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My name is Badi Vila and I come from Gulf Province, in the Papuan Region of PNG. I have two sisters and four brothers. Both of my parents held leadership roles in the Church, so most of my childhood was spent with Christians and in church family activities. All of these made me feel like a good Christian, but it was not until my final year of primary school that I professed my faith in Christ as a born again Christian. A classmate, who helped me understand and see clearly what makes a person a follower of Christ, led me to the Lord.
I am involved with the PNG Bible Translation Association because I believe that every Papua New Guinean can experience God’s love and forgiveness when they hear God speak to them in their own heart language (their own mother tongue), and I know the power and joy they can receive from applying scriptural truth to their lives. If an American gave a native Papua New Guinean his/her salad with all the dressings, the native Papuan would not enjoy it. In the same way, if a native Papua New Guinean gave an American his/her nangu to eat (a jelly-like sago – a staple food in the Sepik Province), the American would not enjoy it at all. They are both food, but they are prepared differently, and taste, very different. So it is with hearing or reading the Word of God in different languages. Foreign language words might be bland, or even distasteful, while something written in one’s heart language would taste delicious to the heart.
During my final year in Bible School, I realised that I was beginning to understand more about what the Scriptures said. I had learned much more about God through my studies than I had previously in my entire life, even though I had been involved in ministry and church family programs. I began to sense that many people in many PNG language groups had a need to know and enjoy God the way I did. That’s when the Lord clearly opened up the opportunity for me to become part of the staff of PNG BTA. For the last seven years I have been serving with PNG BTA through the ministry of Scripture in Use.
Early February this year (2010), I left Ukarumpa and am based in my village in the Kerema District of the Gulf Province. My current role with PNG BTA is to help my Tairuma people have God’s Word in our own heart language, so that we can understand God better when He speaks to us in a language which is not foreign to us. I am currently at the early stage of setting the Tairuma Bible Translation project for my Tairuma people. Part of my job description is to promote awareness on what Bible Translation work is all about and also to encourage people to be fully dedicated.
God's Word is like fresh air to me. Without fresh air to breathe, I would die, and so is it with God. Without God I would die, as well. However, this would be not only a physical death but also a spiritual death. It is my desire that every Papua New Guinean have God's Word – their own fresh air – in their heart language.
I am convinced beyond a shadow of doubt that people will really understand God better when they hear Him speak to them in their own respective mother tongue. For many years, preachers and lay workers and Christians in my village have been conducting big crusades, running outreach programs, open air meetings with the hope of people responding to the love of God. Many times the Word of God is preached but people turn a deaf ear. Last month (July 2010) the joint ministry outreach program called Invasion was conducted in the Siviri village. Pastor Warolyne Kanage (Tairuma Speaker) from the Covenant Ministry International shared the Word of God fluently in Tairuma from the beginning to the end. It was like the whole village coming to a standstill. People listened, they cried and they wanted to hear more. They requested Pastor Warolyne to share again and indicated that they did not want any other pastors or lay preachers to preach except Pastor Warolyne Kanage. This is the power of God’s Word brought to people groups in a language which is theirs.
