Adam and Martha Boyd met in 1999 while serving as English teachers in Quito, Ecuador. Martha was a Christian, Adam was not. But God was working in Adam's heart, and he soon committed his life to Jesus Christ, undergoing what Martha describes as a radical conversion.
In 2000, God gave Adam a vision to translate the Bible for one of the nearly two thousand people groups who have no access to the Scriptures in their own language. After struggling for years about the decision to become missionaries, Adam and Martha affirmed the will of God in their lives and committed themselves to the work of Bible translation. Two months later, Martha suffered an exceedingly rare heart attack related to the birth of their third child, which left her heart unable to supply sufficient blood flow to meet her body’s needs. They considered postponing and even canceling their plans. But they sensed that God was telling them to move forward. Within eight months Martha’s heart function had improved dramatically, praise be to God, and the Boyds received approval to serve as Bible translators in Papua New Guinea.
While Adam had initially envisioned working with a remote language group where no prior translation or linguistics work had been done, Martha's health history required that Adam and Martha seek an allocation accessible by road. This virtually eliminated the possibility of working with a remote language group. As they sought the Lord in prayer, it became very clear that God was leading Adam and Martha to work with the Enga people. Adam and Martha submitted to the Lord's leading and were commissioned to work with the Enga people in December 2012. They are currently working with a team of Enga speakers to translate and record the Enga New Testament for distribution in print format and on solar-powered audio players.
Adam earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Georgetown University and his Master of Divinity from Fuller Seminary. He is an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God. Martha earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and teaching credential from Azusa Pacific University. They are both members of Wycliffe Bible Translators.
