The second original 1908 Chamorro Bible out of 1,000 copies published in 1908 has been found and photos released by its owner. The Chamorro Bible seen at the left, was discovered sometime in September 2003 and purchased for under US$50. The over ninety (90) year old Chamorro Bible is a black hard cover copy of the Francis Marion Price 1908 bilingual edition.

An earlier private collection Chamorro Bible copy without cover, with a weak spine (seen in table below) and in delicate condition was donated to the Richard F. Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC) last year by Susan Gay Kirk. Kirk is the granddaughter of Ana Taitano Gay. Gay and several family members assisted Price in translating the scriptures into the Chamorro language and the bible was published as a bilingual hardback.

American Bible Society Description of 1908 "Original" Bibles:

Prior to the Kirk donation, MARC had two Xeroxed copies of the Price Original Bible donated by the Guam-Micronesian Mission of Seventh-day Adventists in three ring binders.

The September 2003 discovery is the second non-library copy and this site has obtained permission to release photographs of the Bible's condition. The over ninety (90) year old copy is in excellent condition, and privately owned. Little more is being released at this time.

One thousand (1,000) copies of the original Price Chamorro Bible edition were published by the American Bible Society (New York, New York, USA) in 1908. Few copies are known to exist today, making it a rare Chamorro Bible.

The MARC Chamorro Bible Collection

Susan Gay Kirk Donation	MARC Chamorro Bible Display	Bishop Tomas Camacho & Dr. George Bedell
MARC display of Taitano Gay Family donation of the 1908 Chamorro Bible	MARC display of Chamorro Bibles features the Gay Kirk donation, the SDA donation and Camacho publications and other historic materials on the Chamorro Bible.	MARC displays Bishop Tomas Camacho's Chamorro Bible Publications at the top and a facsimile of Dr. George Bedell's Chamorro Bible donation.

Search for more 1908 Chamorro Bibles

The Chamorro and English Scriptures: Y Cuatro Ebangelio Sija Yan Y Checho Y Apostoles Sija Gui Testamento Nuebo Y Señotta Yan Y Satbadotta Si Jesucristo Yan Y Salmo Sija (the Chamorro Bible) was translated by Francis Marion Price with the assistance of five currently unidentified Chamorros. We are trying to locate any copy of the 1908 publication still available today in private hands and the identities of five individuals who assisted Price in translating the Bible. If you have any information regarding the ownership of an original 1908 Chamorro Bible; in any condition, or can identify the people in the photo below, please contact RleneLive or the Editor of ChamorroBible.Org.

Recapping the Recent History of Chamorro Bible

Through the persistence of Clarence L. Thomas IV, the existence of the Chamorro Bible in diglot style was discovered on the library shelves of Yale University in 2001. Thomas, a former teacher at the Seventh-day Adventist School in Windward Hills, discovered the copy was available for borrowing through an interlibrary loan and brought the Chamorro Bible home to Guam for a short time. The first public announcement of the discovery came from a press release sent to the SDA community and an announcement on JOY-92 in their Island-wide Bulletin on June 19, 2002.

The Chamorro and English Scriptures (Chamorro Bible) was translated by Francis Marion Price with the assistance of five currently unidentified Chamorros. In 1908, one thousand (1,000) copies were published by the American Bible Society (New York, New York, USA). Few copies are known to exist today, thereby making it a rare Chamorro Bible.

On August 6, 2002 at 3:25PM, Thomas found himself speaking in Dr. Larry Cunningham's Guam History class at the University of Guam. The half-hour presentation was the first public (in-person) mention of the Bible's existence and discovery. Cunningham heard about a Chamorro Bible from, Kris Seerengan, one of his students who is currently a teacher at Southern High School in Agat/Santa Rita, Guam. He extended an invitation to Thomas to speak on the historic find and the SDA teacher brought a copy of the Bible with him to the class for a presentation.

Because there was no longer copyright restrictions on the Bible, Thomas was able to reproduce the Chamorro Bible. Current and former administrators of the Guam-Micronesia Mission of Seventh-day Adventists, including Pastor Willy Nobuo and Murray J. Cooper (then Education Director), officially presented two copies of the original 1908 Chamorro Bible, bound in a very nice three-ring binder to the Richard F. Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC) at the University of Guam, represented by Professor Marjorie G. Driver and Professor Omaira Brunal-Perry, on September 25, 2002. MARC sent a photo of the presentation to the Pacific Daily News and it ran in their Islandstyle section on October 10, 2002.

On April 23, 2003 the discovery and history of the Chamorro Bible was researched and prepared for publication by the Guam-Micronesia Mission of Seventh-day Adventist ISLES Magazine and the news broke on K57's Rlene"Live" on April 23, 2003 with the guest appearance of Thomas, Bethany Martin and Josephine Varley. The combined airing of of the show and release of the ISLES Magazine resulted in the donation of Ana Taitano Gay's personal copy of the Chamorro Bible which also belonged to her youngest son, James King Gay after her death. Ana Taitano Gay's granddaughter Susan Gay Kirk made the donation.

The decision to reproduce the Chamorro Bible was made and a fundraising effort began. The total amount of the republication effort was estimated at $60,000. The fundraising effort continues. Mail donations to: