I was born in the late 1950's at Mulitaka village in Enga Province. I come from a family of three boys by my father's first wife. Before I was born, my father handed himself over to the colonial government in order to protect some of his tribesmen who had committed murder. He later regretted this decision because he was sent many miles away across several language groups, mountains, and villages. The experience that my mother went through while her husband was imprisoned was never forgotten, and when I was born, shortly after my father returned from prison, she called me “Kambilyu,” meaning “I was like a butterfly aimlessly going places and without a proper home.
 
My primary education began in 1966 at a preparatory school sponsored by the Missouri Lutheran Synod (USA). It was located some twelve miles from my home. I was about eight years old then, and school was virtually free of charge in those days, but space was very limited. As small as I was, it took me several hours to cover the long distance each morning to school. My mother would wake up at the first call of a certain cricket, usually just before 5.00 a.m., and I would start walking soon after that.
 
In 1974, my brother and I entered St. Paul's Lutheran High School at Pausa, a boarding school about seventy-two miles away from home. After four years there, I went on to senior high at Aiyura National High School. During my previous schooling, I had been exposed to a Christian environment. I went to church and participated in Holy Communion, but I did not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ until I came to Aiyura in 1978. A visiting pastor challenged me to make Jesus my friend and develop a personal relationship with Him. During that time a friend introduced me to Frank and Carol Fitzgerald, members of SIL PNG. They came into my life at the time when I needed a mature Christian to mentor me. We became fast friends and, to this day, I consider them my spiritual parents.
 
In 1980, I enrolled for four years at the University of Papua New Guinea.  In early 1983, I met my wife, Elizabeth, who was attending the Administrative College not far from the university campus. We were married two years later during the Christmas season.  We have been blessed with four children: Dawn Yambaim, Karol Tandani, Samuel Kambi and Sonya Bui.
 
In early 1986, I accepted a position with the SIL PNG branch, and in October 1987, God led us to work with BTA. We have been serving BTA in various positions since then. From June 1999 until June 2007, I served as Executive Director of BTA; David and Sineina Gela took over from us in 2007. Today I am serving as the Coordinator for Church Engagement and as the Assistant Director for Operations.
 
God has called me into missions, and in particular to the ministry of Bible Translation. I am inspired by Hebrews 6:4 and Isaiah 55:10-11. God's Word is sharp and it will not return to Him empty. Only God's Word can and will touch man's heart and impact communities, and that is why I am committed to a team that seeks to make God's word available to the language communities that do not yet have it.
 
I don't recall the exact date I felt "called" into God's work, but I remember it was in November of 1973. My older brother and I had both just completed the Grade 6 final exam and we had a heated argument. Of the twenty-six students in our class, only nine would be allowed to advance to the high school. Selection depended on good academic performance and school board selection. Because of the limited space, board members wanted at least one student from each tribe selected, and this threatened to make things hard for my brother and me, as we expected that only one of us would be selected. Our argument left me feeling lost and hopeless; the only hope I had was God, so I prayed. It was a quick prayer and I remember saying, "God if you let me go to high school, I will serve you with the rest of my life." Fortunately, both of us were selected to go to high school! After senior high, I went on to the University of PNG, but I had all but forgotten my prayer. When I graduated in 1985, I looked for jobs, and though all of the doors seemed closed to me, God had not forgotten my prayer. God made sure that the only opening I found was in missions with SIL, and since then I have never turned away from the ministry of Bible translation.
 
John 1:1-2 says that God's Word is alive because He is in His Word! I have tasted his goodness and His power in my life, and I want others to know and experience God in their own cultural setting, in their own villages, and in their own languages.