The largest of the Ottilien family of languages is the Mbore. There are about 2000 Mbore speakers living in eight villages along and to the east of the Ramu River. David and Alice Parrish began a work among the Mbore in 1982 which continued until 1997 when they had to return to the States for health reasons. During that time they trained Mbore speakers to be translation and literacy workers and began the task of translating the scriptures into Mbore. Even after the Parrishs' departure, the Mbore people continued with the work of translation and literacy with the assistance of Pioneer Bible Translators. The work was directed by a group of Mbore leaders who comprise the Board of Management for the project.

Currently a little over half of the New Testament has been completed in rough draft or better. There are two trained Mbore translators and two more men who have been trained as literacy specialists. Dave and Chris Robinson, PBT translation consultants, have taken on the primary task of assisting the Mbore translation team in completing their translation. We assist where necessary but are focusing most of our efforts at this point on developing programs in the other Ottilien language groups. Four different Mbore villages have vernacular pre-schools where children learn to read and write in their own language before proceeding on to a community school.

Like most of the people groups in this area Mbore people a farmers and hunters. They plant extensive gardens each year and in addition they fish and hunt extensively. Their cash crops are copra, cocoa, and vanilla. Transportation is via an extensive trail system or dugout canoes. Previously there was a road into the Mbore area but due to lack of maintenance it is no longer passable. Health services are provided by two different local clinics. More serious cases are sent either up river to the sub health center at Bunapas or down the coast to the regional hospital at Bogia.

The Mbore have a long history of contact with Christianity. The first missionaries into the area were Roman Catholic priests in the days before World War Two. After the war the Seventh Day Adventist church established a work among the Mbore. Currently those are the only groups working in this area. Despite this long history of contact with Christianity, however, the majority of the Mbore still live with little real knowledge of the Gospel, relying instead on traditional religious practices. We pray that this will change as they begin to hear God's Word in their own language.