“I heard it in my own language, and I believe.”

Your support has helped spark revival among the Pinai people

“Why would you want to spend all these years and all this effort on a language group that is so small? Isn't that a waste?”

Markus and Liisa Melliger have heard these questions since they first began working among the Pinai-Hagahai people almost 20 years ago. And to them the answer is simple: This language group is like the one lost sheep the Good Shepherd went after.

The Pinai-Hagahai are only about 1,000 people strong and live an isolated existence in a very remote part of Papua New Guinea (PNG). But like any other people group, they desperately need God’s Word. That's why the Melligers have made it their life’s work to translate the Scriptures for the Pinai-Hagahai.

The Melliger’s efforts have been anything but a “waste.” In 2008, they completed the four Gospels and the book of Acts, which were distributed in print and on solar-powered audio players. And with these Scriptures now readily available, a revival has broken out among the Pinai-Hagahai.

“When the pastor spoke in Tok Pisin or Enga, I did not believe,” said one elderly villager. “Now I hear it in my own language, and I believe.” And thanks to the translated Scriptures, Pinai elder Wadaag proclaims, “Jesus is now in my heart!”

What’s more, the revival has since pushed its way into neighboring villages, where men and women are reading and hearing of God’s love in their language for the very first time. Thank you for partnering with us so that more lost sheep might be found.