Kamea New Testament | Because He Is

Nkoto’ona’ma na’anqa häva fangoti, inä gloringa Jisas Kräisi’ointäna’ma
qunaminqina qunaminqinäna wenanqati. Amen. (Rom 16:27, Kamea)

To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
(Romans 16:27)

THE MILESTONE

In December 2005, Lena and I visited Matt and Becky Allen (and our dear granddaughters, Ariel and Hannah) to see the mission work they were doing among the Kamea people in the remote mountains of Papua New Guinea. It was both a pastoral and personal trip, as I was both pastor and dad; but we had no idea God intended it to be a survey trip.

Matt said they needed two things desperately among the Kamea people, besides the evangelism and church planting that had just begun: medical care, and the Scriptures in their heart language. The Lord touched our hearts with these needs, and we went back to the US, assured that we were to serve the Lord in PNG.

In March 2008, we returned to Kotidanga to begin ministry there. Soon, Lena started what would become Kunai Health Centre, which served over 130,000 patients in the next 13 years.

On the translation project side, our team of missionaries and Kamea speakers began putting the unwritten Kamea language into writing. With help from long-time missionaries and workers among the Hamtai people (our neighbor language), we began producing literacy material in Kamea in 2009.

In January 2014, Ben Samauyo and I began translating portions of Scripture for “The Jesus Film.” By the end of that year, we had translated and checked hundreds of verses in Luke and Mark, and had recorded the first ever video in the Kamea language, crafted almost entirely from Scripture. We made copies of the audio and the video, and to this day those copies continue to circulate among the Kamea.

With that project done, we realized that we were well on our way to translating the New Testament, so we went back through the Gospel of Luke and translated the rest of the text. Yali Tapaqueo joined us as our back translator, reading the Kamea translation and translating it back into Tok Pisin so we could check the meanings.

From January 2014 until April 2025, we worked on translating and checking the New Testament in Kamea. We worked to create a translation that was: 1. Accurate; 2. Clear; 3. Readable (hearable), in that it must sound natural to a Kamea speaker; and 4. Rich in choosing the finest words to convey the meaning.

On April 18, 2025, Ben and I finished checking the last book of our labors. The first draft of the entire Kamea New Testament is now complete! For the first time in the history of the world, the Kamea people have the Scriptures in their heart language!

Going forward, we still have formatting and more checking to do. We hope to print some preliminary copies of Mark to give away to Kamea friends, to try to get feedback. We also plan to record the entire New Testament in audio form, and that alone will take a lot of time and a lot of work. My personal hope is that we can have the text ready for print in the next couple of years. Much work remains to be done—but let us praise the Lord together, as you celebrate this milestone with us!

Many of you have had a part in this ministry over the years in prayer and support. May this fruit abound to your account. Thank you for your faithful partnership!

We had intentionally left the Book of Romans for last, but we had not thought of how appropriately the final verse of our translation would express how we feel at the end of this glorious project.

To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
(Romans 16:27)

Praising God for His Grace and Goodness,
John & Lena Allen
Psalm 71:18

For your own copy of the Gospel of Mark in Kamea and Tok Pisin, click here.

June 2022 Click here for printable copy

Bible Translation Read-Through

Three weeks ago, Pastor Ben, Yali, and I spent several days reading the Kamea translation of the Book of Revelation aloud.

Yali, Pastor Ben, Papa John doing a read-through of Revelation in the Kamea language

Our Bible translation process involves multiple steps. First, I prepare a front translation in Tok Pisin with notes regarding meanings in the text. Then Pastor Ben translates it into Kamea. When he finishes a section, he gives it to Yali, who translates it back into Tok Pisin to see if anything was missed or could be misunderstood. The final step is reading the text out loud together to see how it sounds. We’ve done that with every book we’ve translated.

Last verse in the Kamea translation of Revelation

This was our final draft check of this book, and we catch a lot more when there are three of us listening to it being read. Sorry to say, we didn’t get any special insights into the interpretation of the book, but we did deliberate over terminology. A translator’s work is to translate with as little interpretation as is possible. A hard part in Revelation is describing the things John sees. Just as we English readers find it hard to imagine some of these beasts, it is just as hard to figure out how to describe it without putting an interpretation on it.

Bible College Students

A few weeks ago, we finished another term of Bible college. These students are such a blessing! As part of their Bible college training, their home church pastors mentor them as much as is possible. I am grateful for the opportunities the men get to preach and teach, both in the marketplace and in the pulpit.

To attend BBIPOM, our students must have their pastor’s recommendation, and he must agree to train them…plus, our new students have to pay up front. We already have 30 students paid and registered for our next term! Pray for this ministry, and for these great servants of God.

Bible Training Materials

A pet project of ours for a while now has been a Tok Pisin Study Bible. The idea was born out of our translation work in the village, as our men shared how they would like to learn the Book of Proverbs better. Many Baptist preachers in Papua New Guinea like to use a King James Bible, but like their American counterparts (that’s us, folks!) they have difficulty with some words, phrases, and idioms. It turned out that other pastors from our region and up in the Highlands had the same desire, so I began revising some Tok Pisin text and editing notes.

Draft copy of our Tok Pisin Study Bible: Proverbs

A couple months ago we printed Proverbs, our first book of the study bible project. It has been distributed selectively so far in order to get more feedback on the notes and the text. It has been good to have nationals and missionaries working with us on it. My wife and some friends have helped type up more notes for other Bible books, and some notes have already been translated. This is a long-term project, but we hope it will be a good tool for anyone interested in learning the Word.

The ministries here in Port Moresby have seen souls saved and more commitment among the saints of late. Pray for God to continue to do His mighty work among us!

Thank you for your continued prayers for us, and for helping us stay in the work.

Gratefully yours in Christ Jesus,
John & Lena Allen
2 Thessalonians 3:1

Enjoy some more photos from the last couple of months here in Port Moresby:

These are some of our students doing ministry–proud of them all! All three of these young men are preachers, and Brianna is one of the Christian School teachers in our son’s ministry in Port Moresby.