Translating the Bible takes decades

FELM takes part in several translation projects. The work in Urim began in 1979 so that now the project is about to be finished. The Nek translation project has been going on since 1988, and three of the gospels have been published as booklets while other books of the Bible are either being translated or in the revision stage. Nearly half of the Urat New Testament has undergone revision.

Mussau Island located north-east of the main island also has a Bible translation project under way: two gospels have been publised in Mussau-Emira. Besides Mussau, FELM is working with the speakers of Kovai on Siassi Island, as well as with the residents of the islands of New Ireland in a language cluster project.

Literacy work is an inherent part of Bible translation. Besides translating, each of the FELM missionaries helps other translation teams in the fields he or she has expertise in – some specialising in translation revision, others working with linguistics projects, and yet others with ethnological research efforts or literacy teams. Native translators are given ongoing training by FELM and SIL.

Christianity and animist religions keep living side by side

The traditional religion in Papua New Guinea is animism. People still revere their connection with their ancestral spirits. Their respect for unique-looking natural sites means that special trees or stones are considered holy. With the society changing, animism also keeps finding new forms and ways of practice.

Christianity arrived in Papua New Guinea in the latter half of the 19th century, but it was not until after the WWII that it reached the interior regions. Two thirds of the nation are Christians, but many people practice animism simultaneously. Christianity did not come to Papua New Guinea merely in its European form but also via Polynesia. The largest churches are the Catholic and Lutheran ones, together with the United Church that joins Methodists and Presbyterian believers. The Evangelical-Lutheran Church that gained an independent status in 1975 has nearly a million members. The Bible translation work serves all the churches in Papua New Guinea.