News

The Christianization of the Kalanguya in Nansiakan, Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya and nearby villages by Margie P. Lumawan

1962-1963 [SURVEYS]

            In 1962, American missionaries from New Tribes Mission International came to visit a village deep in the forest called Nansiakan to survey possible area for ministry.

            These were their names:

                        1.  Dell Schultze

                        2.  Byrd Brunemeier

                        3.  Lee German

                        4.  Bob Gustafson

            Some time passed, three missionary couples came to the Kalanguya people. They were Sang and Frances Boone, John and Lynne Eaton, and Gonzalo and Rose Tigo.  When they came, they told the people that they came to preach the Word of God. 

1964-1965

            In 1964, Sang Boone and his wife, came to Nansiakan and they lived in a house of one of the villagers named Lugaman. They started teaching the Word of God in English and interpreted to Kalanguya by one among the few of the Kalanguyas who can understand a bit English. During that time, Sang Boone goes to rituals and tribal ceremonies and found out that it is against the Word of God. Aside from teaching the Word, the missionaries also started giving medicines and treating simple illnesses of the people.

1966

            American missionaries Robert and Judith Ambrosius arrived in the Kalanguya village and started working with the Kalanguya people in the Spring of 1967.

1967-1969

            Bob Ambrosius started the Linguistic Analysis of the Kalanguya language. He started building the Pedagogical Grammar to aid in the learning of the language by the other missionaries. After which, he wrote a Kalanguya Language Course, Three Primers Translation and started teaching the Kalanguya people to read and write their own language.

In 1969, Robert and Janice Bagley from NTM Australia came to Nansiakan

1968 - 1971

            In 1968, Sang Boone went back to the USA and came back to Nansiakan in 1969 and continued teaching the Word to the Kalanguya until 1971.  In 1971, they left  Nansiakan  and went to another village called Kamandag and lived there.

            In 1970, Bob Ambrosius begun a Bible Study in Acab, a village 2 hours hike from Nansiakan then Bob Bagley went in and continued the teaching ad lived there. Bob and Judy Ambrosius then went to Paniki ni 1971 and Angel and Thelma de la Cruz came and joined them there.

1972

            Bob Ambrosius continued translating the New Testament into Kalanguya beginning with the 4 Gospels and that four books were used by the other missionaries who teaches the Word of God. There were Kalanguyas who served as language helpers to Bob. They were Federico "Pollang" Malcat, Dionisio "Buhyag" Abansi, and other Kalanguya who now believed in Jesus Christ.

            As the years went by, many Kalanguyas came to know and commit their lives to the Lord Jesus and so a General Conference was held each year going from station to station: Oliweg where Angel and Thelma de la Cruz were, in Acab where Robert and Janice Bagley resided, and in Nansiakan where Robert and Judy Ambrosius continued teaching the people and translating the NT into Kalanguya.

1975

            The believers chose church elders then in 1982, deacons were also chosen to help the elders.

1977

            In October 1977, Lynn Burgraff and Sherri Weygan arrived in Nansiakan and they were the ones who taught the women and the children. They also started teaching Bible Studies to students in the nearby high school.

1983

            The New Testament in Kalanguya was finished and was dedicated in November of the same year. During that time, many people bought the Kalanguya NT and as a result many Kalanguyas had committed their lives to God.

1987

            Thelma de la Cruz led in organizing the Young people and in the years that came and went, the leadership of the YP assisted by the missionaries held their annual Youth Camp on a December month. Youth Fellowships were also started in each village and many youth were being led to Christ.

            In the same year, 1987, the Missionaries had to evacuate their villages due to insurgencies which were a danger to them. So in November 17th, 1987, Bob Ambrosius called the Kalanguya believers to the NTM station in Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya who can teach the Word and mentored them. By God’s grace, the Kalanguya believers had even increased in number during those trying years and absence of missionaries. They had learned to really depend on God and not on their missionaries.

In the year 2000, the revision of the NT was started and was published and dedicated in May of 2001.

In 2002, the language helper who assisted Bob and Judy Ambrsius in the revision of the NT committed to undergo Bible Translation training and do Old Testament translation into Kalanguya.  With the support of the Ambrosiuses, SIL and NPMTTA, and the Kalanguya churches, the Old Testament is on its way to the finish, with only Psalms, Isaiah, and Song of Songs in the drafting phase.

Books that were published in a trial version are Genesis, portions of Exodus, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1&2 Samuel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Proverbs, Jeremiah, Daniel, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. 

Books that were already consultant checked but are yet to be published are Exodus, Leviticus, 1&2 Kings, Job, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Habakkuk.

Books that are ready for checking are Numbers, Ezekiel.   

Books that are still being drafted or under intermediate team checks are Deuteronomy, 1&2Chronicles, Psalms, Song of Songs, and Isaiah.   The Kalanguya Translation team hopes to finish the translation in 2015, and do a revision of the whole NT and OT, and have the two published in one single book by the end of 2015.

Back to Bible History