Holy Couriers
Celebrating the completion of the full Ngalik Bible
by Linda Ringenberg, MAF Papua, Indonesia
My husband, Dave, and I made our way between two lines of Ngalik women arrayed in grass skirts. Colorful net bags were draped from their heads and cascaded down their backs. They swayed back and forth, chanting “Wah-oh-wah-oh-way!”
We climbed onto the stage with the other guests and found seats. Earlier that morning, Dave had piloted one of the five MAF planes that carried guests to this long-awaited celebration. I was thrilled to accompany him because this was the first Bible dedication I was able to attend, though we have served here in Papua, Indonesia, for 14 years.
Dave and I first met Buzz and Myrna Maxey, who serve with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, in 2012. Buzz’s parents, Ed and Shirley Maxey, along with two faithful tribal translators named Amos and Enos, devoted thirty years of their life to the completion of the Ngalik New Testament, which was dedicated in 1992.
Buzz and Myrna then embraced the calling to oversee the translation of the Old Testament.
Ed and Shirley are now with the Lord, and Amos and Enos have gray hair. But, for the first time ever, the Ngalik people have the complete Word of God in their own tribal language.
After 61 years and two generations in translation, Ngalik speakers have the complete Bible. It was a privilege for MAF staff to attend the Bible dedication celebration in the town of Dekai, Papua, in February. This story began in the 1960s when the Ed and Shirley Maxey—Christian & Missionary Alliance (CMA) missionaries—arrived in the village of Silimo. After building a house and an airstrip, they committed their lives to learning the Ngalik language and getting it into written form. They recruited two local young men, Enos and Amos, to assist in the translation, which became their life work. In 1989 Buzz and Myrna Maxey arrived to continue the work Buzz’s parents began. MAF has been supporting this translation project since the early days. But so many Papuan people still don’t have God’s Word in their heart language. Please ask the Lord of the Harvest to continue to send laborers here, for His glory. Photos by Debbie Klynstra, MAF Papua.
As the celebration began, we worshiped the Lord together in song, and then a drama chronicled the Bible translation process, portraying Ed Maxey’s first meeting with the Ngalik people in 1963.
Seeking to make contact with this unreached tribe, Ed hiked through the rugged Papuan highlands. Completely exhausted and unable to go any farther he lay down in the middle of the trail. What he didn’t know was that hidden in the brush, unseen Ngalik warriors surrounded him, intent on slaying the stranger.
Startled and confused by this apparent show of weakness, the warriors decided they couldn’t kill someone lying helplessly in the mud. This first meeting led to Ed and Shirley going to live with the tribe, where they built a house and an airstrip.
MAF supported the Maxeys’ ministry from the beginning, even air dropping supplies as they built their airstrip.
Buzz shared, “MAF has been an invaluable help in the advancing and completion of the Ngalik Bible translation.”
During the translation process, Dave recalled flying out clear plastic bags filled with Ngalik Scripture manuscripts from the Maxeys’ village. “We were like holy couriers, transporting the Word of God,” he told me.
The manuscripts were then sent to Canada where a team of people entered the text into the computer, printed it out, and sent it back to Papua to be checked and revised. This process continued for years.
At the end of the dedication-day drama, Ngalik men held the Bible above their heads in celebration. All the actors, as well as Buzz, Myrna, and their children and grandchildren, began circling around the men, whooping and chanting in the traditional Papuan way of rejoicing.
As the crowd clapped and cheered, my heart burst with emotion, and my eyes filled with tears. I marveled that God, in His love for the Ngalik people, had sent missionaries like the Maxeys and many different MAF families over the years to live in this remote land so that the Ngalik people could learn about Him and salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.
As we flew home, I marveled at God’s grace in allowing MAF to be part of such a great work.
What began with a tired missionary lying in the mud has culminated in an entire people group having the Word of God in their heart language. To God be the glory!
Missionaries Buzz (far right) and Myrna Maxey (center) celebrate with Ngalik leaders. Photo by Debbie Klynstra
