Kemp & Anne Pallesen

Kemp and Anne first joined WBT Australia in 1961 and worked in the Southern Philippines on the Central Sinama New Testament. This was completed in 1987 and dedicated in May 1989. Kemp has a PhD in Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley. He was Pacific Area Director for seven years and served on the International Boards of SIL and WBT for five years. They resigned from Wycliffe in 1989. After 16 years in pastoral work with Open Brethren churches in Hamilton, the Pallesens, in response to a call by the Sinama-speaking church to have the complete Old Testament in their language, reactivated membership with Wycliffe NZ. The first project was the revision and publication of the New Testament, along with 20% of the Old. Work on the OT continues despite some setbacks. The Pallesens now work from NZ: a) consulting by e-mail on translation matters, b) preparing the Sinama-English dictionary for on-line publication, and c) writing an English-Sinama dictionary for high school students.

“Lord God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Joseph, keep such devotion forever strong in your people’s hearts and keep them always faithful to you.” 1 Chronicles 29:18