Paradaes! Long staka ples, olketa savve wakem olketa magasin wea garem naesfala piksa and storyim olketa naesfala ples wea luk olsem paradaes. Olketa duim diswan for encouragem pipol for go holiday long there and relax and forgetim olketa samting wea olketa wari abaotem. Bat taem olketa kam bak, evri samting hem semsem nomoa.

Nomata olsem, pipol barava interest long paradaes. Maet iu garem tingting olsem: ‘Nogud paradaes hem samting wea pipol dream abaotem nomoa! Why nao pipol interest tumas long diswan? Waswe, enitaem earth bae kamap paradaes?’

Start kam from bifor yet, pipol barava interest for storyim paradaes. Staka interest long diswan bikos olketa readim wanem Bible storyim abaotem “garden long Eden.” Wanem nao mekem garden hia barava luk naes? Bible sei: “Jehovah God mekem evri tree wea luk naes tumas and wea gud for kaikaim for grow” long there. Datfala garden hem ples wea luk naes tumas and hem gud ples for stap. Bat barava interesting samting wea stap long there nao hem datfala “tree wea piksarem wei for savve long gud and nogud samting.”—Genesis 2:8, 9.

Nara samting tu, Bible buk Genesis sei fofala river nao ran kamaot from datfala garden. Kam kasem distaem, tufala river hia still stap. Wanfala hem Tigris river (or, Hiddekel) and narawan hem Euphrates river. (Genesis 2:10-14; footnote) Tufala river hia ran insaed kantri wea hem Persia bifor, bat distaem hem Iraq, and tufala ran go aot long sea wea olketa kolem Persian Gulf.

Dastawe olketa story abaotem paradaes long earth hem bigfala part long culture bilong olketa long Persia. Wanfala carpet from Persia wea olketa wakem long mek-16 century, and wea stap long Philadelphia Museum of Art, long Pennsylvania, U.S.A., garem design bilong wanfala garden wea garem wall raonem and wea olketa plantim olketa tree and flaoa insaed. Datfala word “paradaes” hem kam from oldfala word bilong olketa long Persia wea minim “garden wea garem wall raonem.” And design bilong datfala carpet hem olsem naesfala garden long Eden wea Bible storyim.

Staka nara ples raonem world tu garem olketa story abaotem paradaes. Taem olketa man start for staka and muv go long olketa difren part long earth, olketa story abaotem paradaes, and taem olketa year go pas, olketa joinim samfala samting from biliv or culture bilong olketa long datfala story. Nomata distaem, pipol savve storyim ples wea luk naes tumas olsem paradaes.

Samfala explorer sei olketa faendem datfala paradaes wea Bible storyim. Olsem example, wanfala bigman long British army, Charles Gordon, hem go long Vallée de Mai, long Seychelles, long 1881, and from datfala ples luk naes tumas, hem sei datwan nao garden bilong Eden. Distaem United Nations markem datfala ples olsem hem spesol ples wea olketa mas lukaftarem and protectim. Long mek-15 century, Christopher Columbus, wanfala explorer from Italy, tingse hem bae faendem moa garden blong Eden taem hem kasem island long Hispaniola, wea distaem hem Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Wanfala history buk, Mapping Paradise, hem garem winim 190 oldfala map, and staka long olketa garem piksa bilong Adam and Eve long Eden. Wanfala long olketa map hia hem stap insaed wanfala copy bilong manuscript from mek-13 century, wea olketa kolem datfala manuscript Beatus of Liébana. Antap long datfala map hem garem piksa bilong paradaes, and fofala river ran kamaot from fofala kona bilong datfala piksa. Nem bilong olketa hem “Tigris,” “Eufrates,” “Pison,” and “Geon,” wea olketa sei datwan showimaot hao Christian religion hem go kasem evriwea long earth. Olketa samting hia showimaot nomata pipol no savve ples wea garden long Eden hem stap, pipol still laekem tumas datfala paradaes.

 John Milton, hem man for raetem poem long mek-17 century and hem raetem datfala poem Paradise Lost, wea kam from story long Bible buk Genesis abaotem sin bilong Adam and taem wea God raosem hem from Eden. Insaed long datfala poem hem storyim taem wea olketa man bae laef olowe moa long earth long future. Hem sei: “Long datfala taem full earth bae hem paradaes.” Bihaen, Milton raetem mek-tu part bilong datfala poem wea garem title Paradise Regained.

History showimaot pipol interest tumas long story abaotem paradaes long Eden. So why nao staka pipol distaem ting nating long datwan? Olsem buk Mapping Paradise talem, diswan hem bikos “olketa bigman bilong religion . . . barava no interest long paradaes long earth.”

Staka religion sei ples wea olketa gud pipol bae go stap long hem nao heven, no long paradaes long earth. Bat Psalm 37:29 sei: “Olketa wea raeteous bae stap long earth, and olketa bae stap for olowe long hem.” From world barava nogud tumas distaem, waswe, disfala promis long Bible bae kamap tru tu? *

Jehovah God wea wakem Paradaes long Eden hem promis for mekem earth kamap paradaes moa. Hao nao bae hem duim datwan? Tingim wanem Jesus talem long datfala Lord’s prea. Hem sei: “Mifala laekem Kingdom bilong iu for kam. Duim samting wea iu laek for duim long earth, olsem iu duim long heven.” (Matthew 6:10) Datfala Kingdom hem wanfala gavman wea bae finisim evri gavman long world, and bae hem rulim full world. Jesus nao bae King long datfala Kingdom. (Daniel 2:44) Taem datfala Kingdom hem rul, God bae duim wanem hem laekem for mekem earth kamap paradaes.

Profet Isaiah storyim datfala Paradaes wea bae kamap, wea evri nogud samting wea spoelem iumi olketa man distaem bae finis. (Isaiah 11:6-9; 35:5-7; 65:21-23) Mifala encouragem iu for readim olketa scripture hia long Bible buk Isaiah insaed Bible bilong iu. Sapos iu duim olsem, bae iu lukim olketa promis bilong God for pipol wea obeyim hem. Olketa bae stap long paradaes and fren gud witim God, wea hem nao tufala samting wea Adam lusim.—Revelation 21:3.

Wanem nao mekem iumi barava bilivim wei wea earth bae hem paradaes hem no dream nomoa bat hem tru samting? Bikos Bible sei: “Heven hem bilong Jehovah, bat hem givim earth for olketa man.” And tu, “God wea no savve laea hem promisim” earth bae kamap Paradaes. (Psalm 115:16; Titus 1:2) Bible storyim nambawan hope for iumi olketa man, wea hem nao for stap olowe long Paradaes!