Beans'Talk February 2016

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Over and up in Huamalies

At the time of our last letter we had no idea that we would soon take off for Huamalies—one of the language areas we translate for. One of the men on the translation team set up a weekend in the provincial capital, Llata, with church leaders from a number of towns and villages in the area. We traveled over a couple days early to avoid being on the road over New Year’s.

Brrr….on the air

Those first extra days there, Mark was interviewed and taught on the radio at 5:15 each morning. The down coat and woolen hat give you an idea that it was chilly! One morning during the program a man from a different town called into the station all excited about the prospect of meeting Mark in person. He traveled up with his wife and daughter to attend the events scheduled for Sunday.

Beans'talk January 2016

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It’s the end of the year

Our goal has been to finish five Bibles before the 2015 calendar runs out. With only ten days to go, it is not going to happen. But, we are definitely getting closer!

Our goals expanded this year as one translation split into two. Both sides need more time to re-work all the books. Another translation needs more time to incorporate suggestions from the northern part of their area.

We trust that sometime this summer we will be able to turn these Bibles over for layout.

Checking things off

Beans'talk December 2015

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A shot in the arm

After our last Beans’talk, I had a lump in my throat and teary eyes reading all the encouragement many of you sent our way. Thanks team! Thank you for your faithful prayers moving this work forward and holding us all up in the process.

Missions

Some of you may remember Wilmer who worked in translation with us for years. His church now devotes the last Sunday night service each month to missions. Wilmer invited us to speak at their October missions night. We were impressed! With Wilmer’s guidance and the Holy Spirit’s work, adults and youth alike are learning & praying about the world.

Beans'talk November 2015

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This month, in addition to our regular Beans'talk, we're including an extra page for those of you who have been following the progress of these translations. We explain why the one-chart-for-all approach no longer works. For this time only, we give an updated progress chart for each of the Quechua varieties.

There is still a lot that needs to be done. Like Moses who needed help to keep his arms raised during battle, we need your continued prayers to see us through to the end. This is definitely a team effort. Let's keep it up, team!

We can make it!

Mark & Patti

Beans'Talk October 2015

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We are still marveling over the last weekend's amazing wedding in Tennesee. Emily is now Mrs. Blake Ackerson. The Beans'talk contains some comments about the wedding, a map, and a brief summary of our time with pastors and leaders over in Ancash at the beginning of the month. Note: the map only highlights where some people in the wedding came from. We counted 26 countries "pinned" by wedding guests.

Now, we are back in Huanuco and back to real life. Last night a neighbor knocked on the door to let us know we have a water problem. The main pipe from the street into the property is broken. Also last night our landlord asked us to trim the monster bougainvillea growing over our front wall. It really did need attention. So we were up early to tackle it before the day unfolded.

Thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement.

Mark & Patti Bean

Beans'Talk September 2015

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In our letter....really good news! Don't miss it! Page one tells about pastors and page two about family!

Heading home after our last workshop, Yepo and Pedro traveled together for the first leg of their trips. They were involved in TWO accidents. The first car ran into a bridge and was unable to continue. The replacement car hit a truck but was able to keep going. Thankfully no one was seriously injured in either accident.

Lots of us will be traveling between now and our next Beans'talk.

Thank you for remembering all of us in your prayers.

Mark & Patti Bean

Beans'Talk August 2015

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Letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. Rom. 8:6b

This verse speaks truth I experienced this month. Below are some recent opportunities we and the translation team have had to put this verse into practice.

Lots of changes

In the days leading up to the regional women’s conference many things changed: the number of times I was to speak, the days I was to speak, how long I was to speak, and the place I was to speak (from inside to outside for the evening meeting.) All the uncertainty and change wasn’t easy for me. Mark is always so encouraging. He helped me get my heart and thoughts on track. The weekend went well even when things didn’t go as planned. I was able to relax and enjoy the time. People were paying attention. The women were able to repeat the main points from the first night when I taught the next day. Thank you for praying for them and me.

Beans'Talk July 2015

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Pleasant places

Earlier this month Mark turned sixty. How true the words of Psalm 16:6: The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Surely I have a delightful inheritance. What a gift to have meaningful work that he really enjoys and friends along the way. Wilmer (left) and Walter (right) along with their wives helped Mark celebrate. We were missing Felipe who was in the capital city with Shatu learning about the next step to complete the JESUS movie. We were also missing Leoncio.

Missing Leoncio

Beans'Talk June 2015

Download the PDF of the June 2015 Beans'Talk here.

Waiting

This past week we met a woman who has seen a Bible in a different Quechua than what she speaks. She couldn’t figure it out. She asked: “When can I buy a whole Bible in my language?”

Beyond the green boxes

In order to complete these five Bibles, there is more to do beyond coloring the boxes dark green on the chart. There are currently 1300+ outstanding issues to address. We’ve actually been working on this list, but at the same time, adding new questions. So, there hasn’t been much forward progress.

Beans'Talk May 2015

Download the PDF of the May 2015 Beans'Talk with photos here.

Stormy weather in Isaiah

How many of you learned the saying in school: April showers bring May flowers? Sometimes weather shows up in translation. Isaiah 30:30 speaks of God’s majesty and strength as being like cloudbursts, thunderstorms and hail. Quechua doesn’t refer to these things quite like English. See if you can match the English to the Quechua equivalent:

cloudbursts         egg rain

thunderstorms     crazy rain

hail                    lightning & punching 

(cloudbursts = crazy rain; hail = egg rain. “Punching” refers to thunder in some Quechua varieties.)