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The Lord is going to what?

It was sort of a last minute decision to leave for Peru on January 2nd. On the way, my phone dinged with a message: Tomorrow the Lord will come to install the shower …

This was just one of the humorous results that an automatic translator produced. If you know Spanish, you can understand where this one came from (“el señor” can mean “the Lord” or just “the man”).

We enjoy funny translation examples, but we sure don’t want to find any in the work we do!

Back in Peru

The new translation project is meeting together for the second time. Mark will usually work with them virtually from Ohio, but we came in person this time to meet them and to be known. Plus, Mark wants to iron out some technical glitches that will make long-distance consulting easier.

A new place to stay

We’re staying in a little Airbnb just down the hill from where the translation workshop is being held in JAWCA’s office (our Quechua partners). This location is very convenient. The tricky part isn’t walking uphill, though some days the mud is pretty slippery. The real trick is trying to safely cross a major road with no stop light or designated crosswalks.

A new group

Here’s Mark with the teams working to translate the Bible into their languages.

A new group of guys around the table isn’t very interesting. But do you notice that the room is open to the outside? Or, the sheepskin cushions in the photo below? Pretty classy, no?

What’s up?

These men represent four related Quechua languages. They are just getting started in translation. As we mentioned in our last letter, two of these groups have New Testaments and two don’t have anything printed in their particular Quechua. The goals of this workshop:

• Work together to polish up the eleven simple reading books that they worked on last time,

• Incorporate into the translation the changes and suggestions they found when checking Genesis 1-2 in their communities,

• Each team edit their computer-generated drafts of Genesis 3-21,

• Work with Mark to go over his observations and suggestions to improve their edited drafts,

• Have Genesis 3 through 21 corrected, spell-checked, printed and ready to take out and test in their communities. The last workday will be Saturday the 25th, and then, Lord willing, we’ll head home.

Praise and Prayer Requests

• Pray for Mark as he discovers the differences between these related Quechua languages. Then, he has to write rules for the computer to use in order to generate better drafts for the guys to work on. Also pray for his careful check of their work on Genesis.

• Praise for good health and that Mark is doing well.

• Health is such a fickle thing. Our grandson Jeremiah has been in and out of the hospital again since we last wrote. Mark’s younger sister Margaret has also been battling cancer for a couple years. She does not have many treatment options left. Praise God that our lives are in his hands, no matter the physical state of our bodies.

• Pray along with us for family members dealing with health issues.

• Pray for their caretakers as well. May their endurance and trust in God grow through tough times.

We’re thankful for all the ways God loves us. And we thank him for your encouragement, prayers and partnership with us.

Mark & Patti