The New Testament

The Kimyal people of Papua, Indonesia
Lost one Bible translator to martyrdom.

Another translated the Bible until
Her polio-ridden body failed.

The Kimyal cried out to God day by day,
Begging him for the words of God in their language,

Until a missionary teacher decided that,
Though she might feel incapable,

God was strong enough.
She took up the task.

One man, a boy when the first translator came,
Believed that he would live to see

The New Testament, even as Simeon saw the Christ.
It took forty years.

But then, captured on film,
The plane carrying the precious books

Lands high on the mountain airstrip.
The first box of books reaches the waiting hands.

And the man, who has lived to see this day,
Prays with his hands on God’s word,

While those around him weep.
Weeping and dancing.

God’s words have come to the Kimyal people!