The Bean Family

The Bean Family

Event
06/20/20

Beans'Talk June-July 2020

Download a copy of the June-July 2020 Beans'talk with photos here.

Hey! How does everybody know?

Turning 65 must be a big deal. We can tell by all that comes in our mailbox. First it was Mark who kept receiving massive amounts of junk mail. Now, it’s my turn. All sorts of people know not only when our birthdays are, but also how old we’ll be.

If you haven’t hit this milestone, be forewarned. Everyone wants your attention. The upside: you won’t have to be sad about an empty mailbox! Mark just had his birthday earlier this month. Mine’s coming up in August. I guess that officially makes us senior citizens.

Consulting

One of Mark’s jobs is checking over the translation work of colleagues. Since our last Beans’Talk, Mark finished checking the book of Acts for another variety of Quechua. He also worked through the book of Colossians along with the book of Mark. Now his consultant hat is hanging on a peg until more books come his way—which could be any day now.

App progress

Mark continues to convert Quechua materials so they can be accessible on people’s cell phones. Building apps for cell phones has not been a smooth process, but Mark is thankful for the progress made so far. To date he has posted 16 apps to Google Play Store:

• Three apps with 75 topical Bible studies in each, one app for each of 3 different Quechua groups.

• Three apps with 14 topical Bible studies in each, one app for each of 3 other Quechua groups.

• Five apps with an assortment of resources for Scripture memory, evangelism, basic discipleship, using the helps in the Bible, etc. Each app is for a different Quechua group.

• A course about the Bible, with readings, assignments and final exam. This is also x 5 apps for 5 Quechua groups.

Advertising agency, anyone?

Mark is about to start the process of targeting Quechua speakers via Facebook in order to advertise the fact that there are Quechua materials available to download for free. Time to figure out how to put on a Madison Avenue hat!

Next—music!

Now Mark is working on apps that include sound. He’s working his way through five hymnbooks, making an app for each one. The result will be an app that will allow someone to select any song in the hymnbook, have the words show up on the screen, and present an option to listen to a recording of it. The five hymnbooks, each in their own app, include over 850 song files to incorporate!

Word from Peru

Our friends in Peru are still quite limited in their ability to get out due to COVID. We continue to be impressed at their creativity as some of them use Facebook to post videos to teach and reach others outside of their homes.

Praise and Prayer Requests

 Praise: for life, health, and strength for another year in God’s care and service.

 Pray for good leads in how to advertise what’s available for Quechua speakers to use on their phones. Not everyone has a smart phone, but they are becoming more common. Pray for careful completion of the hymnbooks and matching music.

 Pray that here in Ohio, in Peru and all over we will be patient, doing what God puts before us as he works out his plans for our lives. (Psalm 138:8). Originally we had planned to have all of our kids and grands together this coming week, but, like many things, that’s indefinitely on hold.

We thank God for you and your partnership with us.

Mark & Patti