It was 30 years ago this month, June 1986, that our family moved to Tiap village, in the Aruamu area of the jungle, on the island of Papua New Guinea. What a journey this has been!
My late husband John Relyea and I, with our engaging 2-year-old Heather, were embraced by Aruamu folks, who began teaching us their lovely language and culture. With a goal of making many friends, we went where the people went, and we did what they did. We would mimic their speech, acting out things, looking for patterns, analyzing the sound system and grammatical system of the language as we went along.
We caught on quickly to the fact that Aruamus have a system of reciprocity – giving and receiving – which sort of holds their culture together. They always know who gave what to whom, and who owes what to whom. We gradually learned to navigate in this society where relationships are the MAIN THING. It wasn’t long before I was adopted into one of the clans. That immediately put John in the other clan line. Our other 2 children, Brigette and Bobby, were born in Papua New Guinea.
We worked with the leaders of the Aruamus to develop an alphabet for this previously unwritten language. The Aruamu folks formed the Aruamu Literacy and Translation Board in June 1987, and ever since then this committee has been responsible for overseeing the huge task of teaching Aruamus to read in their own mother tongue and translating the Word of God into their language. We have been encouragers, equippers, mentors, and friends, as we have worked together with the goal of seeing “God’s Word translated and in use by growing Christians in the Aruamu Language Group.”
Looking back from this vantage point, June 2016, I am amazed at what God has done. He has been faithful through thick and thin. The New Testament was dedicated in ’05 and is in use by churches throughout the language group. The New Testament was recorded and over 400 SD cards are playing in Aruamu phones throughout their area. The Aruamus are starting their own Aruamu Bible College with the vision of sending out missionaries to other places. The Old Testament translation is progressing so rapidly it’s almost breathtaking. By God’s grace, we envision publishing the full Aruamu Bible by 2020. |
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