Beans'talk November 2015

Download the November 2015 Beans'talk here.

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

Download the October 2015 Beans'Talk with photos here.

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

Download the September 2015 BeansTalk with photos here.

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

Download the Beans'Talk August 2015 with photos here.

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

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

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.)

Beans'Talk April 2015

Download the April 2015 Beans'Talk with photos here.

A building for the church

The Quechua speaking believers that meet in Pichipampa, just 30 minutes or so outside of Huanuco, dedicated their new church. Mark cut the ribbon and spoke for the occasion, teaching Saturday evening, and again Sunday morning. The rain on the tin roof made it hard to hear him sometimes, but it wasn’t much of a deterrent to the 11-piece band. Imagine the celebration accompanied by the exuberant sounds of four trumpets, three baritones, a saxophone and three drummers (a snare drum, bass drum and a drum set) all within a small building!

The Beans'Talk March 2015

Download the March 2015 Beans'Talk with photos here.

Silly reporters

Mark & I were asked to give a report at our annual retreat last month. We compared our work to a multi-ringed circus and dressed accordingly as clowns. Who wants to hear a boring report! The whole week was a nice break from work.

* * * * * Now, we are three weeks into a four-week translation workshop. Each day we take time to sing, pray together and learn something new. This workshop the team started reading The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman.

Wait until she’s dead

The Beans' Talk February 2015

Download the 2015 February Beans'Talk here.

It’s not Valentine’s Day yet, but, by the time our February Beans’talk comes out it will have already passed. So, here’s something to help get you thinking about it.

Valentine lungs

We’ve mentioned before that the Quechua word used as the emotional equivalent of heart is actually the word for a different part of the body. If someone is translating between Spanish and Quechua, shonqu is always used for the Spanish word for heart because that is where the emotions reside. But when you butcher an animal, the shonqu turns out to be the lungs. (The anatomical heart in Quechua is puywan.)

Expressions using “heart” (lungs)