Bible Greeted with Gongs (Malaysia)

Scriptures for Thai ‘Sea People’ (Thailand)

Thai Christians Treasure their Bibles

Prayers for Peace as Protestors Turn to Violence (Indonesia) 

TENOM, Sabah, Malaysia — The dedication of the Murut Timugon New Testament took place here in St Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church on May 3, this year, and a celebration Mass was held partly in thanksgiving for this new Scripture.

Special songs in Murut Timugon and in Malay were performed by the church choir, and a selection of songs sung by the Chinese choir was accompanied by modern and traditional Murut musical instruments.

Following the service, the New Testament was presented in traditional style, carried by the translator, Richard Brewis, in a traditional bamboo platter, surrounded by the members of the translation team in their traditional Murut costumes accompanied by the traditional gongs.

Nurture

Bishop Datuk Cornelius Piong charged the people to use the New Testament in church and for their spiritual nurture. There followed a brief history of the Murut Timugon translation work, and it was pointed out that the Scripture was the result of a wide co-operative effort including the Diocese of Keningau, the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), the Evangelical Free Church of Finland, the Bible Society of Malaysia as publishers, and the Bible Society of Indonesia who typeset and printed the New Testament.

Dignitaries

The Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah, Datuk Joseph Kurup, attended, as did several other members of Parliament, and these dignitaries bought the first 120 copies of the 4,000 Murut Timugon New Testaments printed, and donated them.

Murut Timugon is spoken by about 10,000 people in the Tenom and Beaufort districts of Sabah, East Malaysia. After allowing Scripture passages to be translated and read in church as an experiment, it was obvious to the Murut Timugon what a benefit having the Bible in their own language would be.

Michael Majius Rundi, a local teacher, became the first local translator, and the UBS New Reader Portions were the first Scriptures to be worked on, followed by the Gospel of Mark in 1985, of which 100 copies were distributed as a trial.

The response was so positive that an organised translation team was set up in 1987 under the guidance of Richard and Kielo Brewis, who were supported by the Evangelical Free Church of Finland. Ms Silipah Majius, Elvin Ebir Tikoi, John Mantum Morris and Mrs Elizabeth Brahim all contributed to the translation.

In 1991 the first draft of the New Testament was completed and checked by SIL and UBS Translation Consultants, and the Murut Timugon Committee was set up to help especially in matters of style. The checking work was finally completed in 1997 and sent for typesetting and printing in Indonesia. (WR 332/29 - 7.98)

PHUKET, Thailand — Attempts to translate the Scriptures into Urak Lawoi began in 1970 and resulted in the publication and launch of the Urak Lawoi New Testament on Sunday April 19, reports the Rev Dr Daud Soesilo, the UBS Translation Consultant, who attended the dedication ceremony held in the village of Ruwai on the outskirts of Phuket.

Not only is the translation the result of the vision and dedication of the translators, but the publication itself was a measure of the co-operation which can be achieved when Bible Societies act together. The UBS provided scholarly help and consultancy; the Thailand Bible Society were the publishers; the Bible Society in New Zealand typeset the text; and the Indonesian Bible Society printed the New Testament.

“It was a joyous occasion for the small Christian community which had swelled with the number of guests and representatives, including the Head of the Educational Department of Phuket who was the guest speaker,” said Dr Soesilo. “Following the dedication ceremony, performed in Thai and Urak Lawoi, a communion service was held where the Urak Lawoi New Testament was used by the church for the first time.”

There are some 4,000 speakers of Urak Lawoi. In the village of Ruwai, for example, there are 50 baptised Christians, but in Uban, there are only three. The local translator, Etim Pramongkit, comes from this village. New Zealand missionaries, David Hogan and his wife, were working in Thailand when they came across the Urak Lawoi, whose language and culture obviously differed from that of the Thais. Learning the language was not easy and the early translation efforts progressed slowly.

Take over

Finally, the first Scripture, the Gospel of Mark, was published in 1975. After working among the people for nine years, in the late 1970s four Urak Lawoi became Christians. The Books of Ruth and Titus were produced in 1979. New Reader Portions, the letters of James and John, and the Book of Jonah followed. The Hogan’s son-in-law, Stephen Pattemore, came to share in their work in 1984, and selections from Joshua and the Psalms were produced. In 1991, the translators were joined by Mr Pramongkit, who was able to help take over the work because in 1994 the Hogans retired to New Zealand. UBS Translation Consultants Dr David Clark and Dr Soesilo both assisted in checking the drafted translation, and the New Testament was ready for printing in 1997. (WR 332/30 - 7.98)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — “The Bible is absolutely fundamental to the work of the churches and of Christian missions,” said Ian Roberts who, along with his wife Maybeth, is joint director of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF) in Thailand and Mekong.

