More Dwayne Janke

Designer: Laird Salkeld Senior Staff Writer: Doug Lockhart Staff Writer: Janet Seever Staff Photographers: Alan Hood, Natasha Schmale Word Alive is published four times annually by Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada, 4316 10 St NE, Calgary, AB T2E 6K3. Copyright 2011 by Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada. Permission to reprint articles and other magazine contents may be obtained by written request to the editor. A donation of $12 annually is suggested to cover the cost of printing and mailing the magazine. (Donate online or use the reply form in this issue.)

Printed in Canada by McCallum Printing Group, Edmonton.

Member: The Canadian Church Press, Evangelical Press Association.

For additional copies: media_resources@wycliffe.ca To contact the editor: editor_wam@wycliffe.ca For address updates: circulation@wycliffe.ca Note to readers: References to “SIL” are occasionally made in Word Alive. SIL is a key partner organization, dedicated to training, language development and research, translation and literacy.

Wycliffe Canada Vision Statement: A world where translated Scriptures lead to transformed lives among people of all languages.

Translating Scripture, Transforming Lives Together with partners worldwide, we serve indigenous people through language-related ministries, especially Bible translation and literacy. Our goal is to empower local communities to express God’s love in both Word and deed—for personal, social and spiritual transformation. Wycliffe personnel currently serve globally in more than 1,500 language projects for about 2.6 billion people. However, about 2,100 minority language groups still wait for the power of God working through their own languages. Wycliffe invites you to participate in this effort through prayer, service and funding.

Canadian Head Office: 4316 10 St NE, Calgary, AB T2E 6K3. Phone: (403) 250-5411 or toll free 1-800-463-1143, 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. mountain time. Fax: (403) 250-2623. Email: info@wycliffe.ca. French speakers: Call toll free 1-877-747-2622 or email francophone@wycliffe.ca.

Cover: Mandara children perform lively acrobatic stunts, during an evening bath near their village on Simberi Island, Papua New Guinea.

Photograph by Alan Hood.

In Others’ Words “ Within that awful volume [the Bible] lies the mystery of mysteries. . . . And better had they ne’er been born, who read to doubt or read to scorn.”

—Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), Scottish historical novelist/poet, in “The Monastery.”

I

t’s fascinating the way God plants a vision in people’s hearts and moves heaven and earth to fulfil His purposes.

Steven Hong’s family moved from South Korea to Los Angeles in 1973. Steven was 19 years old and still not a Christian. Before long, he was working full time, pumping gas at a local filling station. After graduating from college, Steven worked as a computer engineer for Hughes Aircraft company for six years.

Back then, could Steven imagine that God would bring him to Papua New Guinea (PNG) to serve the Mandara people?

Or that he would one day be honoured as a chief of this isolated language group?

Probably not, because our God is the one who is able to do immeasurably more than we can imagine (Eph. 3:20).

Back in Steven’s homeland, God had drawn another Korean, Holly Park, to Himself through a college Bible study.

The daughter of a pastor, Holly also committed to become a missionary. However, she moved to the U.S. in 1976, to work as a computer programmer.

But God had something very different in mind. In 1980, Holly had a chance to visit the Wycliffe Bible Translators office in Huntington Beach, California. As Holly heard about So often God smashes through the Bibleless people, she recalled our low-ceiling expectations how her grandmother became a Christian through the Bible with His sky-high results. written in Korean, her heart language. She also remembered her grandmother’s prayer that someone in her family would become a missionary.

Holly shared the news about Wycliffe with her fiancé, Steven Hong (now a believer). He also began sensing God’s calling to serve with Wycliffe. Their new journey began.

God knew the Mandara had no written language, and no translation of Scripture they could clearly understand. Out of His love for them, and His intimate knowledge of Steven and Holly, God called the unlikely missionary couple—who never even intended to translate Scripture when they moved to PNG—to change careers and move to an island with their four young children.

Because they did, the Mandara Church now has God’s Word in its heart language. And, as you can read in this issue’s feature articles, He is changing lives in some remarkable ways.

Immeasurably more—that is what our powerful God is all about. So often He smashes through our low-ceiling expectations with His sky-high results. Should we really expect anything less? After all, our God is the creator of the universe.

Contents

Features Articles by Doug Lockhart • Photographs by Alan Hood

6

6

New Life in New Ireland

Led by a Korean-American couple, a team of Mandara believers in Papua New Guinea spearheads a life-changing Bible translation project.

18 Unsheathing the Sword

Christianity’s impact on the Mandara deepened when they started reading—and understanding—Scripture in their own language.

26 Fired Up

An angry young Mandara man’s conversion to Christ has helped spark prayer, outreach and Bible study.

32 Blossoming with Nkonya Scriptures

The Nkonya New Testament is one of 27 New Testaments and Bibles bringing God’s Word to 33 million people this past year.

Departments

18

2

Foreword Immeasurably More

4

Watchword Wycliffe Canada is “A” Grade Charity

By Dwayne Janke

34 Beyond Words Walk the Talk 35 Last Word Penetrating Every Last Cell

By Don Hekman

26

Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca 3

Watchword

Wycliffe Canada is “A” Grade Charity

W

ycliffe Bible Translators of Canada has earned an “A” in the first grading system of the nation’s largest 100 charities by MoneySense, a Canadian magazine for managing personal finances.

Wycliffe Canada President Don Hekman is pleased with the rating.

“But, frankly, I’m not surprised,” he explains. “Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada has been led for years by leaders who are very conscious of good stewardship and responsibility, both to the causes we support, and to the donors.”

MoneySense’s Summer 2010 issue gave the grade based on research of four key financial indicators among charities. They include overall charitable and fundraising efficiency, governance practices, and transparency in making audited financial statements public.

The magazine’s findings, helping potential donors have more information to personally judge charities, can be reviewed online at <MoneySense.ca/charities>.

Centre Opens for Sign Language Bible Translators

A

new Bible translation and training centre near Nairobi, Kenya, operated by Deaf Opportunity OutReach (DOOR) International, is preparing translators to bring God’s Word to the Deaf.

Translation teams of Deaf people from six African nations, as well as India, are now living and working at the centre, says Mike Buus, DOOR International director. They were in awe at first seeing the new facilities.

“From a prayer dream to a vision of the future, God has provided a place designed and built specifically for sign language Bible translation work,” says Buus. “The new

site has four video studios plus 10 editing and back-translation stations.”

DOOR will be able to facilitate up to 10 Deaf translation teams from different countries at the same time, he adds. “We are praying that other regions of the world—Asia, Europe, Americas —will send Deaf translation teams to Kenya to get their training.”

Wycliffe Associates (WA) provided project management and site supervision for the $3 million, multi-building campus, says Buus. “We could never have built this campus without the assistance of WA.” Staff with SIL, Wycliffe’s key partner organization, are helping to train DOOR’s six consultants-in-training to do exegetical reviews and oversee community testing of sign language Bible translations, which are presented on video. Virtually all of the estimated 400 sign languages used by the Deaf worldwide will need translations (see Word Alive, Summer 2009).

