The project began in the 1990s when members of the Tokelaun expatriate community approached New Zealand's Bible Society about producing the Bible in their language.

The Tokelauan Society for the Translation of the Bible is an inter-church committee comprising principally the Congregational Church, and the Pacific Islands congregations of the Presbyterian Church together with some Catholic involvement.

The first translators were appointed in 1996, and two of them are still at work today - Ioane Teao and Loimata Iupati. Ioane Teao has been the one who's driven the project all the way.

The Bible Society's translation director Stephen Pattemore told RNZ's Dominic Godfrey that the Bible Society has been providing training and technical support since the project officially started.

The Tokelauan New Testament was launched in June 2009.

Pattemore says they have now translated all the books of the Protestant Canon of the Old Testament.

They have also translated several books of the Catholic Deuterocanon, but there is still a distance to go there. "What we would really like is some more involvement from Catholic translators," he says.

They are now working on both community level checking and consultant-checking to have the Old testament finalised for publication, hopefully next year.

Tokelau was evangelised by missionaries from Samoa over 150 years ago. The Samoan Bible has been used until now.

But it was decided very early on that they were not going to refer to Samoan as a source text, said Pattemore.

"This was going to be a new Tokelauan translation which found its way starting from an English base rather than constantly referring to the Samoan."

There are 1,400 Tokelauans living on the islands of Tokelau.

More than 7,000 Tokelauans live in New Zealand, with 50% living in Wellington.

There are also communities in Auckland, Taupo and Rotorua.

Ke manuia koutou i te Alofa o te Atua . "May you be blessed in God's love."

Source

• Supplied: Bible Society, Sarah Richards
• RNZ
• Image: Screen Shot Ministry for Pacific Peoples

The celebration took place on the island of Nukunonu.

It was attended by visitors from the other two islands that make up Tokelau, Atafu and Fakaofo, and from New Zealand, Australia and even further afield.

Those who travelled to Tokelau for the occasion include Archbishop Martin Krebs, the Apostolic Delegate to the Pacific, Cardinal Mafi from Tonga, Archbishop Mata'eliga from Apia, Bishop Dunn from Auckland, Bishop Brown from Pago Pago, and priests and sisters from Samoa.

Tokelau is one of the most isolated places on earth.

It is made up of three low lying coral atolls surrounded by the vast Pacific Ocean.

It is a non-self-governing territory of New Zealand is comprised of three coral atolls lying 500 kilometres north of Samoa.

There is no airport and the only way of getting there is on the fortnightly ship from Apia, Samoa, a journey of around 24 hours.

The Superior to the Mission is Monsignor Oliver Aro MSP, the only priest in Tokelau based on Nukunonu whose population is almost exclusively Catholic.

Oliver previously served as parish priest in Auckland based at Dargaville and Papatoetoe.

He is supported by two permanent deacons.

The beginnings of the Catholic church in Tokelau are unclear because early history is preserved only in oral traditions.

It seems Catholicism first came to Tokelau as the result of a devastating hurricane which destroyed homes and gardens on Fakaofo in the 1840s.

Most of the population set off in 8 canoes to seek refuge in Nukunonu, but were blown off course. Eventually two canoes reached Wallis where the refugees came into contact with French Marist priests and eventually became Catholic.

One of these early converts was a chief from Nukunonu, Justin Takua, who would later introduce the Catholic Faith to Tokelau.

In the early 1860s the bishop in Wallis heard of further hurricanes and resulting starvation and commissioned a ship to sail from Apia to Tokelau with 16,000 coconuts to provide food for them.

Justin Takua and other Catholic Tokelauans took the opportunity to return home and became the first missionaries to their own people.

Once home they heard the sad news that Peruvian slave traders had raided the islands in the 1850s and had seized 247 of the active men. These raids left Nukunonu with a population of only eighty, mostly women and children, according to early mission records.

Tokelau has been served by Marist priests from the Oceania Province, and by priests from Apia. Monsignor Patrick O'Connor from Wellington was Superior for the Tokelau Mission for 22 years until he was succeeded in 2011 by Monsignor Oliver Aro.

In 1949 the SMSM Sisters began the St John Bosco School on Nukunonu until 1970 and the Sisters of Our Lady of Nazareth continued this work until 1994.

Children now attend the Government School, which has a roll of around 100.

Source

• Bishop Patrick Dunn Facebook
• Image: Facebook

Pat got to know the Tokelau people through the migrant Tokelau community that was part of Sacred Heart Petone where he was parish priest in the 1980s.

He spent three months in Tokelau in 1984.

In December 1987 he was appointed parish priest of Tokelau, and remained there until his retirement in 2011.

Pat was born in Masterton in 1932 and was educated at the local St Patrick's primary school and St Joseph's [now Chanel] College in Masterton.

Pat Studied for the priesthood at Holy Cross college in Mosgiel.

He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Wellington in 1957 and served in a number of parishes in the Wellington Archdiocese.

