Mark & Patti September 2021 Prayer Requests

Pray for Mark & the team of Panao Quechua mother-tongue translators as they press to finish the book of Exodus. As the consultant, Mark has studied through and commented on their translation of Exodus. Still to finish in September, when funding goals require its completion, are the team's responses to the 500+ notes Mark's made. Then, Mark must go through those responses to see how they handled them. Sometimes there is yet another round of back and forth between consultant and team before everyone is satisfied. Together, Mark and the translation team also have ten days set aside to do a "comprehension check" with a native speaker who didn't work on the translation. Without God's obvious help, (and your prayers!) this mountain of work won't move!

The Beans'talk July/August 2021

Download The Beans'talk July/August 2021 

Those unscheduled surprises!

It happens to all of us. We make our plans, and then God surprises us with unscheduled events and circumstances. Some are wonderful, and others not so much. Here are some surprises on both ends of the spectrum.

A recording surprise

For a variety of reasons, none of the men have been able to stay in the capital city to finish recording the Old Testament for Huamalies- Dos de Mayo Quechua. That was an unplanned surprise for those who are responsible for getting it done. So, a technician will travel up to Huanuco where Wilmer and Walter live, and the two of them will finish reading all the remaining text.

Shingles surprise

Even though he had been vaccinated, Mark broke out with a doozy of a case of shingles—probably due to his lymphoma. Big blisters popped out down the back of his leg and backside. We still haven’t sat down to a meal together in weeks—he can’t sit down! At last, most of his sores are drying up.

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Beans'talk May/June 2021

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Aren’t you glad your mother spoke English?

Since we are in the language business, sometimes Mark and I stop and exclaim how thankful we are that English is our mother tongue. We never had to struggle to learn it.

Let’s say you had to learn English and this week’s vocabulary includes the verb “to break.” OK. You learn to conjugate it. Got it—I break, you break, he breaks…. Then, you start hearing it in conversations and sometimes you wonder what exactly is breaking?

• His face broke out when …

• The discussion broke down, which is not the same as the man broke down…

• The men broke in through the window.

• The meeting broke up, which isn’t the same as the couple broke up.

• He broke even.

Adding little words like in, out, up, down adds some tricky twists! Most of you reading this are native English speakers. Aren’t you glad your mother spoke English?

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