Courtesy of Door International

4

Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca

Increased Translation Closes in on Vision 2025

L

anguages with a probable Bible translation need and no work yet started total 2,078 worldwide, according to new figures from Wycliffe International.

That is down by more than 900 from 1999, the year Wycliffe adopted Vision 2025: a goal to see Bible translation started for every language that needs it by the year 2025.

Since 2000, translation projects by all organizations have begun in 838 languages, 82 per cent of them by Wycliffe. Projects started per year by Wycliffe have increased nearly five times compared to the previous decade, to 61 from 13 annually.

The increased pace of work has moved Vision 2025 much closer to fulfilment. At the current start-up rate, Bible translation will be underway in every language that needs it by the year 2037. That is more than 110 years sooner than the projection was in 1999.

About 341 million people speak the 2,078 languages where translation is needed but has not yet started.

More complete general statistics on the Bible translation task among the world’s 6,860 languages are available at <www.wycliffe.net>.

Nepal Language Survey Begins

S

IL, Wycliffe’s key partner organization, is providing training for language surveyors at Nepal’s Tribhuvan University’s central department of linguistics in Kathmandu. It is one of the collaborative projects started under an agreement between SIL and the department.

Survey results will provide useful information for language and translation work as well as educational initiatives in the country.

Information gathered will also help the nation’s Constituent Assembly representatives draft a constitution for Nepal.

Nepal has 124 languages within its borders.

Nepal Kathmandu India

China

Wycliffe Togo Celebrates 10th Anniversary

ycliffe Togo marked its 10th anniversary this past August with a special program called The Togolese Mother Tongue Language Fair. Participants included the United Bible Societies, universities, libraries and the national TV network in the African nation.

Wycliffe Togo has 16 Togolese staff members who serve either directly in Bible translation or in support of the work, but there is great potential for growth.

Mali

Nigeria Togo

AFRICA

Ivory Coast Ghana

No Pencil Crayons Required

C

Niger

anadian Wycliffe translator Keith Forster laboriously used pencil crayons to manually colour-code each character’s dialogue in the entire San Blas Kuna New Testament, after he helped translate it for the speakers in Panama. Forster then spent countless hours creating a script to produce a popular dramatized audio recording.

For years afterward, however, Forster pondered how scripts could be done electronically, but lacked the computer knowhow to create a solution himself. Jim Albright, a computer programmer with JAARS, Wycliffe’s technical partner, provided the answer.

Albright has spent years working on a computer program called Dramatizer. The free software automatically marks virtually all spoken passages in any New Testament translation that are in digital form with a consistently marked quote system.

Users can then print scripts for each voice, as well as audio recording technicians.

Today, Bible translators and vernacular media specialists, mostly in Africa, are using Dramatizer to help bring God’s Word to life on cassettes and digital audio players.

Wycliffe India Brings Holistic Transformation

P

ersonnel with Wycliffe India are becoming trailblazers in bringing holistic transformation among groups while working in Bible translation and other language-related ministries.

They are equipping individuals and communities to identify their potential and resources, and use them optimally for their own betterment— to improve the lives of the whole community. A good example is using a “participatory method approach” to help one village among the 66,000 Korwa people of northeast India decide that they needed a tube water well. Wycliffe India is currently translating the Bible into 16 languages, and assisting translation into 45 other languages by training and doing consultant-checking with partner organizations.

About 150 language groups, representing 65 million people, still need Bible translation to begin in the nation.

Going Hungry for God’s Word

T

“Our long-term goal,” says director Dr. Napo Poidi, “is that by 2012, we would like to see the church in Togo becoming a missionary church, effectively engaged in supporting the work of Bible translation and sending people outside to do translation in neighbouring countries where the need is great, like Nigeria and Cameroon.”

Dave Crough

W

anzania’s Simbiti people recently demonstrated their deep desire for Scripture to Pastor Albinus Waynse, who is translating God’s Word for them.

The pastor read a translated passage from Luke to a gathering of the people.

“As soon as we broke for morning tea,” said Pastor Waynse, “they immediately wanted to get their own copy.”

In doing so, the Simbiti speakers had a choice to make. The Scripture portions sell for 400 shillings each, the same cost as the morning chai tea, the first meal of the day usually accompanied by a snack.

“Everyone chose to buy the Scriptures and go hungry that morning rather than buy food,” reports the pastor. “That’s how strong their hunger for God’s Word is.”

There are more than 100,000 speakers of Simbiti, one of the languages served by the Mara cluster project (see Word Alive, Spring 2009).

Word Count

of the world’s languages with 2014 Number between 1,000 and 1,999 speakers. with between 10,000 and 1824 Languages 99,999 speakers. with between 1 million 304 Languages and 9.99 million speakers. with between 100 million 8 Languages and 999.99 million speakers.

Source: Ethnologue (16th edition)

Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca 5

New Life in

Led by a Korean-American couple, a team of Mandara believers in Papua New Guinea spearheads a life-changing Bible translation project.

6

Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca

Articles by Doug Lockhart

Photographs by Alan Hood

Holly Hong (right) receives a gift of food wrapped in banana leaves from her friend, Pati Moses. Moses and other women living on Simberi Island contribute to the work of Bible translation for their people, the Mandara of Papua New Guinea, by cooking and serving food to Holly, her husband Steven and their co-workers.

L

ast May, the Mandara people of Papua New Guinea (PNG) threw the largest party they can remember. More than 1,000 residents and guests from around the world attended the colourful event, to dedicate the recently published Mandara New Testament.

During the celebration on Simberi Island, representatives from SIL, Wycliffe’s key partner organization, presented certificates of appreciation to 15 members of the Mandara team for their roles in translating Scripture and promoting literacy.

The Mandara people also expressed special thanks to Wycliffe’a Steven and Holly Hong, a Korean-American couple from Los Angeles who led the Bible translation and literacy project. In fact, the Mandara took the unprecedented step of appointing Steven as one of their chiefs, with real authority to help govern the Mandara community.

A Detour Ordained by God

Steven didn’t feel like a Mandara chief when the Hongs made their first exploratory journeys to the isolated Tabar Islands in 1991. Steven, Holly and their four children frequently travelled there by boat, for anywhere from three to five hours depending on weather conditions.

“For me, protecting my family was very important,” says Steven.

“But often we didn’t feel safe while travelling on the water.”

The risks they took back then could have tempted them to second-guess their decision to do Bible translation. After all, Steven and Holly—the first Koreans to join Wycliffe U.S.—both had backgrounds in computer technology. They planned to provide computer support to other translation teams when they first arrived in PNG in 1988.

Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca 7

But within a few years of their arrival, the Hongs began to question the work they were doing when they learned that in some parts of PNG, Scripture translations were not being used.

In many cases, the lengthy process of translation had left no time for literacy work—and thus few readers for the completed translations.

“That really burdened my heart,” Steven says.

