Partners In Development Foundation Launch Full Bilingual Hawaiian-English Bible

Release Event Next Tuesday at Hawaiian Mission Houses

News Release from Partners In Development Foundation

(Honolulu, Hawaiʻi) November 16, 2018 – Partners In Development Foundation (PIDF) will celebrate the release of Ka Baibala Hemolele, The Holy Bible, next Tuesday, November 20 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Sites and Archives in downtown Honolulu. This is the first full bilingual Hawaiian-English Bible with diacritical markings in the modern orthography.

“The Baibala is a major linguistic, cultural and spiritual resource for the Hawaiian community and Hawaiian language students throughout the world,” said Helen Kaupu Kaowili, Baibala Hemoleleʻs Project Director. “There have been global efforts in recent years to preserve indigenous languages like Hawaiian. Just this year, global language-learning platform Duolingo released the Hawaiian language on its smartphone app.”

The Hawaiian Bible Project initially started back in 2002 as an effort to electronically preserve the 1839, 1868 and 1994 printings of the Hawaiian Bible and make it freely available to the public. It has since grown into a complete editing of the Hawaiian Bible.

In 2012, The Hawaiian Bible Project printed the first Hawaiian Bible in modern Hawaiian orthography and included genealogical pages and Hawaiian biblical maps. Two years later, Kamehameha School and the Atherton Family Foundation partnered with PIDF to produce Ke Kauoha Hou me Ka Buke o Nā Halelū a me Nā ʻŌlelo Akamai a Solomona, the New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs. This second publication is a bilingual edition featuring parallel text in Hawaiian and English, a concordance with Hawaiian equivalents, Hawaiian and English biblical maps, and a 19th century timeline of Hawaiian history.

An advisory committee was created in 2016 to oversee the completion of The Hawaiian Bible Project and offer strategic advice. All 66 books of the Baibala Hemolele completed processes of editing and standardization just last year.

“Over the next few years, we aim to improve our electronic hosting of the Baibala, make it more accessible to communities, and provide a Baibala curriculum that can be integrated in schools and churches,” Kaowili said. “Mahalo palena ʻole to the Atherton Family Foundation and Kamehameha Schools for their support and sponsorship. Without their partnership this project would not be possible.”

The public is invited to attend next Tuesday’s release event. There will be a special exhibit on display and Ka Baibala Hemolele will be available for purchase. The historical mission buildings will be open for tours and heavy pūpū will be served.

PIDF is currently having a presale for the books, which are available for purchase by calling 808-595-2752.

ABOUT PARTNERS IN DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION

Partners In Development Foundation (PIDF), a nonprofit public charity incorporated in 1997, serves at-risk families and communities in Hawai‘i through a wide range of free programs in education, social services and environmental sustainability. The organization consists of over 300 employees statewide, collectively serving over 11,500 people of all ages, genders and ethnicities in the past year alone. PIDF’s mission is to inspire and equip families and communities for success and service, using timeless Native Hawaiian values and traditions. To learn more, visit pidf.org.  Serving Hawai‘i’s Families, Living Hawaiian Values.

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