Spreading the word

For more than three decades, Neil and Carol Anderson gave up the conveniences of home to live in a rugged, mountainous region of a country that’s considered one of the world’s least explored.

In 1972, the Spokane couple embarked on what became a lifelong mission: to bring Christianity to the Folopas, an isolated tribe in the densely forested highlands of Papua New Guinea.

With two young kids in tow, the Andersons ventured into this exotic land known for its lush rain forests, indigenous peoples and history of tribal warfare.

As members of Wycliffe Bible Translators, the couple endured numerous hardships in their efforts to evangelize – from the lack of modern-day conveniences to having to eat bugs for protein. When they first arrived, Carol Anderson nearly died after suffering from blood poisoning and gangrene.

“Lord, I need help. I can’t do this by myself,” Neil Anderson prayed one day as they began to translate the Bible into the Folopa language. “Will you help me? … Is there some place in your Word where you say you will? Show me where it is, Lord. I need a word from you.”

He then opened the Bible and started to read.

“After that I started every morning in the same way,” Neil Anderson wrote in “In Search of the Source: A First Encounter with God’s Word,” a book about their life in Papua New Guinea. “Praying,” he wrote. “Searching the Word for a word.”

Last month, the Andersons witnessed the culmination of their life’s work during a dedication of the Folopa New Testament. The ceremony was attended not only by members of the tribe and government officials in Papua New Guinea, but also by seven people from Spokane who made the two-day journey to Fukutao, a small village on a steep mountainside and the Andersons’ home for more than 30 years.

“They brought the word of God to these people in their cultural context, as well as in their language,” said Ron Hauenstein, a member of South Hill Bible Church who is currently producing a video documentary on the Andersons and their life in Papua New Guinea. “It could only happen because they became part of their culture and lived their lifestyle. … They will tell you that they’ve been blessed and that this was their calling, but it was still an incredible sacrifice.”

On Jan. 16, nearly 500 people from Fukutao and the surrounding villages took part in a daylong celebration full of music, dance and prayer. Wearing their traditional clothing – face paint, grass skirts, feather headdresses and other colorful garb, they waved palm fronds and moved their feet in almost a rhythmic, synchronized fashion before stopping to listen to speeches from tribal elders and the Andersons. Despite a steady downpour later in the day, many stood barefoot in the mud for hours, waiting to receive their very own copies of the New Testament.

Neil Anderson, in a video recorded by Hauenstein the day after the ceremony, appeared both humbled and delighted by the Folopa reaction. “These people responded very enthusiastically in receiving the word of God,” he said. “They responded in their own Folopa style … dancing, singing, shouting and stomping in the rain.”

Learning to communicate

Bible translation alone is an enormous task, but it was even more difficult for the Andersons who had to decipher Scripture into Folopa (pronounced “fo-to-ba,”) – a language that had never been written until the missionaries arrived.

Before they could even delve into the Gospels and others books contained in the Bible, the couple first had to learn the Folopa language. Then they had to construct an alphabet and compile words into a dictionary. They also created some primers to teach tribal members how to read.

“Their purpose was to let a culture of people understand that God loves them in their own language,” said Neil Anderson’s sister, Charlotte Karling of Spokane. “Neil and Carol became their beloved friends.”

Translating the Bible also isn’t just a matter of finding the equivalent of one word in another language, Karling explained. In order to convey the meaning behind Scripture, the Andersons also had to take into account the tribe’s culture and history and translate the maxim with context. For instance, “Jesus is the bread of life” would never make sense to a Folopa since the tribe rarely eats bread. In order to explain Jesus’ significance to this group of people whose diet consists of sweet potato, taro, yam and sago, the Andersons had to instead describe Christ as “the sweet potato of life.”

With a population of about 2,500, the Folopa people are native Melanesians who live in a particularly rugged area of the interior highlands, according to “In Search of the Source.” Due to rumors of murder and cannibalism, no one from outside the tribe dared to enter their territory until 1960.

The Andersons felt called to live in Fukutao, a hamlet of about 350 people in the country’s southern highlands. In addition to working with the villagers, it was also the place where they raised their family. They moved there with their kids – Heather, who was 5 at the time, and Dan, who was 2. Carol Anderson later gave birth to two more children, Bruce and Wendy.