At his own request Pat's funeral was held privately.

Tokelau is a non-self-governing territory of New Zealand consisting of small three coral atolls in the South Pacific: Atafu, Nukunonu, and Fakaofo.

According to the Central Intelligence Agency's list of countries by GDP, Tokelau has the smallest economy of any country in the world, with an annual purchasing power of about US$1,000 (€674) per capita.

The atolls lie approximately mid-way between Hawaii and New Zealand and about 500 km north of Samoa.

Each atoll consists of a number of reef-bound islets encircling a lagoon.

The islets do not rise more than 15 ft above sea level and their total land area is 10.8 square kilometres.

Tokelau has a population of approximately 1,400.

On the island of Atafu almost all inhabitants are members of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa.

On Nukunonu almost all are Catholic.

On Fakaofo both denominations are present with the Congregational Christian Church predominant. Its capital rotates yearly between the three atolls.

The government-run MV Tokelau provides passenger and cargo services to and from Apia every two weeks.

The trip takes about 24-36 hours each way, and the ship makes the round trip in five days.

Passengers must bring their own mattresses to sleep on. Food is provided, and there is one bathroom for the passengers.

Since there is no harbour in Tokelau, launches are used to embark and disembark.

There are no air services to Tokelau.

Source

• Supplied
• tokelau.com
• wikipedia.org
• teara.govt.nz
• Image: photos.techfieber.de

Christian Church of Tuvalu leaders report that the southern island of Nukulaelae is most severely affected by the extreme water shortage and locally produced food. The Church Secretary has reported that "the coconut tree tops have started falling off, breadfruit trees are dead, banana plantations are dried up and the traditional pulaka pits are rotten because of the drought."

A big meeting on climate change that has just finished in Panama was urged to consider the plight of Pacific nations.

Presentations from Tonga highlighted the impact of climate change in the Pacific - including the current water shortages in Tuvalu and Tokelau.

However, according to John Hunter from Australia's Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre in Hobart, Sea level rise is not a major factor in the water shortages in Tuvalu and Tokelau at the moment.

The current drought affecting the central pacific is due to a La Nina weather pattern, but sea level rise as been suggested by some as being a factor in the water shortage in low lying atoll nations.

Source

• The Drum
• Pacific Beat
• Pacific Beat
• Image: Journey

The island groups of Tuvalu and Tokelau have declared emergencies, relying on bottled water and seeking more desalination machines. Parts of Samoa are starting to ration water.

Six months of low rainfall have dried out the islands. Climate scientists say it's part of a cyclical Pacific weather pattern known as La Nina - and they predict the coming months will bring no relief, with the pattern expected to continue.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully says other islands in the South Pacific are also reporting water shortages.

He said New Zealand is carrying out a regional assessment amid fears the drought could lead to crop failures and food shortages.

Tuvalu

In Tuvalu supplies are precariously low after a severe lack of rain in a region where underground reserves have been fouled by salt water from rising seas that scientists have linked to climate change.

Families in Tuvalu's capital, Funafuti, are being allowed only two buckets of water a day a. The government estimates the country has five days of drinking water left.

A New Zealand Defence Force Hercules carrying Red Cross supplies and desalination units arrived in Tuvalu on Monday carrying water and desalination units. Andrew McKie from Red Cross New Zealand said they were transported to an island right in the south of Tuvalu, Nookilaulau, which although it's a small island was one of the ones worst affected by the drought

Tokelau

A priest who has just arrived in Tokelau says people are happy to hear that assistance is on the way.

Father Oliver Aro runs a mission on the atoll of Nukunonu, and says people are conscious of using water.

"As far as I have observed, people's lives are limited with things like hygiene, using their bathroom. They are more particular, because they don't want to waste water now."

The three main atolls that make up isolated Tokelau, a New Zealand-administered territory with a population of 1400, residents ran out of fresh water altogether last week and are relying on a seven-day supply of bottled water that was sent on Saturday from Samoa.

A Defence New Zealand Force Hercules carrying water containers flew to Pago Pago in American Samoa on Thursday, where it met up with a US Coastguard vessel. The ship, which has an on-board desalination plant to fill the containers, will then travel to Tokelau's three main islands.

Churches commend swift action and call for long term plans

The Right Rev Peter Cheyne, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand has commended McCully for his prompt action. The Presbyterian Church has a strong relationship with Te Ekalesia Kelisiano Tuvalu.

Bruce Mullen, from the Uniting Church of Australia's Pacific division says Australia may need to consider resettling people from the Pacific in the future, with a number of the island nations in the grip of a serious drought.

"The long term issue is that some of these atoll islands are not going to be sustainable for human habitation indefinitely. So the long-term issue is how we address relocation - there's nothing worse than having to dislocate people as a matter of urgency and trauma. It's much better to think these things through with a bit of time."

Source

• Radio New Zealand International
• Savali
• TVNZ
• New Zealand Herald
• Australia Network News
• Image: CNN