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| Book cover designed by Ben |
We’re really pleased to announce the long-awaited launch of the new book, “Wea nao Stret Rod?”.
It has been quite a long process, from the initial translating from PNG Tok Pisin into Bislama (done by Lilian, a local lady), and then checking, and re-checking of drafts, formatting, cover designing, printing, collating, publishing, etc. -- but it's finally all done!
Remember the classic book by John Bunyan, “Pilgrims’ Progress”? Maybe you read it some years ago. Well, we now have an illustrated and contextualised version of this same story available in Bislama for people throughout Vanuatu to also read and enjoy.
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| A team effort. SU, SIL, VBT. |
This is one of the fruit of the partnership between Scripture Union Vanuatu, SIL (Summer Institute of Linguistics) and VBT (Vanuatu Bible Translation).
You can read more about the book and launch in the following article, written for the local newspaper by Ross Webb ...
Wea Nao Stret Rod?
Good question! The Holy Bible of course works hard to answer that question. And many people have tried to make the Bible’s answer easy to understand. One of those clear thinkers was a man named John Bunyan who was put in gaol by leaders in England for asking too many questions about the corrupt nature of the church at the time!
He didn’t waste his time in prison. No, he spent his time writing an allegory called “Pilgrim’s Progress”. It is the story of a man who faces many hardships, persecutions and trials during his life. The whole story is a vivid and realistic picture of a person who wishes to live as a Christian and eventually end up in the “celestial city”.
That story was written almost 400 years ago. It turned out to be a very influential book – for nearly 300 years in England it was the most popular book next to the Bible. It inspired and encouraged many Christians in tough times. Unfortunately if you tried to read the original version today you’d have a tough time. The English he wrote in is difficult for us to understand clearly today.
But readers in Vanuatu don’t have to face that challenge. On Thursday 29th September in a small ceremony, Scripture Union, Vanuatu Bible Translation (VBT) and SIL launched a version of Pilgrim’s Progress in Bislama. Its Bislama title is “Wea Nao Stret Rod?”. The language and the title isn’t the only thing that has changed. The story has been reformed and translated to reflect life in Melanesia with our particular challenges in focus so that it’s easy for us to relate to.
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| Lilian Navaika (SIL) and Albea Nalisa (SUV) |
This version was written first in PNG’s Tok Pisin. Two years ago Lilian Navaika of SIL started wrestling with the Tok Pisin version to get it into understandable Bislama. Then a team of readers and reviewers from VBT and Scripture Union read it over many times to get it to sound as good as it does. Those involved in the editing agreed that it was a great story and one that should become very popular in Vanuatu.
Albea Nalisa, Coordinator of Scripture Union told those gathered that 300 vatu was very cheap for such an important book. The ladies who work in the SUV office and lending library on the top floor of Caillard & Kaddour in Port Vila will be more than happy to show you the new book, and all the other Bislama titles they have to help you find the Stret Rod.
Will “Wea Nao Stret Rod?” become as popular and influential as its parent Pilgrim’s Progress? Only time will tell.