“The tribe was barely out of the Stone Age and had no contact with the modern world,” said their oldest child, Heather Edwards, now 40 and living in Spokane with her husband and four children.

Yet they welcomed the missionaries, said Edwards. Not all the Folopas chose to embrace Christianity, she said, but for the most part, they wanted to learn more about the world beyond their villages. “They saw planes going by overhead and were very curious about the rest of the world,” said Edwards, who lived in Papua New Guinea until she was 17. “They had a strong desire to be connected.”

While the Andersons significantly impacted Fukutao and the surrounding villages by bringing medicine, tools and Christian teachings, the Folopa culture remained intact, explained Edwards. “Underneath the surface of great change, there was a startling lack of change,” she said.

‘Somewhere at the end of the earth’

Throughout his youth, especially during his teenage years at Rogers High School, Neil Anderson often spoke about God’s calling, recalled Karling.

“You cannot just decide you’re going to be a missionary,” Karling said. “God has to say ‘I am preparing you.’ … It takes a tremendous amount of faith to leave your family, leave your friends, leave your home and go to the unknown.”

Her brother kept watching for some sort of signal, she said, a message from God with instructions on when and where to go.

“I’d always thought I should be a missionary,” Neil Anderson explained in “In Search of the Source,” a book he co-wrote in 1991 with Hyatt Moore, a writer, artist and fellow missionary. “At least I could never think of any reason why I shouldn’t. I was a Christian. I was able. There was work to be done for the Lord out in the world, and I figured if anybody ever asked me why I didn’t join in such a cause, I would not have any good answer.”

In many ways, Neil Anderson was suited for missionary work overseas, according to his sister. As a young man, he loved the outdoors and was keen on adventure. He taught himself how to bake bread, Karling said. He also helped his father build a house.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Washington University, Neil Anderson became focused on becoming a Bible translator. During this time, he met Carol, a North Central High School graduate who attended Seattle Pacific University. The couple got married, took a grueling course on linguistics and joined Wycliffe Bible Translators, an international organization that has been involved in more than 600 translations in the last 70 years.

“We were going to serve the Lord – somewhere at the end of the earth,” Neil Anderson wrote.

The couple eventually discerned that they were called to Papua New Guinea, the world’s second largest island with more than 850 indigenous languages.

Leaving home was hard enough, but the challenges continued as they transitioned into their new life. Soon after their arrival, Carol Anderson became gravely ill with boils under her arms that wouldn’t heal. She also fell into a coma. When she came out of it, she still had to stay in the hospital for three months followed by multiple visits to fix the big holes in her flesh as a result of gangrene. The details of her illness, along with many of the hardships of living and raising a family in a primitive culture, are part of Carol Anderson’s book, titled “Do You Know What You’re Doing Lord?”

Life in a remote village taught them both resiliency and how to survive in a place with no medical care and little technology. Neil Anderson figured out how to diagnose pneumonia. In the absence of a dentist, he also learned how to pull teeth.

Throughout their years in Papua New Guinea, the couple received many blessings as well as financial support from congregations in the United States, particularly from Fourth Memorial and Valley Fourth Memorial in Spokane.

“The Folopa tribe has been praying for Fourth Memorial all this time,” said Hauenstein, who documents the work of missionaries through a ministry called Acts 5:20 Video Productions. “People who know nothing about our civilization and culture are thinking about us.”

Later this month, Neil and Carol Anderson – now age 62 and 60, respectively – will leave Papua New Guinea and begin a different assignment for Wycliffe Bible Translators. Spokane will continue to be their home base, according to friends and family.

“For those of you who have given faithfully, sacrificially, prayerfully, and lovingly to God’s people – the Folopa people – so they can have the word of God in their language, I thank you,” Neil Anderson said in Hauenstein’s video. “I know you are thousands of miles away … but in Christ you are part of it.”

Long after they’re gone, the Andersons undoubtedly will never be forgotten by the people of Fukutao. They will be remembered for their many humanitarian contributions – medicine, clothing, the village’s airstrip, the creation of a pipe system that brought running water to many of the Folopas’ homes.

But their greatest gift, some say, will always be the Bible.

“The tribe will always have the Bible in written form and in their language,” said Edwards, a member of Christ the Redeemer Church in Spokane. “That’s eternal – everything else will fade away. In the end, it’s the only legacy worth leaving.”