“ T he kids who came to the tokples

Deeper Truths

Over time, God confirmed the Hongs’ change of direction and led them to serve the Mandara. In the Tabar Islands—home to about 4,000 Mandara-speaking islanders who live primarily on Simberi, Tatau and Big Tabar islands in PNG’s New Ireland Province—they began their work with support from the United Church. This PNG denomination was formed in 1968 through the merger of churches established as far back as the early 1900s by the London Missionary Society, the United Church of Port Moresby and Fijian Methodists. Using Kuanua (KWON-wah), one of the main languages spoken in a neighbouring province, the Methodists had translated a number of hymns to use in evangelism and church planting. They brought the gospel to the island chain in 1916, at a time when some of the Mandara still practised cannibalism.

After living on a few islands to build relationships with people, the Hongs and their four young children—Tina, Paulina, Anna and Timothy—settled in Simberi village in 1994. Initially, many of the islanders seemed eager to receive God’s Word in their mother tongue, even though they had Bibles in English and Tok Pisin, a trade language widely spoken in PNG. Mandara believers now say those translations did not adequately convey the deeper truths found in God’s Word (see “Unsheathing the Sword,” p. 18).

(mother tongue) prep school began to read after six months.”

PNG/New Ireland Province At a Glance Population of PNG: 5.94 million (July 2010 est.)

Ethnic groups: 99% Melanesian, 1% Papuan, Negrito, Micronesian, and Polynesian; Numerous tribal groups, over half of which are less than 1,000 in population.

Religions: Christian (Protestant & Catholic) 97%; Buddhism 0.7%; Bahai 0.7%, Traditional ethnic 1.8%.

Remaining Bible translation need: 326 languages

Peoples/Languages: About 1,000 people groups in PNG. Ethnically and linguistically, the world’s most complex nation.

841 languages (highest of any country in the world); of those, 830 are living languages and 11 have no known speakers.

New Ireland Province: The people of New Ireland are Melanesian and speak 25 local languages. Capital is Kavieng.

Tabar Islands are approx. 130 km east of Kavieng. Gold mine on Simberi Island began operations in 2008. The open-pit mine operated by Allied Gold has since produced more than 150,000 ounces of gold.

Russia

Language development & Bible translation: SIL, in co-operation Mongoliawith the PNG Department of Education since 1956, has conducted research in more than 389 languages, and at the present time about 316 Japan SIL members are actively working on projects in 190 different languages.

Literacy rate: 57% of adult population (15 years and older)

Sources: The World Factbook; Operation World (21st Century Edition); SIL’s PNG Branch; <newirelandtourism.org>; <alliedgold.com.au>.

China Philippines

India

Kavieng Pacific Ocean

Simberi Ne

w

Ire

lan

Papua New Guinea

Alan Hood

Indonesia Australia

d

Tabar Islands

Napakur Elementary School, one of four schools on Simberi Island offering mother tongue education, grew out of early literacy work done by the Mandara translation team. By the time they begin Grade 3, these students will transition to learning in English.

“So Bright!”

After working with the villagers to develop an alphabet, Steven began translating Mark’s Gospel with help from Joseph Tulok, a Mandara man who spoke some English, and a few others. In 1998, they published Mark’s Gospel in Mandara. The couple immediately began using the translated portions of Mark to start a literacy program.

Holly worked closely with four Mandara women, teaching them to read and training them as literacy teachers. The women went on to establish a one-year mother tongue education program for preschoolers.

“The kids who came to the tokples (mother tongue) prep school began to read after six months,” says Holly. “When they went to grade one, the teacher said, ‘These kids know how to read and write! They’re so bright!’ ” News about the successful program spread quickly and dozens of people from the language group came for teacher training.

Today, Simberi Island has four vernacular education schools that operate under the government’s education department. Mandara is the language of instruction until third grade, when the children transition to English.

“ Women are getting better at reading. They participate in many training programs and Bible studies, so they are gaining literacy skills very well.”

As for adult literacy, Steven says Mandara women generally have shown more interest in literacy than the men.

“Most of the men can read pidgin or English, so they’re kind of literate,” says Steven. “But they need to transfer their literacy skills into tokples. As far as tokples, vernacular literacy, it’s very low.

“Women are getting better at reading. They participate in many training programs and Bible studies, so they are gaining literacy skills very well. But most of the men only gain some reading skills in pidgin and English. They’re kind of hesitant to transfer their literacy skills to the vernacular.”

Turning Point

Rupen Masasa is one Mandara man who values literacy. A former pastor, he was among the first to work with Steven as a co-translator. He was also actively involved in literacy efforts among his people, using the translated Scriptures and Bible study materials.

Masasa says the Mandara are blessed to have literature in their heart language, especially the Word of God. “Even when we were doing our first drafts, the meaning

(Left) In a “studio” beneath the Hongs’ kitchen, Wesley Kasaon and Steven Hong record portions of the Mandara New Testament. Readers and non-readers alike will be able to listen to the recordings using portable digital players. It’s hoped the recordings will also find an audience on a Christian radio station planned for the region. (Below) Eyes riveted on a makeshift screen, Steven Hong (far left) and villagers at a church service on Tatau Island watch video from the May 2010 dedication of the Mandara New Testament.

Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca 11

became very clear. These Bible studies and other materials that have been translated into tokples have been really impacting people’s lives,” says Masasa. “They help us to know God more clearly—who God is—and we’re coming closer to the Lord.”

In recent years, the Hongs have been encouraged by the Mandara’s growing interest in the translated Scriptures. A women’s Bible study Holly launched in 2002 marked a turning point in the Mandara Church; as the women’s understanding of Christ deepened, so did their faith in Him. To this day, God’s Spirit continues to draw Mandara people of all ages into a deeper walk with Christ (see “Fired Up,” p. 26).

Tabar islanders have purchased more than 1,200 copies of the Mandara New Testament since the dedication event. Last June, the translation team hosted a S.A.L.T. course (Scripture Application and Leadership Training) for nearly 40 Mandara pastors and church leaders. The course is designed to equip church leaders to effectively use the translated Scriptures and to inspire a deep respect and understanding of God’s Word in the vernacular (see Word Alive, Spring 2008).

“Those lessons are helping us to grasp the overall meaning of the Bible,” says David Sombara, chairman of the translation committee.

The “good seed” is being sown in many ways, whether through Scripture memorization challenges for Mandara youth, Sunday school classes or a new wave of hymns and choruses being sung in church.

Roland Misibo, a member of the Mandara translation com-

12 Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca

“ T hese Bible studies and other materials that have been translated into tokples have been really impacting people’s lives.”

A Jar of Encouragement By the end of 1997, the Mandara team had finished translating the Gospel of Mark. Before the Hongs returned to the U.S. for a one-year home assignment, they printed numerous copies of Mark as well as a hymnbook.

Initially, Mandara believers seemed excited to receive the first translated Scriptures. But when the Hongs returned to Simberi Island early in 1999, they were disheartened to discover that few people were using the translated Scripture booklet.

“We wondered if there was any point in continuing with New Testament translation,” says Holly.

“If they weren’t going to read one small book, would they read the New Testament?”

One evening, one of their Mandara co-workers, Tapanir, came to see the Hongs with a deeply meaningful gift for the couple. A year earlier, Tapanir had broken four ribs when the boat he was travelling in capsized, smashing into the reef.

