Pullung’s Story: The Gospel in Waskia

Written by Garrett Shue

Date: April 27, 2025

During one of our recent trips to KarKar Island, something incredible happened. Our Community Engagement team had planned to show the Jesus Film at the Miak Health Center, in a region where the Waskia language is spoken. We normally show the film in Tok Pisin, the trade language most people understand. But a day or two before the screening, we discovered a version of the film that had been translated into Waskia. No one knew exactly when it had been done, but what was clear was that it had never made its way back to the people it was created for until now.

We made the decision to show the Waskia version, and that night, around 200 to 300 people gathered to watch. For many, it was their first time seeing a movie in their own heart language. Among them was Pullung Tangoman, a faithful church elder in the community, sitting with his wife Langos and their young daughter Malinda. Pullung had spent his life learning about God in English and Tok Pisin, but hearing and seeing the story of Jesus in Waskia was unlike anything he had ever experienced. He shared that it felt like he was part of the movie, not just watching a story, but being drawn into it. The words reached his heart in a new way.

He told us that he had always known the Lord’s Prayer in Tok Pisin. He had memorized it and said it countless times, but hearing it for the first time in Waskia changed everything. Instead of just repeating familiar words, he finally understood them. They were no longer just phrases to recite. They became a prayer he could take to heart. For the first time, God was speaking to him in his own language.

This moment was deeply personal for Pullung. It felt as though the Lord was speaking directly to his people, that the story of Jesus was not just a story, but their story. He believes that God is doing something new in his community, raising up a generation of Papua New Guinean men and women who love the Lord and are being trained to walk out their calling.

Moments like this are a powerful reminder of why Bible translation matters. Every person deserves to understand God’s Word in the language of their heart, not just to read it, but to feel it, to own it, to live it. When Scripture comes alive in the language people think in, dream in, and speak with their families, something changes. It brings clarity, connection, and transformation.

But for most of the languages we come in contact with here in Madang Province, this is not the case. Many communities have little to none of the Bible in their own language. That is why this work is so urgent and so important. The Gospel is for everyone.

God loves every tribe, every language, every people group. His desire is for all to know Him, not through a secondhand understanding, but in the language that speaks to their soul. He cares deeply for the people of Papua New Guinea, for every hidden village, every forgotten tongue, every man, woman, and child. He wants them to know who He is and how much He loves them.

This is why we continue to press on in the work of Bible translation and Gospel access, because no one should be left out of hearing God’s voice in a way they can understand. We believe the day is coming when every people group will have the Bible in their own language, and they too will hear Jesus speak to them, just like Pullung did, clearly, personally, and powerfully. The story is not finished yet, but God is writing it, one language at a time.