Vanuatu: South West Tanna New Testament Dedication

Nivhaar Speakers receive the Bible in their mother tongue

Article from Daily Post in Vanuatu

The 10 year project of translating the New Testament into the South West Tanna language of Nivhaar is now complete and there was great celebration at the launching of the new books last Thursday in Yanemilen village. Yasur volcano rumbled in the background as a large group of women made the ground rumble with their energetic and colourful kastom dancing. Not only was the New Testament published as a book but an audio recording was also made, and solar powered audio players were a popular item when the sales began.

Translation Team

Ken and Mendy Nehrbass, linguist-translators with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) were invited to Yanemilen village, by the Presbyterian church towards the end of 2002 and for the next many years, they trained a team of Nivhaar speakers to translate, check and edit every one of the almost 8,000 verses of the life changing Book. The village honored the Nehrbass family for all their help to the community, and they in turn congratulated the team of Nivhaar translators and editors, presenting certificates to each of the 17 men and women.

ESL Teacher needed for PNG Bible Translators

God is at work and is raising up Papua New Guineans who want to help translate the Bible into their own language, a wonderful answer to prayer!  A major obstacle for some of them is that they don't know enough English to be able to attend training courses and read all the translation helps and commentaries in English. 

Would you consider using your training to come alongside these men and women to increase their knowledge and understanding of English and encourage them along in their studies?

What qualities are we looking for?

1. A genuine respect for other cultures, a desire to learn from and share one’s knowledge and a real sense of equality as partners in the work.
2. Skills in cross-cultural inter-personal relationships and communication.
3. Good verbal and written English language skills.
4. Competence in Tok Pisin - training provided.

Requirements:

ESL certification and experience
Some SIL classes
Willingness to look to the Lord to provide for their needs through the partnership of individuals and churches that pray and give financially to Wycliffe in support of their ministries.

Most likely you will be based at Ukarumpa but you might travel to one of our 8 regional centers.

Email Wendy for more information.

PNG: Bible Translation Awareness Weekend

Good friends of ours, Jim and Ginny Tomlinson, are currently serving as Madang Center Managers.  The center is used as a hub for translation teams in the Madang Province. 

They shared this encouraging news:


Students from Divine Word and several Madang technological  schools – Friday eve

The last weekend in April a team of volunteers came from Ukarumpa to help us with creating awareness of translation needs for the 100 remaining groups without scripture in Madang province. This initiative was designed to bring awareness and to trust the Lord to move in the hearts of some to become involved in helping in the work. It was a huge success, we were able to see how God had prepared the hearts of the local congregations for this challenge.

Pastors from all across Madang province interested in translation progress

 Friday evening a group of several hundred college students gathered for a praise and worship service which included two hours of in-depth explanation of the what, why and how of doing a translation and the need for indigenous translators and literacy workers to be trained to work in groups still without scripture. Saturday  afternoon Jim and few others spoke to a group of pastors attending their denominational conference. They serve in villages throughout the province and want their people to help with next steps towards needed translations. We will follow up with these groups. Sunday morning the group divided up going to 7 different churches each giving a presentation as part of the morning services. Church times are very flexible and invitations to share about translation of scriptures ranged from 40 minutes to 2 hours in length with most churches opting for the longer presentation.

MegaVoice: Orally Communicating God's Word

Jimmy, an older man who had practised divination and magic all his life, first heard the Scriptures in his language on someone else’s MegaVoice. He was intrigued, obtained his own machine and listened intently to God’s Word. ‘All my life I have practised magic, but after hearing God’s Word, I know that this is the truth?’ He became a Christian, gave up his magic and immediately began sharing his new-found faith in Christ. He still doesn’t read but continues to grow in faith by listening to his MegaVoice, and faithfully sharing Christ with others.

Not everyone will be able to read the translated Scriptures in their own language but that will not stop them from hearing the translated word with new technology like MegaVoice. MegaVoice is a small solar-powered self-contained digital audio player onto which the North Tanna New Testament has been recorded. They are in hot demand and making a difference in people’s lives.

From Beyond Words,

To read more how technology is being used in Vanuatu and else where,  click here. 

For more information on our work in Vanuatu click here. 

To read another story of MegaVoice use in Papua New Guinea, click here. 

Managers are needed in Papua New Guinea!

One of the greatest needs/roles we have in the work of Bible translation is managers and administrators. Did you know that the managerial skills you have could be used to further Bible translation? These are critical-mission roles and when they aren't filled, quite often a Bible translator is asked to fill a role until someone else can take over.  Thus, serving in this role not only contributes to the Bible translation efforts in all of Papua New Guinea, it also might allow a translator to continue in their work.

Click here to learn more about the opportunities and see all the manager/administrator roles that are needed.  If you have further questions you can email manager_recruiting@wycliffe.org or pacificbible@hotmail.com

School Teachers are needed in Papua New Guinea

I have a special place in my heart for MK (missionary kid) teachers.  Not only have they blessed me by teaching our kids while we were at Ukarumpa but they played an important part in each of our children's lives.  I am so thankful to God for bringing teachers to PNG!  One of the greatest need in missions is for MK teachers. If the kids are happy and taken care of, the parents are happy and can continue on in their work.

Here's a short video from a teacher at Ukarumpa.

If we don't have enough teachers, usually a translator is asked to fill the need until someone else can take over.  If you're a teacher, would you be willing to give a year or 2 or 3 or ? to be involved in Bible translation by using your skills as a teacher?  We have needs for traditional teacher roles as well as non-traditional teacher roles.

Read more about the needs here. 

Ukarumpa International School website

For more information about Ukarumpa click here.

What lengths would you take to hear God's Word?

Worth the Trip
by Karen Weaver

What would you be willing to do to hear God's Word in your language? Would you hike for half a day? Would you cross a rugged mountain? Would you navigate a vine bridge suspended over a raging river?

Vine bridge over the Yuat River
Phot by Markus Melliger

That's what Wapena Mei did in order to obtain a small solar-powered device that has a recording of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts in the Pinai-Hagahai language. You see, Wapena knew it would be worth the trip because he had already been listening to the oral Scriptures for more than a year. But when his family's player broke and they learned that 70 more would be distributed in a village across the mountain, his wife gave him the charge, "Go and get us another one of those MegaVoice units."

Wapena was successful in his mission and he and his wife Makome will again be able to listen to the Pinai-Hagahai Scriptures in their small dwelling as they go to sleep at night. Wapena also uses it as a resource to prepare sermons for preaching in area churches.

Wapena Mei listending to Scriptures
Photo by Karen Weaver

Convinced that God's Word is applicable to every area of life, Wapena is eager to share the truth with others. Because hospitals are not easily accessible to everyone, the Papua New Guinean government trains people to work at Aid Posts in remote areas. Wapena is one of those aid post workers. As he does his job, he does not forget the Scriptures he's heard. When he hands out medicine he tells the men, "You can swallow these pills, but they won't do you any good if you take another man's wife."

Hearing God's Word daily keeps it in the forefront of Wapena's heart and mind. Now that he has a way to continue hearing God's talk, Wapena will keep sharing that Good News with others in his home, his church, and in his work. Yes, it was definitely worth the trip.

 Read more about the revival amongst the Pinai-Hagahai.