The Pijin Bible is Dedicated

The Pijin Bible was dedicated in Honiara, Solomon Islands on July 7, 2008. That date was the 30th anniversary of independence.

We worked in the Solomons so many years ago it seems like it was in a previous life. We went there first in 1976 at the age of about 23 where we did language survey work that was also part of Gary's research toward his Ph.D. We returned in 1979 to begin translation work on the island of Malaita. Andrew was 9 months old at the time. Rachel was bred and born on Malaita, and I was pregnant with David when we returned to life in the USA at the end of 1983. Only once since then were we able to make a short visit back, in 1987, I believe.

We were advisers for several language projects on the island, including Lau and To'abaita. The Lau project was taken up by another team and the NT was published in 1992. The Solomon Islander who worked most closely with us on the Lau project was Aloysius Jack. Why am I telling you all of this? Because Jack went on to also be involved in Pijin translation, and that fact brings us great joy and satisfaction.

Here is a link to photos of the dedication ceremony. Photo #9 shows Jack with the boxes of Bibles. He and two others received the Solomon Islands Medal to honor their work in bringing the translation to completion. Also, here is a link to a press release about the dedication.