Baibala Hemolele in the Big Apple November 14, 2014

On October 7, 2014, Jan and Judy Dill, Alison Masutani, and Helen Kaupu Kaowili made a historic visit to the American Bible Society (ABS) in New York City. The group met with Dr. Liana Lupas, Curator of the Society’s library and archives, and presented her with a copy of each of the three editions of the 2012 Ka Baibala Hemolele and the newly released for the ABS collection.

Ka Baibala Hemolele published by Partners in Development Foundation. The first three books of the original Hawaiian Bible – Matthew, Mark, and John – were printed by ABS in New York shortly after the completion of their translations in 1828. Although the remaining 63 books of the original translation, Ka Palapala Hemolele, were printed in Honolulu and Lahainaluna, ABS continued to support the Sandwich Island Mission with funds to assist in continued production of the Baibala.

The trip to ABS headquarters in New York allowed the Baibala Hemolele project the opportunity to bring the translation and transliteration work full circle. The missionary companies sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions left the shores of New England almost 200 years ago with an English Bible to present to Kamehameha I and the goal of creating a new translation of the Bible for the Hawaiian people. 195 years later, it seems fitting that we present the American Bible Society a new edition of the work first printed by their founders, in thanksgiving for their faithfulness and their aloha for the people of Hawai‘i.