The intense tropical sun of Papua New Guinea hid its face below the horizon as if to look away from the coming horror. For a few fleeting moments, the thatch-topped houses of the Arop village, peacefully perched on their stilts, were silhouetted one last time against the evening sky. Then the unthinkable occurred. As families prepared for their evening meal, the earth shuddered beneath them. Children playing on the beach screamed for parents to come see gaping cracks in the sand. Many ran to the shore to investigate the abnormally retreating tide.
Triggered by a 7.0 oceanic earthquake off the coast, three consecutive tsunami waves rumbled shoreward in a deafening crescendo beginning at 7.00 pm local time on 17 July 1998. With a sound similar to a jet leaving the tarmac, the first wall of water engulfed Arop homes. As twilight fell, the 30-foot waves engulfed everything. Villagers later likened the sensation to being in a giant washing machine. Hundreds were snatched up and slammed into the side of their houses or into mangrove trees. Hundreds more were sucked away into the dark ocean never to be seen again. In the blackness of night, those who were still able to move fled empty-handed into the jungle.
Sunrise the next morning revealed a stripped beach where the village once thrived. Nothing remained. Neighboring villages had been reduced to piles of tropical kindling. During the days after the tsunami, rescue crews from around the world rushed supplies and medical teams to aid the survivors. Even with their help, scores of people who had initially survived the tsunami ultimately lost their lives or limbs due to untreated infections during their terror-filled days of hiding in the jungle. As the rescue operation tallied the devastation, the statistics stunned everyone—half of the Arop population of more than 4,000 had been lost. Almost no babies or toddlers had survived the tsunami holocaust.
Wycliffe translators John and Bonnie Nystrom and their children, had lived for 10 years on Arop’s seemingly idyllic beach. Just two weeks before the tsunami, the Nystroms had gone to Ukarumpa, SIL’s highland center in Papua New Guinea. They returned to find that the tsunami tragedy had struck each of the four Arop translators: Ben Siriyon lost his life; Emil Ninkure was seriously injured and spent weeks in a hospital; Peter Marokiki and Pious Nasnas survived but lost family members. The Nystroms put their translation work on hold to join the international rescue team. It was not just the Arop people who were devastated; more than 10,000 villagers located west of the coastal town of Aitape had also been displaced!
Bible Translation Vision
Before the tsunami, Genesis and Mark had been published and the book of Acts was in progress. Pastors Peter and Emil had been working with the Nystroms on the Arop translation since October 1990, completing initial rough drafts of Matthew, Luke, John, Acts, Revelation and portions of the Old Testament. But since the tsunami displacement, the translation team has changed its focus to preparing training materials and leading introductory workshops for neighboring language groups that have asked to join the translation team.
As word spread throughout the surrounding communities that Arop would be hosting translation and literacy workshops, more and more language groups have asked to be included in the Aitape West Translation Project. Wycliffe member Deb Larkins from Australia has joined the team to work with one of those languages. Translation awareness workshops held in early 2001 explained the reason for Bible translation and discussed basic translation principles, with the opportunity for participants to try their hand at translating a few verses.
During an alphabet development workshop, new delegates from nine languages and dialects created their own alphabet for the first time. For many participants it was a lifelong dream to see their language in written form—bringing them one step closer to the life-changing experience of reading God’s Word in their own language. Every group then committed to sending translators to the first translation workshop in September for the new Aitape West Translation Project. Spurred on by this training, Onnele language participants also conducted several literacy classes in their own villages, producing 37 stories and many hand-drawn illustrations. After hiking three hours back to Arop, they showed the handwritten manuscripts to Pastor Emil. In Arop’s new translation center, Emil typed up the stories and computer-scanned the pictures, producing the first Onnele reading books, complete with illustrations!
The long-awaited multi-language translation workshop was held September 24–October 12, 2001. Experienced Arop translators Emil and Peter were joined by the Nystroms and Deb Larkins in teaching the new participants from twelve dialects of six languages. The workshop covered basic translation principles and taught participants how to work together in groups of related languages to produce a first draft of Jonah. “We are experimenting here, doing a number of things differently. Facilitating translation in twelve dialects of six languages—all working together—is much different than translating into just one, “said John Nystrom. “We have ideas on how to proceed, but we’re not sure exactly how everything is going to work yet.”
What’s one more in a translation workshop? One more is a lot! There are three other coastal languages east of Aitape that are also related to Arop. If Ulau were included, soon requests from Yakamul, Paup and Tumleo Island would arrive. Several other inland languages are also located in the east Aitape area. At the conclusion of the workshop, John challenged the participants: “When you think of Joachim Ali, think of him as a symbol. He represents all the people in PNG who want to have God’s Word in their language—but don’t.” “So let’s get to work on this translation experiment,” John continued. “We need you to help us develop this new translation method so you can use it to help people like Joachim here in the east Aitape area—and the rest of PNG.”
From the tragedy of the earthquake and successive tidal waves of July 1998 has come renewed energy to work together to see more translations produced for the benefit of all languages in the East Aitape area in three short years. Thank the LORD with us for Joachim Ali, the symbol of all people in PNG who want to have God’s Word in their language but don’t have it yet. YET! So often from a tragedy comes renewed energy to focus on what is most important.
Source: SIL PNG, John & Bonnie Nystrom
[Disaster, earthquake, tidal wave, Translation, new approaches, PNG, protection, death]