His companions ran to Steven and Holly for help.

“He was coughing up blood and one of his lungs had collapsed,” recalls Holly. “They thought he was dying.”

The Hongs helped get him to a local health centre, and later, to a hospital in the provincial capital. A nominal Christian at the time, Tapanir was deeply moved by the help he received from Steven and Holly, and by the knowledge that Wycliffe staff elsewhere in PNG had prayed for him.

When Tapanir came to visit the Hongs that night, his gift was a jar filled with coins and a few bills.

He had saved his tithe money for a year, he told them, to help support the translation project.

“He’d been saving it because he felt the translation work was really worth it,” Holly says.

Encouraged by Tapanir’s sacrifice, the Hongs kept going. They asked their supporting churches and friends back home to pray earnestly that the Mandara believers would begin using the translated Scriptures.

They also invited Tapanir to become involved in the literacy work that was just getting underway.

As part of his training, Tapanir attended a Bible study led by Holly. That’s when God spoke to him from Isaiah 55:6, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.”

(Top) On a sweltering Saturday night in Simberi village, Holly joins a group of Mandara youngsters who have gathered in the local church to worship and pray together. (Above). Competing hands of other youngsters shoot up as one girl falters while reciting a Scripture verse during their weekly Bible quiz.

Convicted by the Word, Tapanir recommitted his life to Christ.

“If I had died in that accident,” he said, “I would never have heard the Good News.”

But God did spare Tapanir’s life that day—and later used his sacrificial gift to encourage the Hongs. As a result, thousands more Mandara people now have access to the Good News, in the language of their heart.

“ T hose lessons are helping us to grasp the overall meaning of the Bible.”

As morning dawns on Simberi village, Steven works on his laptop computer. Simberi’s isolation made it difficult for the Hongs to communicate with their families and supporters until 2006, when they were finally able to connect to the Internet via radio.

mittee, translates Scripture choruses and hymns into Mandara, compiles songs translated by others and composes new ones.

“The hymnbook has been the most popular item of all the written materials we have published,” says Holly.

Other team members are recording the new hymns and choruses as well as Scripture readings so that non-readers, such as the elderly, can listen to God’s Word on portable digital players.

The players’ portability allows anyone to listen to the recordings while walking from village to village or working in their gardens.

The Hongs are hopeful the songs and Scripture recordings may soon be broadcast by radio. Talks are underway with a broadcaster who wants to start a Christian radio station in the region.

Light and Joy

For nearly a century, Mandara believers struggled to understand God’s Word as it was only available in English or Tok Pisin, or the Kuanua “church language” used in their sermons and hymnbooks. Now that they have the New Testament in their mother tongue, the Scriptures are, in one co-translator’s words, “bringing light, joy and clear understanding.”

Like believers everywhere, Mandara church members sometimes find the light of God’s Word uncomfortable, as it exposes unbiblical habits and practices once hidden in darkness or considered culturally acceptable. Centuries-old traditions and beliefs are not easily abandoned.

However, there’s no doubt things are changing in the Tabar Islands. The Spirit of God is at work, softening hearts, breaking strongholds and leading the Mandara people into growing freedom in Christ.

He is using the Word of Life, written in their own language— and nothing will ever be the same.

Piloted by their friend and co-translator Steven Posai, Holly and Steven depart from Simberi Island to visit the church on nearby Tatau Island.

The Hongs and their children have endured countless long—sometimes harrowing—journeys by boat over the past two decades, trusting God to protect them as they obeyed His calling on their lives.

(Opposite) In the church close to their home, Holly commits her day to the Lord. Since the translation project began in 1994, she and Steven have endured numerous trials and setbacks that, at times, tempted them to quit. Prayer— including the prayers of folks back home—helped them persevere.

“ T he hymnbook has been the most popular item of all the written materials we have published.”

Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca 15

The Scriptures are, in one co-translator’s words, “bringing light, joy and clear understanding.”

A Mandara man sounds the call to worship on a Sunday morning in Simberi village, using a large seashell, or conch, as a wind instrument.

16 Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca

Sitting near a stack of yet-to-be-sold Mandara New Testaments, a Mandara man reads Scripture in his language during a Father’s Day service held this past September. The translation team works to promote the use of the translated Scriptures, through Sunday school materials, songs, recordings and other strategies.

Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca 17

UNSHEATHING THE H

olly Hong was exhausted and deeply discouraged.

In 2001, she had returned to California to help her oldest daughter, Tina, get settled.

All went well until Holly’s scheduled return to Papua New Guinea to resume work with husband Steven among the Mandara people—on September 14. Because of the terrorist attacks on the U.S. three days earlier, her flight out of Los Angeles was postponed.

The chaos caused by 911 still affected airline schedules because the airport had been closed for three days. Holly’s flight was delayed 12 hours before she finally boarded the plane.

“I was filled with grief and sadness, leaving my daughter in this insecure place,” she says. “And at the time, the Gospel of Mark we helped translate wasn’t being used.

We didn’t see much excitement among the people using it.

“I was very tired, and I felt there wasn’t much hope.”

On the plane, Holly found herself sitting next to an older Australian man who, it turned out, was a Christian. When he learned that Holly was working in Bible translation in PNG, he prayed for her and encouraged her to persevere.

Holly doesn’t remember many details of the Australian man’s prayers, but she felt strongly that God had arranged for them to meet.

Later, while resting in a hotel room between flights, she asked God’s forgiveness for her own failure to pray and her lack of faith.

FIGHTING ON

It wasn’t the first time God gave Holly and her husband Steven the encouragement they needed to keep going as leaders of the Mandara New Testament translation team.

Christianity’s impact on the Mandara deepened

E SWORD

when they started readingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and understandingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Scripture in their own language.

On Tatau Island, Mandara church leaders Philip Massor (far left) and Kendou Lambo pray for Ovien Mandaka, a young woman with AIDS who recently lost her husband and baby to AIDS-related illnesses.

As Mandara believers grow in their understanding of the gospel through Scripture in their mother tongue, they are reaching out with compassion to people in their communities.

20 Word Alive â&#x20AC;˘ Spring 2011 â&#x20AC;˘ wycliffe.ca

According to recent UN statistics, 34,000 Papua New Guineans are living with HIV. In the Tabar Islands, the Bible translation team has equipped the Mandara people with literacy skills and translated educational materials to help win the battle against AIDS. At a HIV/AIDS workshop held in Simberi village this past September, women trained by Holly Hong lead their Mandara neighbours in a skit depicting how HIV enters the human body and weakens its defences against diseases like tuberculosis and malaria.

Shortly after the Hongs settled on Simberi Island in 1994 with their four children, they began to question whether the Mandara people really needed them. After all, the Simberi churches seemed alive. Robust singing, praise and fervent prayer filled their worship services.

“I started wondering, ‘What are we doing here?” Steven recalls. “They’re already on fire for the Lord—do they need us here?’ ” However, God soon confirmed His calling on their lives when Susana, the daughter of a United Church minister, grew seriously ill. Her father chose to take her to a witch doctor, believing that someone had used sorcery to make her sick.

