Amarasi of Timor

The Amarasi live on the island of Timor in Indonesia. The majority of the population resides in the mountainous interior of one of the larger islands. Christianity came to the Amarasi region early in this century with the opening of church schools in which three years of study were offered to children. Therefore, literacy is widespread in the Amarasi area, although most reading and writing has been limited to the national language of Indonesian. So the Amarasi people are still waiting for the Scriptures in their language! Today over 99% of the Amarasi people call themselves Christian, and 75,000 Amarasi people claim membership in the major Protestant denomination. A few Roman Catholic and Pentecostal congregations are scattered through the region. The basic translation is being done by translators who speak that language. God has called farmers and other local people as well as a university professor to work on the translation team.

  • The team worked with their advisor in mid-September to complete the exegetical checking of the Luke and Revelation. They were encouraged to complete this step in order to prepare for a consultant check of the material. Praise the Lord that the team was able to meet together with their advisor to refine Luke and Revelation.

  • Thanks for praying about the desktop publishing process. The administrators report that the process still isn’t ideal, but books that were delayed are now getting to the printer. In fact, the Amarasi texts of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus and James were recently sent to Jakarta for printing.

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