New Testament for Tokelau

The first Christian scriptures to be published in the Tokelau language were launched at a church service in Porirua near Wellington today.

The New Testament has taken 13 years to translate into Tokelau and is one of the few written documents in that language.

While the funding and expertise for this translation has come from the Tokelau community and Bible Society, the head of the Tokelau government council, Foua Toloa, announced at the launching that the council was allocating $15,000 towards the completion of the translation of the Old Testament in Tokelau. Mr Toloa said this further translation was important in helping to keep the Tokelau language alive.

The translation of the Old Testament into Tokelau is expected to take about four years.