Beans' June 2012 Prayer Requests

1. Praise for a wonderful time together with most of our children as we gathered together for Ernie's graduation from college and commissioning into the Army as a 2nd Leutinant.

2. Praise for safe travels and warm welcome as we spoke and met with 27 different groups this past month. Pray for the remaining opportunities to talk about Bible translation our last few weeks here in Ohio.

3. June 20th we fly out of Cleveland for South Carolina where we'll have a few days with our grandsons. We'll be attending a wedding there that possibly some of our other children will be attending as well. (wouldn't that be a treat!)

Beans' Talk May 2012

Download this letter with photo as a PDF here.

Whew! A crazy exit!

The last week of our March OT workshop was extra full. Administrators came to visit. Former colleagues arrived to help close down the translation center. As soon as the workshop ended we moved all the computers and equipment to our newly rented house. Then we packed suitcases and left Huanuco late one night on the bus to come to the States.

Sometime after midnight the bus stopped. The stewardess announced that the road ahead was going to be closed for three days and we were going back. So, at about two in the morning we found ourselves back where we had started!

Now what! We had an international flight to catch! We decided to try back roads. So, at 5:30 in the morning, we caught a car with two other passengers and wound our way along narrow roads, up, up, up into the mountains, changing cars about four hours into the trip. Climbing past snow-capped mountains and spectacular drop-offs, our plan was to get up to a crossroads at 13,200 feet and wait along the road for a bus to pass by.

Beans' Talk April 2012

Download the PDF of our letter with photos here.

Hurray! The chart’s all green!

We’re about half way through the current OT workshop and we can already paint the entire translation chart green!  Lest you think we’re almost out of work, there is still plenty to do before we’re finished.

So, what’s next?

Next on the “to-do” list are two main steps:

1. One is a final revision of the Old Testament, particularly of the first books we did starting back in 2004. We also need to make sure that key terms and ways of expressing things are the same throughout the Old Testament. Mark has a list of over 550 items they need to check!

2. Second is a revision of all five New Testaments. We need to update how the Old Testament is quoted in the New and translate other things as we did in the Old Testament. The New Testament revision alone could take up to three more years.

Beans' Talk March 2012

Download this letter as a PDF here.

A new home!

Wow! Within 24 hours of sending out last month’s Beans’talk we found a new home! Thank you for praying. We had already been looking, but what a difference your prayers made.

The owners posted their notice a couple hours after I checked the boards and took the photo for the Beans’talk. I almost didn’t go back to read the classifieds the next morning thinking there would be nothing new.

They say you can’t just a book by its cover. Neither can you judge a home by it’s street appearance. We now live behind the gray metal door and pink wall.

Beans' Talk February 2012

Bean Family Special Prayer Request

Dear friends and family,

Recently there has been a spate of false accusations against Wycliffe Bible Translators and SIL regarding the translation of “Son of God” and “God the Father.” The rumor is that SIL supports removing “Son of God” when translating for Muslim audiences.

Please join us in prayer that this rumor be stopped. As the opportunity arises, please do what you can to set things straight. We are copying below a press release (located at http://www.sil.org/sil/news/2012/SIL-Son-of-God-translation.htm) and a Statement of Best Practices (located at http://www.sil.org/translation/divine_familial_terms.htm) to help you understand a bit more what the issue is.

We appreciate your concern and prayers for this matter,

Mark and Patti Bean

News Article SIL responds to false accusations

Beans' January 2012 Prayer Requests

Jan 3 - Today is Ernie & Sarah Garman's wedding. Pray for them as they begin a new life together. Pray that the Lord Jesus will be the Rock and solid foundation of their marriage. Pray for Mark as he conducts the service that all in all it will be a time of praise for God's goodness.

Jan 6 - Mark & Patti return to Peru. Pray for safe travels. (Sometimes traveling is hard on my back.)

Jan 15-19 - This is our annual conference/retreat with fellow colleagues working around Peru. Pray for a special time of refreshment together and for whoever the speaker is this year. (Two years ago it was Alistair).

Beans' Talk December 2011

Download this letter with all the photos here.

Answers to your prayers for the Old Testament workshop out in Pomabamba.

We found Pomabamba to be a quaint old town full of very friendly people. Quechua is definitely their language.  

Travel:

All the equipment made it safely. The trips were adventures: roads closed, a flat tire, tying on a radiator with scraps of rubber, a sheered off bolt that held the wheel onto the bus, the bus nearly tipping over when off in a ditch, and lots of switchbacks. See them on the right?  

Accomodations:

A bit of a surprise here. The “hotel” was more like an abandoned municipal project outside of town. Definitely some stories to tell. The very nice surprise is that we were next door to thermal baths. I was concerned about the prospect of cooking over a fire. But, since the building had nothing: no plates, pots, utensils, ...I was “saved.” A neighbor fed us breakfast on her porch. For lunch & supper, we hiked a steep 20 minutes up to town. Good food, but tummy problems included at no charge!

Beans' Talk November 2011

Beans' Talk October 2011

We are in the middle of another Old Testament workshop over in the city of Huaraz.

Read about the woman with the "wrong" Bible in the attached Beans'talk. Other news is included as well. Aren't the women's fashions colorful!!

Plugging away,

Mark & Patti Bean