The minister’s actions confused many in the congregation and when conflicts erupted, the lively church services suddenly ended.

“It just confirmed to me,” says Steven, “that they didn’t have that foundation, the Word of God, even though they were using the Tok Pisin (pidgin) Bible . . . and maybe they didn’t understand fully what the gospel is all about.

“So that actually helped us decide to stay.”

GETTING GROUNDED

For decades, Mandara pastors and preachers had only had access to English or Tok Pisin translations of the Bible. The lack of Scripture in their mother tongue hindered them from understanding the deeper truths of God’s Word. Even their church services had been conducted in an unfamiliar “church language,” taught to their forefathers by the Methodist missionaries who first came to Simberi.

Co-translator Vivnerou “Susana” Eron prepares a mixture of ground taro root and coconut, which is wrapped in banana leaves before being cooked over a bed of red-hot coals. Vivnerou, who helped translate Bible study materials for women, found personal strength in God’s Word to overcome her fear of sorcery.

“It just confirmed to me that they didn’t have that foundation, the Word of God.” Motivated to provide mother tongue Scriptures, the Hongs and their co-translators finished translating Mark’s Gospel in 1998. Initially, Mandara believers seemed excited to finally have a portion of the New Testament in their own language.

But many in the church continued to struggle in their faith.

The fear of sorcery plagued many of the believers, including Susana, who had been working closely with the Hongs in literacy. Susana believed that whenever she grew ill, an evil curse was behind it.

“Whenever I got sick, I would go to see the witch doctors and try to get help,” Susana says. “Even though I went to church and even preached, I don’t think I knew who God was.”

Knowing that mother tongue Scripture was needed to help the Mandara grow in their understanding of God and overcome their fear of the spirit world, the Hongs and their co-translators pressed on to translate Matthew, Luke and John.

SPIRITUAL AWAKENING

When January 2002 rolled around, Holly felt the Lord prompting her to translate some Bible study materials for the Gospel of Mark. When she finished, she began using the materials to teach women in Simberi village.

In the weeks and months that followed, Holly and Steven

noticed some remarkable changes in Mandara women who had been attending the study—including Susana.

“As I studied God’s Word, I came to realize who God is,” says Susana. “I realized the kind of God we’re serving, and how powerful He is, through the stories of Jesus.

“That really helped me to get over my fear.”

Another Mandara woman, Vambo (WAM-bo), believed in Christ, but practised traditional healing methods (lingis) that included calling on her dead ancestors. After the Bible study, she asked God to forgive her.

However, some time later her granddaughter became very ill, and no one was around to help Vambo transport her to a clinic.

Once again, she turned to lingis in a desperate attempt to heal her granddaughter.

The girl’s fever only grew stronger.

“At that time,” Vambo recalls, “I realized I had done wrong. I kneeled down and prayed, and said ‘Lord, I’m sorry for what I did—please heal my granddaughter.’

“After I prayed, the fever went down dramatically. I knew it was the power of God, that I had been learning about from the Gospel of Mark.”

Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca 21

Holly chats with employees of Allied Gold, Simberi Island’s largest employer. Because the Hongs enjoy good relations with mine officials, they’re sometimes able to hitch a ride on trucks or vans that transport mine workers. Otherwise, they must walk or cycle to get around the island.

RESPONDING TO GOD

Before long, women from a neighbouring village noticed a change in Vambo and many other women, as they had forsaken their old ways and begun praying to God for healing. Intrigued, the neighbour women told Holly they wanted to start a Bible study in their village.

“Even though I went to church and even preached, I don’t think I knew who God was.”

Because Holly had trained Susana, she asked her to lead the Bible study. On the first day of the study, Susana walked for an hour to reach the village and found a group of women waiting for her.

Susana later told Holly that the pastor’s wife had to answer a question about John the Baptist’s attitude towards Jesus. Choked with emotion, the woman noted that John felt unworthy even to untie Jesus’ sandals.

“She cried,” says Holly, “and she said, ‘I have been a church leader and the wife of a pastor . . . but I have never humbled myself before Jesus like that.’

“And she wasn’t the only one. Everyone else felt the same, so they repented the first day.”

Conviction of sin continues to accompany the Mandara’s response to the translated Scriptures. During Passion Week in 2009 before Easter, Mandara believers invited an evangelist and his team to lead them in revival meetings. It was a time of deep repentance; many relationships were restored in families and communities, as people humbled themselves and asked forgiveness of one another.

“And on the last day,” Holly says, “they did a ‘Jesus March’ around 22 Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca

Simberi’s gold mine, located on the east side of the island, is a mixed blessing to the Mandara. Although the Australian-owned operation employs hundreds of local people, the influx of workers from other parts of PNG has brought unwelcome influences like problem drinking and sexual immorality. The Hongs trust God to use His Word as a bullwark against such influences.

Photos courtesy of Allied Gold

Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca 23

“I knew my granddaughter was healed of God that I had been Simberi Island. Then in the evening, they brought all . . . the witchcraft stuff they had been collecting and they piled them up. They burned them all that night and renounced it before the Lord.”

FINDING STRENGTH

As the Word does its work in the Mandara people’s hearts and minds, believers are showing signs of growing spiritual maturity.

Through literacy classes, HIV/AIDS workshops and prayer for the sick, they are reaching out to their communities. One young man, Apelis Balat, is attending Bible college on a neighbouring island, equipping himself for ministry to his people (see “Fired Up,” p. 26).

Elsewhere on Simberi Island, a gold mine, which began operations several years ago, is providing employment for hundreds of Tabar Islanders and other Papua New Guineans, bringing increased prosperity to the region. However, miners brought in from other parts of PNG also bring lifestyles that include heavy drinking, promiscuity and marital infidelity. Some church members have been affected, even drawn away from following the Lord.

In unseen realms, battles rage on for the hearts of the Mandara people. But now, for the first time in their history, they are brandishing the unsheathed Sword of the Spirit—in their own language—and its power to change lives is making history.

(Above) Week-long revival meetings during Easter 2009 culminated in a “Jesus March” around the island.

Participants prayed over each of the island’s seven villages and burned fetishes and other objects used in witchcraft. (Right) Youngsters pause to pray during a Sunday school class in Simberi village.

24 Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca

by the power learning about from the Gospel of Mark.”

Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca 25

Apelis “Tovat” Balat (opposite, far right), a resident of Simberi Island now studying at Life Bible College, about 130 km from his home, enjoys a short break from his studies with his mentor and teacher, John Waking.

Tovat’s happy countenance is evidence of the radical change that took place in his life while studying Scripture—in his own language.

An angry

young

Mandara

man’s

conversion

to Christ

has helped

spark prayer,

outreach and

Bible study.

A

pelis Balat—or Tovat, as he is best known in his home area of Simberi Island—is all fired up.

That is to say, he almost glows with an inner flame that friends and family attribute to his dramatic conversion to Christ in 2008. Before that, he had an entirely different reputation—as an angry young man whose violent behaviour and heavy drinking brought much shame to his family.