“The Bibles used in Thailand are supplied by the Bible Society,” Maybeth explained. “So the Bible Society is vitally important to our work and the partnership we have with them is invaluable.”

Ian and Maybeth, who are graduates from the Bible College of New Zealand, speak from 26 years of experience with OMF in Thailand. In addition, Ian has been on the board of the Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand for the last five years. They said that if the Bible Society was not able to offer Bibles at a subsidised rate, many of the poorer Thai Christians, such as those living in rural areas, would never be able to afford a Bible.

Carry-covers

“Thai Christians treasure their Bibles,” said Maybeth. “They buy carry-covers to keep them in, and they always bring their Bibles to church and study groups. In fact, they don’t seem to be able to get enough of Bible teaching. While in Western countries a one-day Bible seminar might be three one-hour sessions, Thai people feel deprived if they have less than six one-hour blocks of teaching in a day! That is how thirsty and hungry they are for the Word of God. And there is no way they will split up into groups – they prefer plenary sessions, because they want to make sure they don’t miss out on anything!”

Bible Society Portions – at least one Book of the Bible – are also used widely by the Roberts in their work among the churches. “We find them a very effective tool, especially in church planting programs,” said Ian.

Reincarnation

Regarding Bible teaching, he went on to say: The first eleven chapters of Genesis are crucial to our teaching about the Christian faith, especially in a culture that has a long history of belief in reincarnation. “In this context I also often quote Hebrews 9:27 – ‘Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God’. To help people come to an understanding of God, sin, salvation and judgement, we make sure we teach them from both the Old and New Testaments.”

The Roberts also work extensively with many of Thailand’s tribal people. “We are very much involved in translating the Bible into tribal languages,” explained Ian, “and we have worked with the Bible Society in translating the Shan, Pwo Kayin, Akha, Mien and Wasai Thai Bibles.” So you see, we have a strong partnership with the Thailand Bible Society, which is fundamental to our work," Maybeth concluded. (WR 332/31 - 7.98) [PHOTOS]

JAKARTA, Indonesia; May 1998 — The mood continues tense here, particularly in Jakarta and in other major Indonesian cities following violence that erupted on May 14, the day after the funeral of six students who had been shot by the armed forces.

Five hundred people died in the riots, which targeted businesses seen to be linked with government policy and price rises. More than 3,029 buildings were burnt down or damaged and 950 cars and 513 motorcycles were destroyed.

Burnt cars

On May 18, Mr Supardan, the General Secretary of the Indonesian Bible Society (LAI) reported: “The area near our Bible House also became one of the targets for arson and destruction. A few blocks from our offices, people removed cars from a showroom and burnt them; and a police van parked just across the road from Bible House was also set on fire. Some of the staff had to stay overnight at the office due to transport difficulties,” he said.

Despite this, LAI went ahead with the celebration of the UBS Day of Prayer on May 15 and Dr Daud Soesilo, UBS Translation Consultant based in Malang, came to preach.

Uneasy

“We anticipated that many of the guests would not come due to the situation,” said Mr Supardan. “People are uneasy about travelling.”

When Dr Soesilo arrived in Jakarta he found a very different atmosphere to the city he knew. Smoke was still rising from some of the burning buildings. The toll roads were practically deserted, the toll gates closed and unmanned; damaged and burnt-out cars and buses were everywhere.

“We had the special service planned for that morning, and although fewer people attended, the service was very meaningful: the message preached was based on the text printed in the national newspaper on May 9, from the beginning of John’s Gospel,” he said.

“How appropriate this text was – in the face of a culture of death, God’s Word is the source of life. We thanked God that Bible House in Jakarta, the Translation Offices in Bogor and the printing plant in Nanggewer were undamaged.”

Chinese Christians suffered

Although there does not appear to have been any specific targeting of minorities in the violence, Chinese Christians suffered because they were identified with the business community. The Chinese community is heavily Christian, and some wealthy Chinese in Jakarta fled their homes which were subsequently burned.

According to Compass Direct, one Christian reported: “I witnessed rioters stop motorcycles, force the cyclists to remove their helmets, and if they were Chinese the motorcycle was taken and set on fire.”

The entire Christian community is praying for a peaceful outcome to the situation which seems far from being resolved. Mr Supardan believes that the message of peace in the Scriptures, and the words of comfort and hope, have an important role to play, not only among the Christians, but in the community at large.

“Please pray for us throughout the worldwide fellowship, so that we may have the strength to respond to the challenge God has put before us,” he said. (WR 332/32 - 7.98)