One night Glenda had a dream.

She saw her son and nephew carrying a large box into her house. As they drew near, Glenda noticed that they were crying with joy. Glenda didn’t know what the box contained and was confused about why they were crying. She didn’t understand what the dream meant.

The next day she found out the meaning of her dream.

A ship arrived in Pelonk, a village in the Maskelyne Islands in Vanuatu where Glenda lives. Just as Glenda had dreamt, men carried the boxes ashore and tears streamed down people’s faces as they watched the men bring the cargo off the ship. Inside the boxes were copies of the New Testament in their own Maskelynes language.

As more boxes were unloaded from the ships, people covered them with flowers and laid hands on them in welcome, as if greeting an honored guest. They joyously received God’s Word in their language — something their ancestors had anticipated doing since missionaries first came to these islands in 1897. Now, over 100 years later, the people are finally able to read the Scriptures in their own heart language. 

On Sunday, April 6, 2014, the New Testament dedication festivities began. For the next several days, people from all three Maskelynes villages gathered in the afternoon in Pelonk to enjoy music and drama. Then on April 9, the official day of the dedication, more people came from other islands and even other countries to celebrate with them.

Young people performed reenactments of the first missionaries’ arrival in their village, and skits about different Bible verses. The people’s pride in seeing their language published was evident as they read portions of translated Scripture. Later in the day chiefs from each clan made sure that everyone received a copy of the New Testament to take home and read for themselves. Participants could also purchase audio New Testaments.

A very memorable part of the dedication was the unveiling of a memorial stone. The people wanted to commemorate the significance of the day in a special way and leave a visual reminder of the value of what they were celebrating. Just as Israel took stones from the Jordan River and placed them on the bank to remember God’s saving power for future generations, the Maskelyne people marked the dedication of the Maskelynes New Testament with a large stone.

Now people across the Maskelyne Islands — just like Glenda — are able to hold God’s Word in their hands and understand it with their hearts, pointing to the memorial stone as a reminder to the generations to come of that significant day when their dreams finally came true.