Download the April 2016 Beans'talk with photos here.

A woman who shows her teeth

What if you were reading along in Proverbs and read about the “woman who shows her teeth”? From the context you’d know you should stay clear of her! But who is she?

Quechua speakers on the Huanuco side of the state line use that phrase to describe an immoral or seductive woman. While the phrase isn’t common over here in Ancash, women often hold a hand over their mouths when they are visiting—like the woman here. She’s being modest: not showing her teeth!

You can always find more rocks

Shatu did a great job summing up where we find ourselves. One day he gave the following comparison. “When you prepare a field for planting,” Shatu explained, “you can always find more rocks to remove. But, if you never stop removing rocks, you’ll never plant. And if you never plant, you’ll never have a harvest. Translation is kind of like that,” he concluded. “We could keep going over these books and chapters and we’ll always find something that could be improved. But, if we don’t stop and get this out into the hands of people, what good is it?”

One more workshop to go

In April we will have one more translation workshop. Lord willing, it will be the last one. Goals include: more work on parallel passages, key terms, work on an introduction tothe Bible, select illustrations, two groups finish editing their glossary, one last discussion about which word to use for “covenant,” look at the remaining questions/issues and hopefully wrap things up.

Next phase?

After all these years of translating and getting the text down, we’ll now enter the prepublication phase. We’ll be working in coordination with one of Wycliffe’s Bible lay-out specialists. We thought we’d take the next six months or so to pour over details and checks required to bring these Bibles to publication. Kathy, the specialist, recently pointed out to us that checks will take from three to four months for each Bible. That’s because there are so many itty-bitty details to check by hand for the eventual publishing to go smoothly. We may have to adjust our plans!

Making compromises

We mentioned in last month’s letter that one of our Quechua partner organizations wants the translation for their area to reflect speakers at the north end of the valley as well as speakers from the center where the translators are from. People in the whole valley identify as one, but in actual fact there are a lot of vocabulary (and other) differences between them. Some are serious. What works for one area can give a totally wrong meaning elsewhere.

Mark has spent days meeting with members of the organization, identifying differences and trying to help choose which words to put in their Bible. He felt like a peace negotiator trying to come up with a compromise that both sides can accept. Everyone worked hard. Now, there is still quite a bit of work ahead, incorporating their changes.

Praises and Prayer Requests

* Pray: Easter Sunday Mark will teach in a Quechua-speaking church down the valley a bit. Pray that God’s word delivered in Quechua would encourage, convict and challenge all who listen.

* Pray: Our last workshop meets April 12th through the 29th. It starts on a Tuesday because everyone needs to be in their home town on the 10th to vote in Peru’s national elections. For the workshop time, pray against disruptions, illness and distractions. Pray for everyone to make it, for good concentration, good attention to detail and for wrapping things up well.

* Pray: As we’re busy getting ready for that last workshop. Pray for steadfastness and perseverance as things seem kind zoo-y approaching the end of this main part of the project.

Thank You!

Mark & Patti Bean