P ROJ E C T U P DAT E
Quechua OT Cluster*
MAY 2014
A Touching Offering
Pastor Venancio carried an envelope
heavy with small coins, a love offering
for Bible translation. When a mission
class in his local church learned about
the Quechua project, they wanted
to give what they could to help. This
touching offering totaled the equivalent of nearly $25.00.
“That’s a big deal!” project coordinator
Mark says. “He also brought groceries
donated by the denomination’s local
Pastor Venancio gave Mark
headquarters for our workshop coffee
a love offering for Bible
breaks. It’s great to see this expression translation from his church
of local support.”
•Location: Peru
•Number of Speakers: 990,000
•Year Project Began: 2002
•Expected Completion Date: 2016
•Praise God that local churches are
A local denomination gave groceries
for the team’s break times
‘You can’t say that!’
Ravens don’t live in South America, but a type of blackbird does.
When the team translated the story of Noah releasing the raven from
the ark, they added a footnote to explain what a raven is. Mark suggested, “Like a big blackbird.” One translator said, “You can’t say that!
There are no big blackbirds!”
learning the importance of God’s Word
in the mother tongue. Thank Him for
the expressions of local support.
•Pray for the translators as they
endeavor to make the five Quechua
Bible translations communicate clearly
and accurately in the heart language.
“Now what?” thought Mark. Then he rephrased it: “Like a blackbird,
but bigger.” The translators were satisfied with that. “Word order
makes a big difference in Quechua,” Mark says.
QUECHUA OT CLUSTER PROJECT UPDATE—1
© Copyright 2014 The Seed Company. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate. Do not reproduce in any form in full or in part, or rewrite without written permission.
The proprietary profile or update was prepared exclusively for Seed Company partners and investors.
* OT Clusters are strategic networks of related language teams translating the Old Testament or selections from it.
PROJECT UPDATE
Quechua OT Cluster
Steady Progress
“We’ve revised the key 40 percent of the Old Testament and are
moving on to the rest,” Mark says. The translators are currently
working on 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles. Mark finished
consultant checking Exodus and also consultant checked Leviticus
along with Numbers 1-21. Revision work on Ecclesiastes, Isaiah,
Jeremiah and Ezekiel continues.
In the New Testament, consultant checking of Matthew, Mark and
most of Acts was completed at the January, March and April workshops respectively. Preparations to revise 1 and 2 Corinthians and
Hebrews at upcoming workshops are still in the works.
• The amount of Scripture material waiting for Mark to consultant
check remains daunting. Pray for sustained strength.
News from Leoncio, Felipe and Pushpi
In answer to prayer, translator Leoncio is teaching high school language arts and religion in the Quechua speaking area. His ministry is
expanding: the local church was thrilled to have him preach in Quechua, and a student wants Leoncio to speak in his church up on the
mountain. “Although we miss Leoncio at the translation table, we’re
excited that he’s encouraging believers where there’s little sound
teaching,” Mark says.
• Mark requests, “Ask God to speak to translator Pushpi’s heart and
•Praise God for good productive workshops and steady forward progress.
•Pray that the teams’ ongoing study
of “The Peacemaker” at workshops
will equip them to deal with conflict
in their lives and ministries and help
others do the same.
•Pray that a computer program Mark is
writing will speed up spelling checks
and changes in the alphabets and writing systems of the five languages. “It’s
more complicated than he envisioned,”
his wife Patti says. “Pray him through
to the end.”
•Thank the Lord for Leoncio’s ministry.
Pray for a lasting impact on his students as Jesus shines through him.
•Pray for translator Felipe and his
family. Doctors postponed his surgeries and his medical benefits expired.
His mother has been in the hospital
several times in the last few months.
to help him listen and repent. Barring a miraculous moving of God’s
Spirit, we don’t expect him to be working with us again.”
Why Was Paul in the Basket?
“A funny example came up that illustrates the differences in the
Quechua spoken among the five cluster languages,” Mark writes.
“Quechua sometimes requires an explicitly stated reason or purpose.
In Acts 9:25 when Paul is lowered down the city wall in a basket,
some of the Quechua translations add the word qeshpinanpaq,
which means ‘in order to escape.’ When the team revising Acts read
that, guys representing two of the languages burst out laughing.
For them, that would mean that Paul was in the basket in order to
give birth!”
QUECHUA OT CLUSTER PROJECT UPDATE—2
•Ask God to help the revision team keep
alert to make sure things communicate clearly in each of the five cluster
languages.
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© Copyright May 2014 The Seed Company. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate. Do not reproduce in any form in full or in part, or rewrite without written permission.
The proprietary profile or update was prepared exclusively for Seed Company partners and investors.