“Today, the day you had chosen for this to be fulfilled, has come to pass.”
Following on from The Simeon Series: who was Simeon? I want to tell some stories of people who have had that Simeon experience – waiting for a long time to experience something very important to them.
High in the Eastern Highlands of Indonesia, a crowd waits at the edge of an isolated runway. The silence is broken only by the occasional sound of weeping and wailing. A small plane can be heard approaching.
The wheels touch-down. The plane slows to a stop.
Boxes are handed down and, as if at a signal, pandemonium breaks out. The Kimyal people have the New Testament in their heart language for the first time.
It’s a translation story spanning decades. In 1968, work on the translation was abruptly halted when two missionaries to the Kimyal people, Phil Masters and Stan Dale, were martyred by a neighbouring tribe.
The work lay dormant until 1995 when a translation team under the supervision of Bible Society Translation Consultant, Dr Lourens de Vries, took it up once again.
The promise that you gave Simeon that he would see Jesus Christ and hold him in his arms before he died. I also have been waiting under that same promise, O God. You looked at all the different languages and chose which ones will be put into Your Word. You thought that we should see Your Word in our language. Today, the day you had chosen for this to be fulfilled, has come to pass. O God, today you have placed Your Word into my hands, just like you promised. You have placed it here in our land. And for all this, O God, I give you praise. Amen.
The Kimyal People Receive the New Testament from UFM Worldwide on Vimeo.
John 20:21 