It was a privilege for MAF staff to attend the Bible dedication celebration in the town of Dekai, Papua.
After 61 years & two generations in translation, Ngalik speakers have the complete Bible.
This story began in the 1960s when the Ed and Shirley Maxey—Christian & Missionary Alliance (CMA) missionaries—arrived in the village of Silimo. After building a house and an airstrip, they committed their lives to learning the Ngalik language and getting it into written form.
They recruited two local young men, Enos and Amos, to assist in the translation, which became their life work. In 1989 Buzz and Myrna Maxey arrived to continue the work Buzz’s parents began.
MAF has been supporting this translation project since the early days. But so many Papuan people still don’t have God’s Word in their heart language.
PHOTOS / DEBBIE KLYNSTRA STORY / DIANNA GIBNEY