How long does it take?

How long does it take to complete a New Testament? Well, that depends on what you are trying to do. It took 90 scholars 10 years to translate the NIV. Those scholars were translating the Bible for English speaking people who could read fluently.

Our job has entailed taking a previously unwritten language, reducing it to writing, teaching others to read their own language and then begin translating the New Testament. The concepts of the New Testament are complex and many words that are used in in English such as "justification" or "belief" do not have a lexical equivalent in Mesem. So we worked with the people to find how they expressed these concepts in their language. So the process of translation involves a lot of study and interaction with others to learn how to properly use their words to express God's Word as revealed in the scripture.

I often compare translation to making a snowball (not that anyone makes snowballs in Papua New Guinea but we are from New England where we have plenty of snow). The more snow you have, the easier it is to make a snowball. To make a large snowball you have to start with a small amount and then as you roll it along the ground and gain momentum the snowball becomes increasingly large as there is ever more mass with which to gather more snow. As we now have all of the New Testament drafted, we have more material with which to work. We have used all the word at least once and tried to express all the concepts that are written there. So now we need to go over all that is drafted and revise it: the same words need to be used to express the same concepts throughout the scripture. We need to be sure that people understand what the text means. If people read a passage and don't understand the meaning, then we have failed to translate it correctly.

It's important to remember that the Pharisees did not kill Jesus because they didn't understand what He was saying but because they did understand and didn't want to hear it. As is written in the Book of Jame, "You say you believe in God, you do well. The devil believes also...". We translate the scripture and people have the choice to read and believe, or they might choose to ignore it, or they might be like the Pharisees, understand it but not like what it says. Only God's Spirit can work in people's hearts. Our job is to be faithful in making sure people can hear the message and have a chance to know and hold in their own hands the Words of Life.

Why?

Why do the Mesem need the New Testament?

I think it we all had to learn ancient Greek to read the Bible we would be very frustrated. Not to mention Hebrew! For the Mesem, there are no Bible DVDs, or programs to help them. They have the scriptures translated in their own langugage. Are they worth is? Yes!

No one people group is great enough to glorify God's Name. In fact, unless someone from every group is there, the symphony of song and joy will be incomplete! We need the Mesem people to join with us in eternity and they also want to join.

Why we ask? As John Piper has expressed it so well, we desire that the Lamb of God have the full reward for His sacrifice.

A New Testament Waiting to Happen

Hello and welcome to our first post in The Mesem New Testament blog. We wanted to find a way to keep you fully informed as we enter what we pray is the final phase of the completion of the Mesem New Testament. So what is Mesem and where is Mesem are two things that you might ask.



Well the Mesem live in Morobe Province in Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea is the second largest island in the world and is north of Australia and adjacent to Indonesia.



No one knows exactly how many Mesem people live in that region as births and deaths are not officially recorded but we believe there to be at least five thousand Mesem people. (Three thousand voted in the election..so five thousand is conservative as children obviously don't vote.) They live scattered through a large geographical area from the low coastlands to the high mountain rainforest in the Sarawaged range. There are at least 12 villages with other small hamlets in the language area.



When we began working with the Mesem in 1993, the first alphabet was being finalized as the language had been previously unwritten. From 1993 until 1997 we concentrated on starting schools and translating the Gospel of Mark, as well as providing simple first aid to many in need.



After a year of home leave to New England, we returned in 1998 and together with our Mesem coworkers and friends, built an office, a sixty meter bridge, and continued training teachers and translating the scriptures. We started correspondence Bible courses at that time which made Bible study available to people to whom we couldn't go because of distance. (There are no roads so hiking is the only way to get from one place to another in the Mesem region of Morobe Province.)



The entire New Testament is now in rough draft with half of it in publishable form. About seventy percent is in good first draft and the rest..well we need to be able to get back to work on that as soon as possible. Just last week we got a letter from the people asking how soon we can return to Papua New Guinea and finish the New Testament. We have hundreds of photos and stories but this is a blog and not a book! However, if you are interested in anything in particular do email us a nkvanaria@gmail.com and we are happy to answer your questions.



Our next post will answer the obvious question: why? For now, enjoy the photos and feel free to contact us with questions.