The Bean Family

The Bean Family

Event
02/20/18

Beans'Talk March 2018

Download Beans'Talk March 2018 with photos here.

Extra help

As the Quechua teams read through the proofs, Mark asked Oscar, a native Quechua speaker and fellow missionary, if he would like to read some as well. After Oscar read a couple books and had tasted how sweet the translation is in his own language, he offered to read through the entire Bible.

It’s so encouraging to read Oscar’s comments when he sends back a file. Oscar is not new to the Bible. So, it means a lot to have him say:

What a beautiful translation, brother! I’m not just reading to check the translation, I’m reading to worship the One who confused all the languages in the first place.

I’m reliving the life of Paul [as I read this].

And, God is really glorified in what you are doing, Mark.

Oscar’s mother chimes in

On at least one occasion, Oscar read portions of Acts and Psalms aloud to his mother. Along the way he’d stop and ask her if she understood. Yes! I understand everything!, she replied. After awhile he noticed that she was crying. When he stopped she explained how clear the translation is for her. She said:

I totally don’t even have to think to understand God’s Word when it’s read! Even though we are so sinful, what God tells us is completely understandable. That just shows that God’s Word and his salvation are true. Anyone could understand this! So we should give thanks to our God…

Being in the States, we miss hearing and watching people’s reaction to God’s word in their own language. Oscar said that he got emotional just watching his mother respond to God’s word like that.

People are waiting for the day when all of God’s word becomes available. Keep praying us through to the end!

 In the middle of a workshop

Tomorrow we will be half-way through the last proofing workshop. You will recall that because of Mark’s health, we did not travel to Peru. Once again, he meets with the teams via Skype. He “goes to” Huaraz in the mornings to meet with the teams there, and then “goes to” Huánuco in the afternoons to meet with those teams.

Progress in spite of setbacks

In addition to not being in Peru for this workshop ourselves, other challenges include the following:

* When Santos arrived to begin the first morning, he was tired. Due to a landslide blocking the road he was up most of the night stranded along with other passengers.

* Pedro missed the first two days because he was seeking medical help for a lung infection. The good news is that he has been meeting with Mark after hours and is almost caught up.

* Remember the “blue screen of death” that used to be a frequent scourge of computers? Well, after years of not seeing one, this past Saturday Mark’s computer had an attack! Thankfully, the Huánuco teams weren’t meeting due to pastoral obligations that day, so Mark had a number of hours to get hopping and begin restoring his computer. All’s fine, now.

* Four teams are on target or almost on target for finishing up this workshop. Two teams, however, are nearly a week behind.

Praises and Prayer Requests

* Pray for the six teams to all finish checking the initial proofs of their respective Bibles. The workshop is due to end Saturday March 3rd. Pray that the participants will stay focused, healthy, motivated, attentive to details, and receptive to God’s word in their own lives. Mark will keep meeting with the straggling teams until they finish.

* Once the proofing is done, pray for Mark as he re-runs the final checks to be sure they are all still good.

* Praise for some answers: We learned this past month why it’s so excruciating for Mark to cough. It turns out he has a compression fracture in his spine that the coughing has exacerbated. Praise, too, that albeit ever so slowly, we do see improvement in Mark’s health.

Thank you for so faithfully accompanying us along the way with your prayers and encouragement.

Mark and Patti Bean