This month marks two hundred years since the Bible first came to New Zealand. It may be the other side of the world, but there’s never a bad excuse to celebrate God’s word reaching new islands and peoples!
United Bible Societies tell this account of the first recorded instance of the Bible being read and preached from on Ney Zealand soil:
On Christmas Day 1814, at the invitation of Ruatara, a chief of the Ngāpuhi tribe, British missionary Samuel Marsden stood before a gathering of hundreds of Maori people and shared the Bible for the very first time on New Zealand soil.
“It being Christmas Day,” he wrote in his journal, “I preached from the second chapter of St Luke’s Gospel, and tenth verse, ‘Behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy.’”
And so began the story of the Bible in New Zealand. Translation of the Bible into Maori began in the mid 1820s and the New Testament was published in 1837. It was so popular that missionaries could not keep up with the demand. The New Testament was considered a ‘taonga’ – a treasure – prized above all else. People walked for days to get a copy and one missionary commented that he was being kept awake by Maoris reading and discussing the New Testament all night!
The Bible Society of New Zealand have produced this video that will take you through those first years of the spread of the Bible in New Zealand (it also includes some beautiful scenery).
If you think, like we do, that this is a great excuse to celebrate the Bible, Bible Society of New Zealand have produced a selection of resources you can use in church, including this fun-looking children’s activity page.
We believe that the Bible is good news and we want everyone to be able to hear it in a way they understand. This December, consider partnering with a Bible translation organisation (it could be us, it could be a Bible Society) to help get God’s word further.