Community effort pays off
for Futunian Bible project

SOUTH PACIFIC — While speakers of several languages in the Solomon Islands are still eagerly awaiting the arrival of a Bible in their own language (see previous article), this special day arrived earlier this year for the residents of another small island community for which the Bible Society in the South Pacific (BSSP) is responsible. The guest of honour at the dedication ceremony on April 27 was a Samoan Catholic priest whose unstinting commitment to a large extent ensured the completion of the Futunian Bible.

Bad weather

As Father Lafaele Tevaga and BSSP Translation Consultant Dr Nigel Statham braved bad weather to fly to the tiny island of Futuna, a French overseas territory, for the ceremony, they reflected on how, throughout a 20-year project which had experienced setbacks including differences of opinion on translation issues and the destruction of many buildings in an earthquake, it had been the dedication of the whole community of Futunian speakers, led by Father Tevaga and a number of others, that had ensured that the translation was finally completed. And when, after a considerable delay, they arrived on the island with three boxes of new Bibles1, they were plunged into the midst of week-long celebrations which fully reflected local people’s great joy at seeing this commitment bear fruit.

Roast pigs

“Father Tevaga and the Futunian Bible were the absolute focus of attention,” says Dr Statham. “I have never seen so many roast pigs in one place in all of my life, and almost all the speeches and two of the four mekes [dances] were about the Bible translation. Father Tevaga’s and my names are mentioned in one of the songs! I couldn’t believe it. I felt that the Bible had been well and truly dedicated.”

Moving event

The dedication ceremony was a particularly moving event for Father Tevaga, who, when he was sent in 1992 to serve as a parish priest on Futuna for six months, could never have envisaged that he would end up staying for almost 10 years and playing such a leading role in the provision of the Scriptures in one of the island’s three languages. When he arrived, he could speak neither Futunian nor the official language, French, but it was not long before he relaunched a project which had begun in the early 1980s.

Large earthquake

Differences between Roman Catholics and Protestants, which led to separate translation teams being set up, followed by a large earthquake in 1993, hampered progress. However, by 1997 the project was thriving and had embraced the entire community, with many people, young and old alike, contributing on a voluntary basis. Even before the New Testament was launched in 2001 (see World Report 365/29), speakers of Futunian were demonstrating unwavering faith that, one day, they would hold the complete Futunian Bible in their hands.