I just finished reading a book entitled Outrageous Grace. It is the story of Edmund and Grace Fabian who were Bible translators in Papua New Guinea.
Edmund was born in Poland and escaped to Germany with his mother and siblings during World War I. The trip to safety was so traumatic he seldom spoke of it. They were reunited with his father in Germany and Edmund grew up there. Grace grew up in New York. She always wanted to be a missionary and spent some time in mission work in Mexico. They met at a linguistic school and were married in 1967.
Edmund and Grace arrived in Papua New Guinea in 1969 with their four-month-old son, Jonathan. Their assignment was to translate the Bible into the language of the Nabak people. The Nabak language had never been written. They not only had to learn the language but devise an alphabet for the sounds. They had to learn Nabak customs so they could translate the Bible in terms the people would understand.
For example, the Nabak people have a custom of tying knots to indicate a promise or agreement has been made. If a man gives a gift of a pig to someone he lays a knot made from a tough vine on top of the meat. When the person who received the meat wants to return a gift he lays the vine on top of his gift but unties the knot. It is a symbol of mutual trust and unity. As the Fabians translated the New Testament, they frequently came across the words "covenant" and "agreement." After much discussion they translated those terms to "knot." God tied his knot with the Nabak. His words are God's "new knot."
Through the years, several natives helped them with the translation work. They were seventy percent finished in April 1993. On April 29, Edmund was in his office working on I Corinthians 13 when the man who was helping him went berserk and buried an ax in Edmund's head. They knew he acted strange sometimes but did not know he was schizophrenic.
At Edmund's memorial service in the States, the minister held up a pair of Edmund's shoes and asked who will fill those shoes. His son, Jonathan, stood up and volunteered to give up his career and help his mother go on with the difficult task of finishing the translation.
Grace went to prison on a regular basis to visit her husband's murderer. The forgiveness she extended to him and Jonathan's return impressed the Nabak people more than anything they had ever done. How could they forgive? Why would Grace stay and Jonathan come back to help the people who had murdered his father? They didn't understand, but Grace did. God told her they needed a demonstration of His words so they could understand what they mean.
The New Testament was finished in 1998. Grace and her family were honored with celebrations in two places when the first Bibles were distributed. Someone asked Grace if there was a meaning for the red ribbon marker in the Bible. She told him it's red because it's for the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross. It's for His covenant; "He has tied His knot with us."
One of these places was in the village where Edmund's murder lived. By that time he had committed suicide. In a formal ceremony, his widow asked Grace to be her sister. She accepted. She and her children were "adopted" into their family and given many valuable traditional gifts. It was the Nabak way of apologizing and making restitution for a wrong.
Grace returned to the States in 2005 but the Bible she and Edmund translated remains with the people. She has traveled back to Papua New Guinea several times to work on a songbook and renew friendships. Today she lives in eastern Pennsylvania close to her children.
If you'd like to read the whole story, it is available on Amazon.
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