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.