Looking back, Tovat knows that God was already softening his heart by the time he approached Wycliffe’s Holly Hong to ask if she would teach him how to use a computer. She had heard some stories about Tovat, like the time his rage led him to smash plates and do other damage at his grandmother’s house. Or the time, in a drunken fury, he struck his stepfather with a loose piece of iron, then grabbed a spear and chased him and his own mother from their house.

Holly also knew that Tovat had felt so despised and rejected by his community that he fled to the nearest island, where he stayed with relatives for a month and sold shells to earn some money. With the cash, he planned to buy a pig so he could be forgiven and reconciled to his family through a meaningful ceremonial feast called varam (see “Varam Away Our Sins,” p. 28).

Holly agreed to teach Tovat on the computer, but countered with one condition: that he would do “One-to-One” Bible study, using study materials she had translated into Mandara years earlier.

Surprisingly, Tovat agreed. The two began meeting regularly and Tovat, who had received some biblical teaching as a child, peppered Holly with questions.

God’s Timing

“The first lesson is about who God is,” says Holly. “It talks about how great God is and how well He knows us, but then at the same time, how much He loves us.

“I think that’s the part that touched him. He accepted the fact that God loved him, because I think he felt rejected by people.”

Tovat agrees, saying much of his anger stemmed from being abandoned by his own father.

“I did not know that God is my father,” Tovat says. “When I came to know that He is my father, I had to change my life.”

Tovat is thankful he could study Scripture in his mother tongue.

“It made it easier for me to understand the Word of God. As I went through the study, I understood there is a God, who loves me so much.”

When Holly considers the timing of Tovat’s decision to follow Christ, she sees the hand of God. Just weeks before Tovat’s conversion, Holly and Steven had returned to Simberi village after a year-long furlough, or home assignment. They were nearing the end of the New Testament translation project, but it seemed that many of the Christians in Simberi had grown spiritually complacent. A gold mine had brought increasing prosperity to the island—but immorality had also increased.

“People weren’t as interested in church activities anymore,” says Holly. “Their fear of sorcery had

Varam Away Our Sins In PNG, the Mandara people practise a ceremony called varam (WAH-ram). As Steven and Holly Hong and their co-translators worked together to translate the Mandara New Testament, they agreed that the concept of varam could help the Mandara understand what God had done for them— and all mankind—through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. This is a “redemptive analogy,” defined by missionary and author Don Richardson as some practice or understanding frequently embedded in cultures that can be used to demonstrate the gospel.

“When someone has committed a serious offence affecting important people in their lives,” Holly says of the Mandara people, “then they hold this reconciliation feast called varam.”

“ W hen

I came

to know

One-to-20

that God

Until the feast is held, family and friends shun the guilty party.

“He cannot talk to people openly, he cannot look at people in their eyes; they just live like…a guilty person,” explains Holly.

“They cannot shave or even laugh until they hold this feast called varam. Pigs must be slaughtered. At the feast, the chief declares that the guilty one is now forgiven through the varam sacrifice.”

“Before they hold varam, the guilty one is living under bondage. They have no freedom to enjoy life . . . As soon as the varam feast is held, they can go back to their normal life.”

The concept was used by the team when translating various verses, including I John 4: 10. Holly says an English rendering of the Mandara verse would be roughly translated as, “This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to varam away our sins.”

“When the Mandara people hear the word varam,” she adds, “they know what happens when you hold the varam feast; there’s a freedom that comes, and there’s a restoration of the relationship.” ”But people say their varam is only temporary,” adds Steven. “They need to do it over and over again.

“Now they understand that God’s varam has an everlasting effect, to bring mankind into a peaceful relationship with God forever.”

28 Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca

increased . . . so it seemed like Satan was telling us, ‘Look, you haven’t done anything significant here.’”

The Hongs found the spiritual atmosphere disheartening, especially when they recalled the dramatic signs of spiritual awakening they had witnessed six years earlier. Holly and Steven contacted their supporters, asking them to pray for the Mandara people.

“We were so desperate; we thought, ‘What good is it if we finish the New Testament and people don’t use it? They are not even interested to come to church.’ We felt very threatened, so we sent out the prayer requests in the beginning of March, 2008.”

Tovat came to Christ less than a month later—and the passionate 23-year-old immediately began sharing his newfound faith at every opportunity.

is my

father,

I had to

change

my life.”

Perceiving that he needed much teaching and guidance, however, Tovat asked his uncle, Rupen Masasa, if he could live with him and his family. Masasa, a former pastor who worked closely with the Hongs to promote literacy among the Mandara, agreed and mentored Tovat for about a year.

“He had a set time to pray,” Masasa recalls. “After his conversion, he would not let the Bible stay away from him. He would want to read the Bible all the time.”

Within weeks of his conversion, Tovat was invited to teach Sunday school at the United Church in Simberi village. His rapid elevation from town drunk to Sunday school teacher could have filled him with pride. But out of a deep sense of inadequacy, Tovat began to fast and pray every Sunday.

“I never taught him about fasting,” Holly says. “He said, ‘I read that Daniel was fasting and praying, so I decided to do that.’ ” After one of the Bible studies with Holly on worship, Tovat felt convicted about a journal he had kept that was filled with words and incantations related to sorcery. In obedience to God, he confessed his sin to Holly and destroyed the journal.

On another occasion, Tovat came to Holly just as she and Steven were about to leave the island for two months. He asked her to make copies of the “One-to-One” study that he did with Holly, because he wanted to study it with some of his friends.

“Two months later,” Holly recalls, “we come back; we see Tovat doing Bible study, not ‘one-to-one’ but . . . one-to-20 people!”

Soon Tovat was leading weekly Bible studies for young adults in the church, with help from another of his mentors and a member of the translation team, Steven Posai. (continued on pg. 31)

Tovat lived with his uncle, Rupen Masasa, and his family for about a year after he came to Christ.

Masasa (left), a village elder and spiritual leader who helped promote literacy among the Mandara, says Tovat was hungry to read God’s Word.

“ As I went

through

the Bible

study, I

understood

there is a

God, who

loves me

so much.”

Courtesy of Steven and Holly Hong

Since his conversion, Tovat has organized prayer retreats for the youth (like those pictured at top) and even found a special place to hold such events, which he calls the “prayer mountain.” With guidance from Tovat and other spiritual leaders, Mandara young people are learning to call on God—and study the Scriptures. (Above) When he’s not attending classes, Tovat sometimes visits the hospital in nearby Kavieng to pray for the sick.

Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca 29

Courtesy of Steven and Holly Hong

(Top) In class at Life Bible College (on a distant island near the provincial capital, Kavieng), Tovat and his classmates listen to a lecture on successful Christian living. Used to being shunned back home, Tovat says his popularity with classmates—including the girls—has tempted him to be prideful. But he

30 Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca

remains fixed on his goal: to return to Simberi as a pastor and spiritual leader to his people. (Above) Tovat teaches a Sunday school class in Simberi village. He has become a friend and role model to children and youth throughout the Tabar Islands.

Praying, Preaching, Studying

In the short time Tovat has served Jesus, he has spent much time praying and urging others to pray. Once, he told Holly he wanted all of the young people in Simberi village to receive Christ.

