The printed book of Luke Kenny
Kenny recording the orders for more, after they all sold out.
Kenny presenting the people who pre-ordered the book of Luke with their copy
I work in a multi-language translation project in Papua New Guinea that has 22 national translators from 11 different languages. We have just finished publishing and distributing the Gospel of Luke as well as audio recordings of the Luke Christmas story, and it has already begun to make an impact among the people. Listen to what Kenny Aiprum from the Sissano language related about the impact of the Gospel in his villages:
When the Book of Luke and the audio recording of the Christmas Story were taken out to the three Sissano villages, the response was so enthusiastic in the first village that Kenny barely managed to keep few copies aside to distribute at the other two villages. The pastor was planning to read the Christmas Story from the book of Luke in their own Sissano language during their morning worship service on Christmas day. But after the Christmas services those who attended the service came back and told Kenny with much joy that they got to hear the story of Jesus' birth read in their own language. They said that when they heard, it really pierced their hearts and stimulated their thinking because they were hearing these words in their own language. For too many years they had not heard this story told in their own Sissano language.
That Christmas the story of Christ’s birth was also read in another church in the area. After the service, some women from a mothers group walked to Kenny's place to tell him what they had experienced. They said, "This story that you translated, the Christmas Story, one of our church leaders read it and those words shot strait into our stomachs and really excited our stomachs." Kenny reported this with a big smile on his face and laughter in his voice as he recalled how happy they were to hear the Christmas Story for the first time in their own language.
This experience at Christmas motivated those who had heard the Sissano Scriptures to want more of God's Word translated and to have more of their worship expressed in their local language. Some gave Kenny their song books to have their worship songs translated, something that we have desired to do for some time now. But it took hearing the Scriptures read in their own Sissano language for the people to show interest.
Kenny says that the passages from Luke started something in their stomachs and many people have come to talk with him. The audio recording of the Christmas story was bought up so quickly, that they sold out before the coastal village had a chance to get any. So one copy was sent to them and the village gathered to listen to it together as a community. One old man who sat and listened to the audio recording was particularly moved. It really excited him to hear the Sissano scriptures read on CD. His grandchildren traveled back and reported to Kenny that his joy shone on his face for everyone to see.
Additionally, many people in the community, especially mothers groups and prayer groups, who heard the Sissano Scriptures read for the first time have come to see Kenny, to ask him to help them write up prayers that they would like to say in their Sissano language. Kenny says, "I have been thinking about this thing that happened, [he chuckles]… just that little word that was read is continuing to shoot them/pierce them and excite them and they keep coming to me, talking to me about the Christmas Story when Jesus was born." The impact that this first portion has had on the community has made Kenny really happy, and he says that interest that people have shown in learning how to read has strengthened him again to continue translating God's Word for his own Sissano people.
But none of this would have been possible without the help and support of our computer/IT people. With the advancement of technology and current availability of electronic resources, most all of our Bible translation is now done on the computer utilizing translation software and electronic exiggetical resources. Each of the 22 national translators in our project uses a netbook computer to research, draft, edit, and print their translation. When you are working with that many computers you are bound to have problems come up quite often, especially when you are in the tropics with 80% to 100% humidity. Without our IT support, in just a few months we would have so many under-functioning computers that the pace of our translation work would slow to a mere crawl if not come to a complete halt.
That’s not even mentioning what our computer support staff has done to get us up and running with internet access in the village so the founder of the translation project and fellow translation advisor can continue to mentor, through e-mail and Skype, seven of the translators, while he is in the states tending to the needs of his aging in-laws. Without this access, these seven translators would basically be on their own.
Our IT guys have done so much to make the book of Luke accessible in the heart languages of the people in our translation project, however our translation mentors are still constantly being pulled away from their Bible translation work to deal with the computer and IT issues that our computer department is simple just too understaffed to deal with. The need is great! Having enough IT workers with the ability to access current and up to date technical information is vital to the translation, to the advancement of God’s word in heart language of the people, and to the people of Papua New Guinea.
