Missions Night Dinner with Mark & Patti Bean

Location: The Venue at Parkside Church
Start Time: Fri 26, Oct. 2018, 9:30 p.m.
End Time: Fri 19, Oct. 2018, 11:30 p.m.

Join us on October 26 at 6:30 pm for dinner, followed by a presentation from Parkside missionaries, Mark & Patti Bean. Mark and Patti serve with Wycliffe Bible Translators and are in the process of having six Bibles printed in Quechua dialects of central Peru.

Cost is $10.00 per person. Register online below or pick up a registration form from any info center. A registration table will also be outside the Venue on Sunday morning, Oct. 21.

Register

Beans'talk October 2018

Download the October 2018 Beans'Talk with photos here.

Spelling bees, anyone?

The Quechua Bibles that are waiting to be printed use a slightly different spelling system than the previously published New Testaments. So, our Quechua co-workers have made it a point to get out and help prepare people by organizing reading and writing practice. A number of churches in the Huánuco area have hosted series of classes. Men and women, young and old, on white boards, blackboards and pieces of paper practice away. Everywhere the big question is: When will our Bibles arrive?

What an example!

In another part of the mountains, Quechua co-workers challenged a group of pastors to pray for God to provide the funds needed to publish their Quechua Bible. The next day pastor Mauricio and his wife gave a donation of $300. To put this in context, this is roughly equivalent to a month’s pay for someone who earns a regular salary, which pastor Mauricio does not. Instead, he and his wife had frugally saved up from their sales of extra farm produce. We aren’t the only ones re-telling Mauricio’s story. You may have already heard it. It gives a clue to how much it means to our Quechua friends that they have a complete copy of God's Word!

Beans'Talk May 2018

Download the May 2018 Beans'Talk with photos here.

Five down and one to go!

Today as you read this, the fifth Quechua Bible is almost through the final layout process. Then, there’s just one more Bible to go.

New Quechua websites ask for help

During the past month some of our Quechua partners had the opportunity to attend a workshop on developing websites. Help! came a message. Help us update our materials so they can be downloaded.

Over the years as the orthography (spelling system) has changed, not all books and materials kept up with all the changes back and forth. For example, we started using the letter k to represent the hard c sound. Then, we moved to c and qu to match what kids learn in the Spanish speaking schools. Currently, we’re back to using k in Quechua materials to match the government’s foray into promoting Quechua.

So, Mark found himself re-working the series of fox stories along with other stories we haven’t touched in years. All one has to do is tell the punch line of the story illustrated here and everyone laughs! Hang on, guys!

Hurray for people working to make these materials more accessible to Quechua speakers. These websites will eventually contain links for people to access Scripture in their own language. Another hurrah!

April 2018 Beans'Talk

Download the April 2018 Beans'Talk with photo here.

Strike up the band!

Ta-daa! The proofs have been checked and the first of the six Bibles has been turned over for final layout. Four others are waiting in the wings for their turn. Just one group wants a bit more time before they turn theirs over. This is a major milestone! Celebrate with us and all the team! And you know, the team includes all of you who pray, give, and encourage us along the way. Through many people, God has graciously helped us get to this point.

Totaling it up

We always knew that translating the Bible into six related Quechua languages was a big job. Recently, however, we counted up some statistics to get a better idea.

* In the process of translating for six Bibles, we worked intensely and multiple times on 186,174 verses (31,029 verses per Bible). There was the initial translation followed by an edit, reading to people in communities to make sure that everything was understandable, re-editing, reading through on the computer, re-editing, reading aloud, re-editing, etc. And then, finally, reading through the proofs.

Beans'Talk March 2018

Download Beans'Talk March 2018 with photos here.

Extra help

As the Quechua teams read through the proofs, Mark asked Oscar, a native Quechua speaker and fellow missionary, if he would like to read some as well. After Oscar read a couple books and had tasted how sweet the translation is in his own language, he offered to read through the entire Bible.

