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Wanca Quechua New Testament Dedicated in the Peruvian Andes

The Wanca Quechua form a large people group of about a quarter of a million people. They live in the highest habitable part of the Andes in central Peru. Through the centuries the Wanca Quechua distinguished themselves as fierce warriors, never allowing themselves to be dominated by the Incas. Although people from other Quechua dialects considered Wanca Quechua to be a mix of impure grammar and vocabulary, it became apparent that Wanca Quechua was unique and merited its own version of the Bible.

In 1982 the Wanca Quechua language program was initiated. Rick and Melanie Floyd arrived with their young family, eager to help get God’s Word into one of the unwritten languages of Peru. They were assigned to the highlands of the region of Huancayo where they set up their home in one of the Wanca villages and began the long process of learning the language and culture of the people. They developed literacy materials and established a translation team to complete a New Testament translation.

The Wanca people are distinguished by their unique style of hats. They have a large brimmed hat for shading their face while working in the hot sun. But they also have a straw hat that has a white plaster applied to it and decorated with a black ribbon. They call this their “city hat” which they wear when dressed up for special occasions.

Wanca mantas (large square cloths) are woven with numerous colorful striped and intricate designs. Mantas are very useful for carrying babies, or other types of cargo. Like the distinctive hats, mantas reveal the village where they came from.

On August 12, about 2,000 Wancas began arriving for a celebration of the dedication of their New Testament. The event began with a four-mile parade followed by a dedication service, music, dancing and the traditional Wanca style banquet.

Thanks for your part in bringing God’s Word to the Wanca Quechua. Please pray that God will bless the Wanca people with a growing desire to read their Scripture, applying it to their daily lives so they can bring glory to God with their praise and worship.

On the home front

Official Baby Update
It’s a girl! That usually means that the baby is born. But in this age of modern technology it only means an ultrasound has revealed what used to be a surprise. Ondrej and Jessica are very excited and busy redecorating the baby room. We are looking forward to being in the US for the birth around December 29.

Home School
Jonathan made great progress in school. Since we planned to take a long break at Christmas time, we forged ahead with homework as quickly as possible and we left the books behind in Peru.

Jonathan is also enjoying both guitar and piano lessons. With Sally’s voice lessons and leadership of the worship in the prison ministry and our involvement with the praise team at church, we have quite a musical home.

Computer Technical Conference
The bi-annual computer technical conference was from October 28 until November 17. This was a great opportunity to find out what is the latest and greatest in computer technology to aid in Bible Translation. This year we added special training for those who do the actual computer layout of Scripture.

I had strategic opportunities to meet with many other computer and publishing specialists. This was a big help in my role as publishing coordinator for the Americas.

New Pastor for Union Church
We are very excited that God has directed us to Gary Van Brocklin, the new pastor for our church. We pray this will be a smooth transition for Gary and his wife Marlene and that they will bring God’s great blessing to this ministry to English speaking people of Lima. With about 30,000 English speaking foreigners in Lima there is a great opportunity for ministry and outreach.

Spring in Lima
It feels wonderful now that the days are getting warmer and the clouds are breaking over Lima. I have to remind myself what season it is far to the north. Enjoy all those fall colors and winter activities for us.

World Translation Statistics

New Testaments/Bible translated:

623

Programs in progress:

1,640

New Testaments remaining:

2,529

People without Scripture:

272,000,000

Volunteers needed:

2,978

Christian population:

2,410,000,000