Helping everyone to know Jesus
It’s a hot Saturday in early January when we take off from Rumginae. Sweat is already running in streams over our bodies – and we know it will stay hot like this for the whole weekend! Our destination is Lake Murray, a 40 minute flight to the south of Rumginae. We have packed mosquito nets and camping mats, dishes, cutlery and also a roll of toilet paper – we are ready for our family adventure!
Back in 1989, SIL (Summer Institute of Linguistics) had received a request from the Kuni tribe of Lake Murray for someone who would help them to translate the Bible into their local language. The Kuni tribe consists of about 2,000 people who live on islands in and around Lake Murray – the largest lake in Papua New Guinea.
In June 1990, Swiss couple Irene and Roland Fumey answered the call and moved with their four children to Lake Murray to work with SIL. It wasn’t easy and the family has had to overcome multiple challenges, including learning the highly complex Kuni language. However, 25 years later, as we fly out to Lake Murray to join them, the Fumeys’ hardships are forgotten. The translation of the New Testament is completed, printed and ready to be handed over to the Kuni tribe.
As usual on such occasions, upon arrival we are greeted by a traditional and festively dressed crowd singing a song especially written for this occasion:
“Welcome, welcome, welcome to our Bible Dedication.
We are happy for you to be with us today.
We are all members of the body of Jesus Christ.
We are one in the Spirit of the Lord.”
We are then presented with beautiful garlands of flowers and escorted by the singing crowd to our accommodation – a vacant class room in the nearby primary school (as it‘s school holidays). We install our mosquito nets and put our sleeping mats on the floor, enjoying the spectacle as the other guests arrive. While some have taken a several-day trip by canoe and on foot to get here, others are flown in by the light aircraft of MAF and SIL.
The next day shows itself sunny and hot again, and we are very grateful the shady shelters that were built for us. After an opening prayer, two locals lead the long-serving SIL missionary, Roland Fumey, to a small hut which, on the basis of their tradition and the tabernacle of the Israelites, they call the “Forbidden House”. In there, the long-anticipated New Testaments are hidden. Roland has the honour of cutting the ribbon, after which the door is opened.
Later the Furney’s reported that “Four men who had been hiding in the hut, now brought out a wooden box which was modelled after the ark, and in which they stored the Kuni New Testament. In a solemn procession, this ‘ark’ was brought to the platform. There, Roland lifted the box of New Testaments out of the ark, opened it, and took out a book. He gave the new Bible to Kozap, the representative for the Kuni tribe, and said: ‘This is God’s Word. I now lay it into your hands for all Kuni. Do not let it fall. Do not lose it!’ ”
For the Fumeys, this is the most solemn moment of the ceremony; it means that they have handed over the responsibility for the Word of God in this language to the Kuni tribe. Representatives of three different generations then read passages from the Kuni New Testament, and celebration erupts with singing and dancing. At the end, the Fumeys were presented with numerous gifts by representatives of the Kuni tribe.
In the evening, we joined over 1,000 spectators who wait under an impressive starry sky to see the Jesus film for the first time in their own language.
We will surely keep this family adventure as a good memory – including the pit toilet and improvised bucket shower experiences. The Kunis are great hosts, and Joelle, our 7 year-old daughter, is still praising the fine food (rice, fish and sago) which we were served with love .
During the dedication weekend, more than 350 Kuni New Testaments were sold at Lake Murray. Please pray with the Fumeys that “the Kuni do not let go of the Word of God, but regularly read and hear it, receive it in their hearts, and ponder over it. Pray also that many more Kunis, as well as the people in the neighbouring tribes, will give their lives to God.”
Story and photos by Madeleine and Markus Bischoff. Quotes are from Fumeys’ Newsletter #86, 2016-01