It’s so encouraging to read Oscar’s comments when he sends back a file. Oscar is not new to the Bible. So, it means a lot to have him say:

What a beautiful translation, brother! I’m not just reading to check the translation, I’m reading to worship the One who confused all the languages in the first place.

I’m reliving the life of Paul [as I read this].

And, God is really glorified in what you are doing, Mark.

Beans'talk February 2018

Download the February Beans'talk with photos here.

A Quechua-speaking Good Shepherd

Sumer represents the Huacaybamba area on the translation team. His church sent him to a large neighboring community to read Scrip-ture as part of a big community festival. He chose to read John 10 about Jesus being the Good Shepherd.

Quechua people shepherd their sheep daily. They can really relate to John 10. Sumer’s au-dience raved about how clear and special it was to hear this in their own language. They lamented that it was too bad that Sumer hadn’t been there the previous day to read Scripture, too.

Because it was a community festival, many family members had returned to the area from the capital city to be there for the occa-sion. Even though they are usually immersed in Spanish while in the city, they too, ex-claimed how special it was to hear the mes-sage in the language of their heart.

How to eat an elephant

Beans'talk January 2018

Download the January 2018 Beans'talk with photo here.

At Christmas we celebrate the Word of God made flesh. Jesus, the Christmas babe, came for all people, even those in the remotest corners of the earth. Join us in praying that the written Word of God becomes available for Quechua speakers in central Peru before another Christmas rolls around.

Praises and Prayer Requests

Beans'talk December 2017

Download the December 2017 Beans'talk with photos here.

Every year there are SO many things to be thankful for. This year is no exception. Here are some highlights along with a brand new praise.

Guidance and provision

We thank God for his leading us to establish our home base here in Ohio near Mom Bean. He confirmed that to us in many ways including positive feedback from many of you. Shortly after, another confirmation was learning that Mark needs to be close to medical care.

We thank God for a home of our own with a garage, a big deal in ice & snow country. Daily we pinch ourselves, marveling at how God provided and how he used so many of his people to fill our home with all we need and more to make it liveable.

Beans'Talk November 2017

Download the November 2017 Beans'Talk with photos here.

Bible day

During our recent trip to Peru we got to help celebrate Bible Day! Hundreds of believers, young and old, formed up in the street to march through town carrying signs, flags, banners, and…Bibles! This year, the parade ended up at the main town square where they held an outdoor meeting. They have the Spanish Bible, and they hope to soon have the Bible in their Quechua as well. Mark was on the program to give them a taste of what’s coming. He read Old and New Testament passages in Quechua about God’s Word. 

No Bible left behind

We’re back in the U.S. now from our three-plus weeks in Peru, where we helped the six teams begin checking the proofs of their respective Bibles. They prefer to work together rather than each guy reading alone. By drawing up a schedule, everyone’s on the “same page,” reading through the same material. Working that way, they sometimes help each other with things they find. That way, no Bible is “left behind.”

Beans'talk October 2017

Download the October 2017 Beans'talk with photos here.

A concert in Germany

Last week, on the 13th, there was a benefit concert in Germany for the Quechua Bibles we’re shepherding to completion. “How’s that?” you ask.

Well actually, it was a concert our dear friend and colleague Angelika Marsch orchestrated as a gift to her church. It was a way to celebrate 30 years to the day her church commissioned her, and they have faithfully supported her ever since. After serving alongside us in Peru to help Quechua speakers learn to read in their language, she returned to Germany, where she served fourteen years as the director for Wycliffe Bible Translators there. She’s now in a new role.

A musician herself, Angelika once had the joy of producing a CD of Quechua-German songs along with Siegfried Fietz, one of the top Christian composers of German praise music. For the celebration at her church last week, she invited Siegfried along with his son to come put on a concert. With Siegfried’s music and the Quechua songs, the concert was a success. Part-way through the concert they did a video interview with Mark via Skype, introducing the project to the concertgoers. The church leaders had suggested that an offering be collected on behalf of these six Bibles. Then, the following Sunday, when Angelika spoke in her church, a second offering was taken.