She encouraged him to write down their names and ask three other mature Christians to start interceding for them.

Holly was given some of the 52 names on the list. She admits she sometimes forgot to pray, but two months later, Tovat told her he was still praying and urged her to remain faithful.

God is answering those prayers. Tovat has led several young people to Christ and Sunday school attendance has risen steadily since he began working with the youth.

“It was down to about 50 kids; it’s now back to 80 or more,” says Holly. “Tovat was there with the kids all the time.”

The kids are learning to pray, too. Deciding it would be good to have a special place to pray, Tovat and a group of young people went to a hill on Simberi Island and cleared a small plot of land for their “prayer mountain.”

Since January 2010, Tovat has been studying God’s Word at Life Bible College, on a distant island and close to the provincial capital, Kavieng.

When he’s not in class, Tovat and a few of his classmates sometimes go to the hospital in Kavieng to pray for the sick.

The fiery young Christian is grateful for the opportunity to attend Bible college and for his home church on Simberi Island, which is paying his tuition. He aims to return to Simberi, once he completes the three-year course.

“I think God . . . wants me to go back to my village, to spread the Word of God. I believe God has appointed me to…preach the Word of God in my own language, so that people can understand and come to Christ.”

“ I believe God

has appointed

me to . . . preach

the Word of God

in my own

language, so

Lifting Up the Light

On Simberi Island, Tovat is well-known and well-liked by many, especially the youth. So far, he is managing to cope with his “celebrity status”—but he did admit to Holly once that his popularity with fellow students at the Bible college had distracted him spiritually.

However, there are many people praying for the dynamic young leader, including the Hongs and Tovat’s grandmother, Vambo. They know that some of his old friends still pressure him to drink, but Tovat doesn’t want to travel down that road again.

He knows the young people in the church look up to him, so he’s doing his best to avoid drinking, smoking and chewing betel nut, or buai (BOO-eye). A stimulant that is popular throughout PNG, its use is considered socially acceptable by Mandara Christians. But chewing buai, which leaves a telltale crimson stain on the chewer’s lips, gums and teeth, can lead to addiction.

“We are the light, so people can see us,” says Tovat. “The lamp is placed on top, so everybody can see,” he adds, referring to Matthew 5:15. “I want to show an example to these children and the youth, so they see the true light they need to follow.”

The New Testament in their heart language is aiding the Mandara’s understanding of Jesus, the Light of the World. And the young man who once terrorized the people of Simberi Island is now on their side, helping them to grow in the image of Christ.

that people can

understand and

come to Christ.”

Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca 31

Blossoming with Nkonya Scriptures

The Nkonya New Testament is one of 27 New Testaments and Bibles bringing God’s Word to 33 million people this past year.

By Janet Seever

On Nov. 20, 2010, an enthusiastic crowd of up to

1,800 people gathered to dedicate the long-awaited Nkonya New Testament in Ghana.

Wycliffe Canada members Wes and Katie Peacock began working among the Nkonya people in 1991. The journey to reach this milestone has been challenging. For the past five years, the Peacocks have been based in Red Deer, Alta., carrying on the project from a distance because of the need to be caregivers for family members.

During that time they have been taking turns going to Ghana for visits of six to eight weeks, two or three times a year.

In the days following the dedication, close to 1,500 New Testaments out of a total of 2,000 were sold. The Sunday after the dedication, Katie and a co-worker checked out the use of the New Testaments in two of the local churches.

“Yes, the churches had blossomed with Nkonya New Testaments,” said Katie. “In the Presbyterian Church, the catechist called on people to show their Bibles, and the pews erupted in a sea of waving New Testaments. One lady in front of me spent most of the service reading hers. I asked her how she found it, and she said it was clear and easy to read.”

Read For Themselves

Many of the 30,000 Nkonya speakers in Ghana were baptized as infants in one of the mainline churches, some of which have been in the country for more than a century. Other believers belong to The catechist small Pentecostal called on people Assemblies. After hearing about to show their Jesus for years, they can now Bibles and the read about Him themselves in pews erupted in for Nkonya.

The people have a sea of waving already learned to New Testaments. pray in Nkonya.

What a difference that’s making! A prime example is a man who worked with the Peacocks on the Nkonya translation project, Foster Ofori.

Foster’s uncle is a clan head and elder who never had the opportunity to go to school. He now reads his own language fluently and the realization that God speaks Nkonya changed his life.

“Originally he owned a shrine and worshipped its god,” says Foster of his uncle. “We had no idea of how we could persuade him to become a Christian.

Scott Peacock

“Then he heard me praying in Nkonya and that made the difference. He told me afterwards, that because he had never gone to school and didn’t know how to read, he thought that he could not become a Christian. But, when he heard me praying in Nkonya, his reason for not being a Christian [was] finished. He saw that he could pray to God in Nkonya and that God would respond.”

This realization moved Foster’s uncle deeply because he had been troubled for some time by a dream in which Satan and God were dividing up the dead.

“After the dream my uncle used to worry about what God would do to him after his death. But now he has seen that he can pray in Nkonya and God will respond and that it is possible for him to join the Christians if he dies.”

Foster’s uncle has been baptized, has taken the name John and worships God.

Other Dedications

With a joyous celebration in January 2010, the Nomaande New Testament was dedicated in Cameroon.

Wycliffe Canada member Terri Scruggs worked on linguistics among the Nomaande in 1980-1982 and later Wycliffe Canada’s Partners with Nationals program linked Canadian financial donors with the Nomaande translation project for eight years.

Nomaande people number 6,000.

On Nov. 25, 2010, the Chumburung Bible in Ghana was dedicated, bringing God’s translated Word to 69,000 speakers.

Canadians Keith and Ruth Snider were involved in the Chumburung translation project from 1982-1987, with the New Testament being dedicated in 1989.

“We were the third team working on the translation of the New Testament, and it was about 70 per cent done when we arrived,” writes Keith. “Together, with a couple from the U.K., I helped with the final 30 per cent of the New Testament, and also Enthusiastic Reception In South Asia supervised the literacy program.”

The arrival of the M* New Testament generated great excitement Keith also did extensive linguistic analysis of the language in South Asia! Nine hundred people, including 550 M believers, during those years, continuing as he has had time. gathered at six dedications in the country. Later, another dedicaIn the Philippines, the Ayangan Ifugao speakers, numbering tion was held in England on the Wycliffe team’s way home, and 43,000, dedicated their entire Bible in October 2010. Wycliffe two more in Canada, with supporters and churches.

Canada member Len Newell, now deceased, did the initial “So many have joined in praise and thanksgiving for the translation of the New Testament and provided consultant help Lord’s faithfulness to bring this to completion,” writes Mim,* a on the Old Testament.

Wycliffe Canada member involved in the translation. Another *Because of the sensitivity of the project, the language name, names of the translators and the country cannot be given. translation team began the M project in 1971. A Canadian member, Liz,* replaced one of those team members in 1975, and World Translation Summary Mim replaced the other in 1981.

