Islanders welcome Futunian
New Testament

Based on reports by Nigel Statham, Translation Consultant with the Bible Society in the South Pacific, and Fr Soane Fotutata, a Roman Catholic priest in Futuna.

Even the long wait for the books to be cleared through customs did not dampen their spirits and, as night fell, they sang as they loaded the New Testaments into vehicles specially decorated with brightly coloured flowers, mats and paper streamers.

FUTUNA, South Pacific — On a hot day in late May this year hundreds of islanders on this tiny French territory made their way to the Bay of Leava to await the arrival of a boat carrying a shipment of the newly-published Futunian New Testament. This Scripture had been long awaited by the island’s Roman Catholic community and, as the boat docked, its arrival on the island was greeted with loud cheers and singing.

For the islanders, the publication of the Futunian New Testament represented a significant achievement and stood as a testimony to 16 years of hard work and determination in the face of setbacks and tragedy.

Samoan

Translation work first began in 1985 as an interconfessional project. In 1992, Father Lafaele Tevaga, a young Samoan Roman Catholic priest, arrived on the island and agreed to chair meetings of the translation committee. Unfortunately, due to differences of opinion on translation issues, the translation team split into two groups, each working on separate Roman Catholic and Protestant translations.

Undaunted by this setback, Fr Lafaele continued to hold regular meetings for the Roman Catholic translation committee, encouraging them and boosting the morale of the translators and reviewers. All those who worked on the project did so without pay, apart from the typists.
Tragedy struck in March 1993 in the form of an earthquake. Thousands of buildings and homes were destroyed or badly damaged, including almost all of the Roman Catholic schools, chapels, churches and presbyteries.

The island’s Roman Catholics, eager to support the work, raised six million Pacific francs (nearly US$45,000), which helped pay for working materials, the typists’ salaries, and the local travel costs of the translation consultant sent annually by the Bible Society in the South Pacific (BSSP). The BSSP also provided scholarly resources and computer software to assist the work.

The work had just started to pick up again after the split when tragedy struck in March 1993 in the form of an earthquake. Thousands of buildings and homes were destroyed or badly damaged, including almost all of the Roman Catholic schools, chapels, churches and presbyteries.

Collapsed

The responsibility of overseeing the reconstruction of the church-owned buildings, as well as raising the funds to do so, fell to Fr Lafaele. Along with another Samoan priest, Father Vitaliano Olaaiga, who had been sent to the island in 1993, he undertook this massive task as well as continuing to co-ordinate work on the Futunian New Testament project.

At the end of 1994, Fr Lafaele collapsed from the strain, having developed Bell’s Palsy, and was forced to take four months of sick leave.

The reconstruction work was completed in 1997 and work on the Futunian New Testament continued to make significant progress. By 1997, there were three thriving translation committees based in Alo, Sigave and Poi, all of which were anxious that the translation process should include input from as many Futunian-speakers as possible.

They publicised the project and received so many responses from people wanting to volunteer, including young people on school holidays, that they had to turn some away. Nevertheless, the translation process was a thoroughly communal one, incorporating the ideas and suggestions of many islanders.

When the new Scriptures arrived on the island earlier this year, the excitement among those waiting on the docks was tangible. Even the long wait for the books to be cleared through customs did not dampen their spirits and, as night fell, they sang as they loaded the New Testaments into vehicles specially decorated with brightly coloured flowers, mats and paper streamers.

Some walked alongside the convoy of vehicles, singing and laughing, as it made its way to the Roman Catholic church in Sigave. There, a thanksgiving ceremony and feast was held, attended by traditional chiefs, church leaders and members of the Christian community.
The Futunian Old Testament is now nearing completion. (WR 365/29 - 12.01)

A Protestant translation of the full Futunian Bible was published by the Geneva Bible Society last year with some financial support from the UBS. There are about 12,000 Futunian speakers.