Last month, Julie Joyner says, about 600 people celebrated the New Testament being published.

In their native language.

Westborough's New Hope Chapel has supported this translation project, and other efforts, in Papua New Guinea, Joyner said Friday.

Joyner and her husband Frank attended the three-day celebration as part of about a 12-day trip there starting Jan. 19.

The Joyners will discuss their experience at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at New Hope.

Julie Joyner said she became familiar with Papua New Guinea through a friend, who has worked there for 25 years.

The friend, and her husband, were among those who worked on the New Testament translation, she said.

The recent three-day celebration included dancing and songs, she said.

"They were so incredibly welcoming," said Joyner, a Hudson resident.

The translated text "was not the first time they were introduced to Christianity," she said. "Around the time of World War II, they had a Pidgin English Bible, but they couldn't understand it."