“There was genuine joy and thanksgiving at each dedication Scriptures translated with significant Wycliffe involvement were event at having their own New Testament,” writes Mim, “even dedicated for 27 languages, spoken by 33 million people, since we though there are various Bible translations already available in prepared our last “Translation Update” report in Word Alive a year ago. the official languages and though New Testament portions in The table below gives a regional global breakdown of the affected this language were being published since 1983. language groups, with their populations.

Late Night Study

During the main message of the first dedication celebration, the M speaker who was preaching said, “Perhaps there are so few well-grounded M Christians because up until now we have only read it [God’s Word] in the national language.

“Now . . . we have no more excuse. Read it! Study it! Share what you read! Give it to friends!” This man knows both the national language and English very well and has had two years of Bible college, so was not deprived of a Bible he could understand. But even then his wife told Mim and Liz, “Since he received the M New Testament, he is up late at night studying it, and I’ve never seen him so happy.”

A villager who is not yet a believer said, “I have read all 547 pages of the book [M New Testament] you gave me! Many things are the same in our Hindu Scriptures—do good to others, etc. But some are different.”

After being asked to tell what was different, he responded, “God sent Jesus down here and spoke to us through him and in the end, wicked people killed him on a cross.”

Pray that he will soon relate to this Jesus he has read about.

New Testaments Location No. of Groups Combined Total Population Africa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,000 Asia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,410,000 Pacific. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,530 Americas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115,044 Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,588,574 Whole Bibles Location Africa Asia Total Combined Total

No. of Groups Combined Total Population 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369,000 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,000 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412,000 27. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,000,574

Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca 33

Beyond Words

Alan Hood

Walk the Talk

On Simberi Island in Papua New Guinea, it’s not uncommon to see people carrying light loads on their heads. But to see someone reading in their mother tongue is a relatively new phenomenon. As a benefit of the Bible translation project that began here in the mid-‘90s, literacy is opening up a world of possibilities for the Mandara people—including a deeper walk with God (see articles, pgs. 6-31).

34 Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca

Last Word Penetrating Every Last Cell

By Don Hekman

I

While writing on this issue, I want to make sure you don’t miss an upcoming important event.

On May 7 in Calgary, Wycliffe Canada will be hosting a conference on the topic of Bible “infiltration.” “Contextualization” is the thousanddollar word theologians use, and “UnBound: The Bible in Global Contexts” is the conference title. But don’t be put off by the big words. This conference has something impactful for everyone, from students, short-term mission trippers and pastors to retirees, readers like you and your circle of friends.

Dave Harder

mmerse. Infiltrate. Penetrate. Invade. These are words for what we, at Wycliffe Bible Translators, hope will happen when people engage with the Bible. We want every bit of God’s Word to soak into every last cell of our heart, mind, body, relationships and society.

Wycliffe Canada not only verbalizes that in our purpose statements but also supports it with concrete action. We envision “a world where translated Scriptures lead to transformed lives among people of all languages.”

We train, support, and send people who not only help translate the Bible, but also help live it, record it, print it, distribute it, film it, narrate it, sing it, teach it, memorize it, dramatize it. Whatever it takes to get God’s Word off the shelves and into lives and whole societies.

I’ll cite two examples. In March 2007 in Colombia, Wycliffe helped host the first ever “Scripture Use” conference in Spanish for indigenous people and Latinos in the Americas. (Two Canadians were on the steering committee and played key roles in presentations.) A second such conference was held in 2010, this time in Brazil and conducted in Portuguese. More than 300 people attended these two conferences, most of them being indigenous peoples who have only had the Bible in their languages in recent years.

Whatever it takes to These conferences covered topics get God’s Word off the ranging from the use of the Bible in healing the wounds of the trauma shelves and into lives of war and abuse, to communicating the Bible through drama and and whole societies. dance, to teaching the Bible in the local indigenous language instead of Spanish or Portuguese. Again, the goal was having God’s Word penetrate every cell of our being.

Two years after the Colombia conference, a pastor from the Garifuna-speaking churches of Honduras wrote: “This conference has marked my life. It opened my understanding to comprehend many things that I had ignored.” He went on to write that he was teaching at the annual conference of Garifuna churches the importance and the practical techniques of engaging with the Bible in their own language instead of in Spanish.

You’ll hear two outstanding speakers, Ray Aldred and David Lyle Jeffrey, and meet a popular Canadian talk show host, Michael Coren. You can choose from up to 10 enticing workshops, ranging from “Sing It! Act it! Dance It! Believe It!” to “Cutting-edge Software for Translators” and “First Nations of Canada and Bible Translation.” Plus there will be a surprising report from a country we can’t name in print. And— would you believe it?—attractive door prizes.

I urge you to check it out at our website: <wycliffe.ca/unbound>. See the back cover of this issue, too. Mark it on your calendars. See you there!

Don Hekman is president of Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada.

Word Alive • Spring 2011 • wycliffe.ca 35

Deliver to:

RETURN UNDELIVERABLE ITEMS TO WYCLIFFE CANADA CIRCULATION 4316 10 ST NE CALGARY AB T2E 6K3

PM 40062756

Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada Presents:

A conference exploring how the biblical story dynamically intersects with cultural stories.

Saturday May 7, 2011 • 8:30 am - 4:30 pm • Ambrose University College • Calgary, Alberta David L. Jeffrey • Distinguished

Professor of Literature and the Humanities and former Provost at Baylor University (Waco, Texas). He is guest professor of Peking University (Beijing). Dr. Jeffrey is the author or editor of 17 books, including People of the Book (1996), Houses of the Interpreter (2003) and a forthcoming Theological Commentary on the Gospel of Luke (Brazos, 2011).

Ray Aldred • Assistant professor of theology at Ambrose University College (Calgary, Alta.) and currently finishing doctoral studies in theology. He is chairperson of the Aboriginal Ministries Council for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. As a First Nations person (status Cree), Ray is purposeful in developing indigenous leadership and is an active member of NAIITS (North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies).

Michael Coren • Highly popular and entertaining public speaker and writer. Michael will be the host and moderator for the UnBound conference. Michael is a weekly columnist, published every Saturday with the Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg Sun newspapers, and The London Free Press. Michael is also the host of the nightly “Michael Coren Show” on CTS television.

Regular registration: $30 per person, students $15, families $45. Group discounts available • Includes lunch, parking and a free copy of Wycliffe’s Eye to Eye - Heart to Heart book • Door prizes, including a 2GB iPod. Everyone attending the conference can choose from a variety of insightful workshops, conducted by knowledgeable presenters from across the country. Sessions include: Sing It! Act It! Dance It! Believe It!: The arts and God’s Word - African contexts.

Bible Translation and Theology: Who Needs It? Cutting-edge Software for Translators: Who knew this could be so cool?

First Nations of Canada and Bible Translation Language and Culture Learning: A live demonstration Redeeming Cultures: Latin America context And much more! You’re invited to experience a thought-provoking and entertaining day revealing the impact of God moving into the neighbourhoods of the world.

To register visit: <www.wycliffe.ca/unbound>. For more information, phone Melanie at 1-800-463-1143, ext. 291, or e-mail: <unboundconference@wycliffe.ca>.