How does Jesus love us?
One of Mark’s assignments at a big Quechua church convention this past month was to teach husbands and wives. In order to understand the command in Ephesians 5 to love your wives as Christ loved us, a selection of verses were read. With each new verse, another man was added to the line to hold up a key phrase of how Jesus shows his love. died for us…forgives us…provides for us… teaches us… helps us… always with us…
Passing the baton in Jarpo
We wish we had a photo of Vicente and Albino. Vicente is the older gentleman of the pair. He began the church in Jarpo. Vicente introduced Mark to Albino, the new pastor of the church in Jarpo. The young man beamed up at Mark and volunteered that he had studied the entire series of Bible studies in Quechua, and like his mentor, is teaching the church in Quechua. That was SO encouraging to hear!
Needed: more teaching in Quechua
In spite of the great news from Albino, there are many Quechua pastors who do not teach in Quechua. That’s a problem for people like Paulino, pictured here with his wife. Four years ago Paulino moved down to the road from a town that’s way out. He freely admitted he could hardly understand anything at the convention except what was taught in Quechua. Hearing God’s word in his own language makes all the difference in the world! He wishes the pastor in the town where he lives now would use Quechua. Paulino was eager to buy a Quechua New Testament and one of the Bible study books. Pray for him to make the effort to read them and for his pastor to teach in Quechua.
Important contact
At the second big convention we attended, the keynote speaker is the regional head of a main denomination. Since he only knows Spanish, people asked us at times what he was talking about. He seems genuinely interested in encouraging the use of Quechua in churches and training men to use it. Pray with us that this new interest might translate into action within his denomination.
A private retreat among 600+ people
Members of a church that hike to a convention usually all share a room made available to them by a local family. It’s wall-to-wall bodies. The first night out, it got late and we still weren’t sure where we’d sleep. A man had an empty house outside of the village with a big pile of straw on the dirt floor, ready to welcome a visiting church. But, since none needed it, we got it! We had a private get-away for the weekend with a ton of extra straw for bedding. What a nice retreat! Usually there isn’t a moment to yourselves at these big gatherings.
Serving with style!
It always cracks us up to see these motor oil buckets used as serving dishes at big gatherings! Recycling? Just being practical!
To pray for:
• Paulino and others like him—to learn to feed on the word of God.
• Action within a local denomination to encourage the use of Quechua in rural churches.
• September 14 through October 2 another Old Testament workshop will be taking place. Pray that each participant comes prepared, rested and eager to jump into work! This time they should finish Proverbs. They didn’t quite finish in July. Plus, they’ll continue in Psalms.
• September 25–27th is the Quechua women’s annual retreat for the Margos area churches. We can only be there for part of it. Mark will be helping teach.
Thank you for your encouragement and prayers!
Mark & Patti
