Church leaders of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) Atayal Presbytery officially presented the Atayal Bible during the 55th Spring Assembly and Thanksgiving Service in Taiwan in 9 February 2023, making it the fifth tribe in Taiwan to have translated the Bible in its ethnic language.
The Atayal Bible refers to the 2019 edition of the modern Chinese translation, as well as the Bibles of the Japanese, English, and Hakka languages.
Moderator of the Atayal Presbytery Rev. Hakaw Utaw preached the sermon titled “In God’s Word We Stand”, encouraging those present to use this Bible to speak Scripture so that the ethnic Atayal language can be passed down to future generations. The publication of the Atayal Bible had restored hope for the renewal of the Atayal language, and reading God’s word in their mother tongue had blessed the lives and families of the whole tribe after a 20-year wait.
The Atayal Presbytery will continue editing the Bible concordance dictionary and hold seminars to explain the words, sentences, and grammar used in the Atayal Bible, said Rev. Yabu Eyo, General Secretary of Atayal Presbytery.
Image caption: Youth of Zhang Feng Church, Paiwan Tribe at Bible Study