Sleeping Coconuts

by John Nystrom, Bonnie Nystrom

Peter looked up and saw the first of three consecutive waves, each over thirty feet high, throwing up a huge cloud of mist as it enveloped a friend’s house and threw it into the lagoon like a piece of driftwood. He then turned toward his own neighborhood in time to witness the massive wave breaking, completely submerging houses, tall coconut trees, everything. As it rushed toward their defenseless canoe, he watched the wave pluck his own house from the ground like a blade of grass, and sweep it high, carrying it on its peak.

In the late 1980s, John and Bonnie Nystrom came alongside Pastor Peter and several other men from Arop village in Papua New Guinea to translate the Bible into the local language. Now, while visiting another part of the country just ten years later, John and Bonnie learned that tragedy had struck Arop village, causing a massive loss of life.

What had happened? Were their neighbors okay? What about the members of the Bible translation team? Was this the end of Bible translation for Arop?

In Sleeping Coconuts, John and Bonnie Nystrom share their story of tragedy, teamwork and transformation, and the incredible way that God used a tsunami to change the face of Bible translation in Papua New Guinea.

For over twenty-five years, John and Bonnie have served with Wycliffe Bible Translators as linguists for various language groups in Papua New Guinea. They continue to work on projects from their home in Florida, making periodic trips to Papua New Guinea to work with the Bible translation teams face-to-face.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

212 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 15, 2012

Reviews

[Mark Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heart-stirring—a wonderful story. Really came away loving the dear Christian folks in the US and in PNG who featured in the narrative!

Not as much nerdy linguistics stuff as I hoped, I must admit, and needed to cut about 40% of the detail. How awful it feels to say this, but the editor in me must out!

[Katelyn Bolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

While a family of translators is on sabbatical in the states, a tsunami consisting of three gigantic waves hits the village they called home. With the devastation leaving the town flattened and those left alive exposed to the elements, the Nystroms fly back to survey the damage and do what they can to help. This book details everything that happened and how God used the destruction to bring the people of the Apop village in Papua New Guinea closer to him.

Whereas the writing is not excellent, anyone interested in missions or translation work will enjoy this book. There are chapters of translated accounts from natives, maps, and even a glossary of terms pertaining to the Papua New Guinea culture. The Nystroms have served with Wycliffe translation for more than 25, translating multiple languages in Papua New Guinea.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great! I learned so much from it. It is so easy to think that translations are a piece of cake these days with all of the computer programs available for that purpose. But there are so many more languages and dialects in the world that those programs haven't learned yet! And there are so many people in the world who don't yet have access to a Bible to read in their own language but are hungering for that! Thank you, John and Bonnie, for the work you are continuing to do! And thanks for sharing!

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The gripping and well-told story of a breakthrough Bible translation project in Papua New Guinea. Well worth a read!

[Nancy Kendall]

no audio

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting story of how a tsunami in Papua New Guinea changed how Bible translation was done in early 2000's.

[Annette Kapp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting

Enjoyable and fun understanding how other languages express emotion. I was inspired by how the author connected all the miraculous dots.

[The other John · Rating 3 out of 5]

In one sense, this book is a standard missionary tale, the story of John & Bonnie Nystrom, who came to the Arop people in Papua New Guinea to translate the Bible into the Arop's heart language. In another sense, the Nystrom's are supporting characters in the story of the Arop translators, who translated the Bible into their own heart language. regardless of who gets top billing, the central moment of the tale is the tsunami of 1998. The tsunami devastated the Arop village, along with other communities on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. Before that disaster, the Arop translation project followed the then standard procedures of concentrating on a single language, being carefully checked, revised and rechecked by official translation consultants. Afterwards, the challenges that arose as the Arops tried to rebuild their community and the translators tried to restore their project opened the door for the team to try new techniques and technologies, relying more on the skill and direction of local translators than foreigners. This change led not only to an Arop translation of the book of Luke, but also versions for the Malol, Serra, and Sissano speakers as well. It's a heartening tale of suffering, healing and everyday miracles.

[Colton Wyatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story primarily of God’s sovereign control over all things, including natural disasters, to bring about His good purposes for those who love Him (Rom. 8:28). That was my impression, anyway. On July 17, 1998, a massive tsunami destroyed a coastal village in Papua New Guinea, called Arop after the people who inhabited it. Many deaths and injuries resulted from this disaster. Worse still, a fledgling Bible translation project for the Arop language seemed to be put on hiatus as one of the translators had gone to be with the Lord when the tsunami hit, and the other three were busy dealing with the aftermath. However, God used this tragedy to bring about an even greater blessing not only for Arop, but for their neighbors as well. I won’t spoil it here, so you’ll just have to read it.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good information about the dramatic change in Bible translation techniques that these missionaries were able to implement after a terrible tsunami occurred in 1998. That part of the story - how about a dozen translations were taking place instead of just one or two - was very satisfying.

I did not find myself sucked into the book as in many missionary stories. It might have been better had we really gotten to know the family better in the pages in the book. Their children get only passing mentions. In spite of occasional references to touching events, I felt like the book was more academic than inspirational. It was, however, refreshing as usual to read anything about missions around the world.

[Steve Miller]

I am also a missionary with Wycliffe Bible Translators have attended some of those computer conferences he mentions, and have talked with John Nystrom personally. For that reason, I'm not giving a rating on this book.

Overall, I found the book informative about how the multilanguage projects developed in Papua New Guinea. It's a good read for anyone who wants to know more about Wycliffe and missions in general.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book by a Wycliffe couple who work in Papua New Guinea. They were able to use technology to significantly speed up the work of Bible translation. It sure makes me appreciate how blessed we are to have so many versions of the Bible in English so that we can truly hear God speak to us in our mother tongue.

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The authors provided way more information than I really wanted to know about the process of language translation. How God worked after the tsunami in the lives of the Wycliffe workers and the people in New Guinea was the heart of the story. The authors could have summarized the details of translation for the average reader so the significant parts of the story could shine.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent missionary book about Wycliffe work in PNG. I was fascinated and loved the book. Excellent not only about the work but also their own private lives, about the tsunami and the effect on the work. It was just so interesting....i highly recommend this book. Loved it. I so would love to do that kind of work too.

[Kenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author is a Christian missionary first, professional linguist / translator second, and book author third (at least). So long as we keep this in mind, the book is an excellently well-told firsthand account of events and perspectives related to Nystrom's work and faith. I try to always keep an extra copy or two of this one handy to give to friends and folks I meet.

[Jennifer Zartman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read into the night and had to force myself to put the book down and go to sleep. This is the best book I've read in quite a while. It's gripping, challenging, and uplifting, and satisfied me like a good solid meal when I'm hungry.

[Joella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story about Bible translation and how a major disaster affected a village in rural Papua New Guinea. Starts to get a little technical toward the end while discussing revolutions in Bible translation, but still a very interesting read.

[Josue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful account of God's faithfulness and detailed care in developing a team of Bible translators in Papua New Guinea.

I pray the Lord would use me some day to be part of a Bible translation. I feel so inadequate. In my weakness and inadequacy, may He receive all praise and honor!

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's amazing to how God takes a tragedy and turns it into a positive.

[Rachel Holtzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the Nystrom's account of the life of a Bible translator...I learned so much about the West Aitape people and the awesome power of God.