Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen. — 2 Peter 3:18 (NLT)
The Solomon Islands is a chain of six main volcanic, mountainous and heavily forested islands. It’s located northeast of Australia in the Pacific Ocean. Travel across the Solomon Islands and you’ll encounter Mount Popomanaseu, Tenaru Falls and Honiara — the largest town and main port for the Islands. The country also features multiple museums, memorials and artifacts frozen in time in Guadalcanal, including two World War II shipwrecks close to the shore at Mbonege Beach.
Even though English is the official language of the Solomon Islands, it’s the first language of less than 2% of the population. Most residents speak one of 74 indigenous languages — including Tikopia. The majority of Tikopians are monolingual, so they’re unable to engage with published Scripture in other languages on the Islands. At least 1,200 people live on Tikopia, an isolated, volcanic island of Polynesian culture. Tikopians have also settled in colonies on other islands in the Solomons.
Praise God that the 4 gospels have been published, and the rest of the New Testament is being checked.
An initial Tikopia Bible translation project led by an SIL* team and one committed Tikopian was put on hold in 1990 because of a lack of resources. But now, a review team is working to complete the New Testament in Tikopia.
Despite some challenges, the team is making good progress on the translation. Praise God that the four Gospels were recently published! The SIL project consultant was able to meet with the team right before the country closed its borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has mailed additional project notes to reviewers on the island from Australia. The review team now has all of the remaining New Testament books in hard copy form to review, and they’re volunteering their time two full days a week to ensure the translation is clear and accurate.
Prayer points:
Wisdom for the review team as they process all of the comments and corrections recommended by the consultant.
Open and eager hearts among the Tikopians for God’s Word in their language.
The Solomon Islands remain free of COVID-19 cases.
*a primary strategic partner
Reproduced with permission from Wycliffe US
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