Lisu North Thailand Christian Mission (LISTCM)

Overview

This is a New Testament in the Lisu language using the Fraser (Old Lisu) script. The earliest Lisu scripture — the Gospel of Matthew — was published in 1912 by George E. Metcalf and Arthur G. Nicholls through the British and Foreign Bible Society. [1] James O. Fraser (1886-1938) arrived in Yunnan with the China Inland Mission in 1908 and devised the Fraser script around 1915 with co-workers Sara Ba Thaw, a Karen preacher, and Moh Shi-lin. [1][2] Fraser published the Gospels of Mark and John in the 1920s and returned in the mid-1930s to help revise the text. The complete Lisu New Testament was finished in 1938 by Allyn B. and Leila Cooke, working with Fraser, who died of cerebral malaria that year; Isobel Kuhn also carried the work forward. [1] The complete Lisu Bible (OT+NT) was published in 1968 under what had by then become the Overseas Missionary Fellowship. [1] The Fraser script remains the standard orthography for Lisu Christians in southwest China and northern Thailand.

Translators and Contributors

  • James O. Fraser (1886-1938) — China Inland Mission missionary; developed the Fraser script with Ba Thaw and led early translation work. [1][2]
  • Sara Ba Thaw — Karen preacher who created the phonetic framework for the Fraser script. [2]
  • Allyn B. and Leila Cooke — Completed the NT translation. [1]
  • George E. Metcalf and Arthur G. Nicholls — Translated the first Lisu scripture (Gospel of Matthew, 1912). [1]

Language and People

Lisu (ISO 639-3: lis) is spoken by approximately 942,700 people in Central Myanmar. [Glottolog: lisu1250]

Publishing and Organizations

Published by North Thailand Christian Mission.

References