On May 21, I traveled to the Ninigo Islands to represent the SIL-PNG directorate at the dedication of the Seimat-language New Testament. The Ninigo Islands are a small island chain north of the main island of New Guinea--in fact, almost straight north of the coastal town of Wewak, where we spent a lot of time during our first term in Papua New Guinea.
My connection to the Seimat language community began in 2008, when some Seimat translators were in Ukarumpa to work on their translation. One of them, Rebert, asked if there was anyone in Ukarumpa who could help him write songs. He had always wanted to learn more about songwriting but didn't know who to ask. He found me, and he and his brother Murray and I began meeting together each week to talk about worship, songwriting, and choir conducting. Rebert is the leader of his church's choir, and choral singing was his main interest. In those weekly sessions, he would bring me songs he had written or translated into Seimat, and I'd record him singing so I could make songsheets of the new hymns. Then we'd sing them together, there in the Ukarumpa office.
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| Murray, Rebert, and me in Ukarumpa, 2008 |
Over the next few years, I continued to meet with Rebert and others whenever they were in Ukarumpa, or to exchange letters at other times. The response to Rebert's Seimat-language songs was really encouraging. When I saw him at the dedication, he told me he has now composed or translated 50 songs.
So I was excited about the chance to travel to the Ninigo Islands and see the place and the people on their special day of dedicating the completed, published Seimat New Testament. Travel was by Kodiak airplane from Ukarumpa to Wewak, and then north to the islands. What a spectacular sight when, after flying over the ocean for almost an hour, we caught our first glimpses of the islands!
The airstrip is on Mal Island--
--and after landing there and having a rest getting to know some of the residents, we boarded sea canoes (outriggers), which took us over to another of the islands for a short visit.
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| A sea canoe, using a blue tarp for a sail |
And then we boarded motorboats to go to Patexux, the island where we would be staying for two nights, and where the dedication ceremony would take place the following day. When we landed on the beach and left the boats, hundreds of people welcomed us with a peace ceremony. Then everyone formed a line and all of us visitors shook hands with all.
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| Orderly: my host while on Patexux Island |
I slept in a house on the beach, woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the Pacific, and got ready for the dedication. The ceremony began at 8:00 a.m. on the sports field. A large number of people gave speeches, and between each speech the Seimat people presented a choir song or drama. My speech, on behalf of SIL-PNG, was the fourth out of about 20 during the day.
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| A Seimat choir, ready to sing at the dedication |
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| A drama based on the Good Samaritan story |
The day also featured a number of performances by a cultural group from Manus Island, called "The Skeleton Man of Manus." They're a popular group who have performed all over Papua New Guinea. What does a dancing skeleton have to do with a Bible dedication? Your guess is as good as mine...
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| Performances by the Skeleton Man of Manus |
The high point of a Bible dedication is, of course, the arrival and presentation of the books themselves. At the Seimat dedication, the New Testaments arrived in a canoe, "paddled" by the expatriate translators who had worked on the project--Theresa (UK) and Beata (Poland)--carried by a group of Seimat people.
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| The Seimat New Testaments arrive by canoe |
The books were prayed over and dedicated and then presented to the people. People who had pre-ordered copies came forward to get theirs, and other copies will remain available for sale on the islands.
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| Responsibility for the Seimat scriptures is symbolically passed on to the young generation as the books are presented to the community. |
The dedication ceremony continued with speeches and performances until mid-afternoon, when a rain shower halted the proceedings. But at 8 in the evening, the festivities resumed on the sports field. I left at half past midnight and the celebration hadn't ended yet. It was certainly a memorable day for the Seimat community.
The following day, all of the visitors went back to the motorboats to return to Mal Island and travel back home. As we pulled away from the beach, a choir sent us off with a farewell song. And then en route to Mal, our boats were escorted by a large pod of dolphins, swimming and jumping alongside our boats. What a fantastic good-bye!
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I don't know where this fits into a report on a New Testament dedication (if it fits in anywhere at all), but I wanted to mention one interesting feature of Ninigo life: the sea toilets. A sea toilet is an outhouse built over the water, with a narrow pathway of planks leading out to it. All of us who have known Theresa and Beata as they've worked on the translation have heard about the toilets, so it was quite something to be there experiencing them for myself.
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| The scenic sea toilet |
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| The pathway |
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| The view from the toilet |
On May 21, I traveled to the Ninigo Islands to represent the SIL-PNG directorate at the dedication of the Seimat-language New Testament. The Ninigo Islands are a small island chain north of the main island of New Guinea--in fact, almost straight north of the coastal town of Wewak, where we spent a lot of time during our first term in Papua New Guinea. 
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