*** w00 12/15 p. 32 “Something That Should Bring Joy to Everyone” ***
"TUVALU, a beautiful country made up of nine islands in the South Pacific, has a population of some 10,500. Still, realizing that God’s “will is that all sorts of men should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth,” local Jehovah’s Witnesses yearned to have Bible publications in their own language. (1 Timothy 2:4) This posed a challenge, as no dictionary was available in the language. In 1979, a missionary of Jehovah’s Witnesses serving in Tuvalu took up the challenge. He and his wife lived with a local family, learned the language, and gradually built up a glossary of Tuvaluan words. By 1984, the book You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth was published in Tuvaluan by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.
Dr. T. Puapua, the former prime minister of Tuvalu, wrote a letter expressing appreciation for the Live Forever book. He wrote: “This book is yet another new and vital addition to the essential ‘riches’ of Tuvalu. You should be very happy with the part that you have played—an excellent part in the building up of the spiritual life of the people of this nation. It is my belief that this work will be written into the history of Tuvalu with regard to the printing of educational books. . . . This [accomplishment] is something that should bring joy to everyone.”
The translator’s accumulated word list led to the publication of a Tuvaluan-English dictionary in 1993. It was the first dictionary for the general public in that language. Recently, the National Language Board of Tuvalu asked for permission to use it in developing their first vernacular dictionary.
Since January 1, 1989, a monthly edition of the Watchtower magazine has been published in Tuvaluan. If you are reading this magazine in your second language, why not check page 2 and see if your first language is included in the languages in which The Watchtower is published? Reading it in your mother tongue would no doubt bring you additional joy."
Yes, it was the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, and not the King. I must have been getting confused with the King of Tonga.
