Papua
New Guinea (MNN) — Bible translation efforts have succeeded in the preservation
of another language.
The
Biem people in Papua New Guinea have a complete spoken language, but
they have no word for "read." The Biem have always been an oral society and
have no written form of their language.
Consequently, for
quite some time the elders of the island have been concerned about losing their language, reports New Tribes Mission. According to the Joshua Project,
there are only 3,100 Biem speakers.
Thus, since 2009, Wayne and
Gail Chen have worked along with others of their team to learn Biem
culture and language, as well as to build relationships with the Biem
people. They have become proficient Biem speakers and have been working with
two other families to create a written Biem.
After years of hard work, they
have finally reached success.
Recently,
23 students enrolled in the first Biem literacy class. This literacy work is
essential to the Bible translation project which is now under way. Wayne has
recently been working on chapters from Exodus, reports NTM. They anticipate
that Firm Foundations Bible teaching will begin by summer.
NTM
asks for prayer for this project. Pray for God's grace on the Biem translation
team and on the upcoming Bible teaching. Pray that God will encourage the
Chens in their important task. Mostly, pray for Biem hearts to be open and
prepared to receive God's Word and respond to the Gospel.
NTM works to bring the Gospel to people across the globe who
may never otherwise hear the Good News. To learn more about this Great Commission
ministry, click here.
