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Shaped and defined by the Pacific, the world’s largest ocean, the landscapes of the region are startlingly diverse. Inhospitable Australian deserts, chilly New Zealand fjords, dense tropical rainforests, and palm-fringed atolls are the stage on which a great human drama has unfolded over countless generations.
A widening arc of settlement spread through the Pacific islands over thousands of years. Early pioneers reached Australia and New Guinea long ago, apparently by way of Southeast Asia. Later, the ancestors of the Polynesian peoples began their great voyages across the sea, guided by a legendary knowledge of the stars and winds and waves. More recently, immigrants from Europe and Asia have made their homes in the region as well. Today, more than 1,300 languages, nearly 20 percent of all the world’s languages, are spoken in the Pacific realm.
From the beginning of Christian missions in the Pacific, local believers have played an active role in reaching out to their neighbors. Samoan Christians, for example, were among the early missionaries to the island of New Guinea. Today, the gospel is nominally accepted by a great many of the Pacific peoples. In fact, the Pacific has been called “the most solidly Christian part of the world” (C.W. Forman).
However, syncretism and cults are widespread through the region. In some places, the Christian church is vibrant, sending missionaries to Asia, Africa, and other parts of the world. Too often, though, the church is stifled by animism, fear, and an incomplete understanding of the gospel message. Elsewhere, intensely secular societies are antagonistic toward the gospel message.
Together with the Indonesian archipelago, the islands of the Pacific represent one of the greatest remaining needs for Bible translation in the world today. Hundreds of translation projects are in progress now, but hundreds more languages are still without even a single verse of Scripture. In cities and secular societies, people need to hear the gospel message in new and relevant ways.
Thousands of Pacific Christians are partnering with local churches and believers from around the world to translate and distribute the Scriptures for their own people and for their neighbors. Because many Pacific societies are strongly oral cultures, organizations that record audio and video versions of the Scriptures play a vital role in reaching people with God’s message in the Pacific realm.
