Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada

Summer 2014

Kingdom
Friendships
A Canadian church pursues
a more personal missions
relationship to advance
Bible translation and
Scripture in Peru.
Quarter of All Languages Need Translation Started + Translating the Gospel + Meeting at the Crossroads
Summer 2014 Volume 33 Number 2
Word Alive, which takes its name from Hebrews 4:12a,
is the official publication of Wycliffe Bible Translators
of Canada. Its mission is to inform, inspire and involve
the Christian public as partners in the worldwide
Bible translation movement.
Editor: Dwayne Janke
Designer: Cindy Buckshon
Senior Staff Writer: Doug Lockhart
Staff Writer: Janet Seever
Staff Photographers: Alan Hood, Natasha Schmale
Word Alive is published four times annually by
Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada, 4316 10 St NE,
Calgary AB T2E 6K3. Copyright 2014 by Wycliffe
Bible Translators of Canada. Permission to reprint
articles and other magazine contents may be
obtained by written request to the editor. A
donation of $20 annually is suggested to cover
the cost of printing and mailing the magazine.
(Donate online or use the reply form in this issue.)
Printed in Canada by McCallum Printing Group,
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Member: The Canadian Church Press, Evangelical
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For additional copies: media_resources@wycliffe.ca
To contact the editor: editor_wam@wycliffe.ca
For address updates: circulation@wycliffe.ca
Wycliffe serves minority language groups worldwide
by fostering an understanding of Gods Word through
Bible translation, while nurturing literacy, education
and stronger communities.
Canadian Head Office: 4316 10 St NE, Calgary AB T2E
6K3. Phone: (403) 250-5411 or toll free 1-800-463-1143,
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2623. Email: info@wycliffe.ca. French speakers: Call toll
free 1-877-747-2622 or email francophone@wycliffe.ca
Cover: Travis Wesley from Chilliwack, B.C., visits
with an Eastern Apurmac Quechua woman reading
her New Testament. Seeing Scriptures used by the
Quechua of Peru was a highlight for the Chilliwack
Alliance Church group, including Travis, visiting a
village in the Andes Mountains. (See story, pg. 6.)
Photo by Natasha Schmale.
In Others Words
The Bible stands, and it will forever
When the world has passed away;
By inspiration it has been given
All its precepts I will obey.
Lyrics from a song by Haldor Lillenas
(1885-1959), important 20th-century gospel
hymn writer and publisher
2 Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca
Foreword
Bored to a Realization
Dwayne Janke
W hile on assignment for Word Alive over the years, I have sat
through my fair share of church gatherings in languages other
than English.
What comes to mind? I remember colourfully dressed Jola-Bayote
women dancing up the aisle in Guinea-Bissau; deaf congregations in
Spain and Kenya singing with their hands in sign language; Sinte (gypsy)
believers singing zestfully to vibrant music in Germany; an animated and
pacing Tetun preacher exhorting fellow believers in Timor, Indonesia.
It is always encouraging to see other believers gathering for events that
use their mother tongue. Admittedly, though, the novelty of these events
wears off after an hour or two, because almost always I have no clue what is
actually being said or sung. So it was this past September as I sat in a high-
altitude village at an outdoor church gathering. It was conducted in Eastern
Apurmac Quechua, spoken by 200,000-plus people in south-central Peru.
I was with 10 fellow Canadians from the Chilliwack Alliance Church in B.C.
(see Deeper Instead of Wider, pg. 6). For about a day and a half, virtually
every waking hour featured preaching, and Bible reading, and worship, and
prayer, all in Eastern Apurmac Quechua. Some sermons lasted three hours!
Later, Chilliwackian Adrian Koppejan contrasted fellow Canadian Christians
with these eager and patient Quechua believers he saw: If the [church]
service is an hour or an hour and 15 minutes, then we are done. They sit there
for the whole day and evening.
By the rst afternoon, I was getting antsy, tired andto be honest
bored. Though feeling a tad guilty for this, something nally dawned on me.
Though I could understand a few words here and there (Amen? from the
preachers and Amen! from the hearers), I was an outsider
at this church event. The language barrier kept me entirely
If the Bible wasnt cut off from comprehending almost everything. Truth
was being shared and celebrated, but it meant absolutely
available in my nothing to me.
mother tongue, I realized something: this is how it is for millions of people
worldwide who are barred from truly understanding the
I thought, how Bible. For a few days in that Quechua village, I was like
and why would I one of those who do not have one verse of Gods Word in
their heart language. I couldnt engage with the life-giving
take any interest message being shared there. If the Bible wasnt available in
in its message? my mother tongue, I thought, how and why would I take any
interest in its message? The same is true for Bibleless peoples
around the world. Unless Gods Word is translated into their
mother tongues, they are outsiders to the greatest Book for mankind.
To change this, Wycliffe Canadaand Canadians praying, giving and
going with usare partnering with organizations such as AIDIA (the Spanish
acronym for Interdenominational Association for the Holistic Development
of Apurmac). As you can read in this issue, AIDIA Bible translators have
nished the New Testament and are forging ahead with the Old. At the same
time, their co-workers are dynamically promoting Quechua literacy and
Scripture-use among their own people.
Praise God for that! No matter where life-changing Christian truth is being
shared from the Bible, no one should have to be bored by tragically failing to
understand, just because of a language barrier.
 Contents

Features
6 6 Deeper Instead of Wider A church in B.C.
pursues a relationship-based missions partnership with
AIDIA, to advance Bible translation and use in Peru.

18 A Different God Speaks AIDIA is working hard so

that Gods Word in Eastern Apurmac Quechua effectively
spreads to isolated villages in the Peruvian Andes.

30 Hugging the Book An Eastern Apurmac Quechua

pastor knows full well the value of the New Testament for
his church. After all, he helped translate it.

34 From Fingerprint to Signature A middle-aged

Quechua woman journeys through the darkness of illiteracy
to the light of literacy.

18 Departments
2 Foreword Bored to a Realization
By Dwayne Janke

4 Watchword Survey Results Coming on

Canadians Bible Use

36 Beyond Words Translating the Gospel

30 38 A Thousand Words A Shadow of Their Former Selves

39 Last Word Meeting at the Crossroads

By Roy Eyre

34
Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca 3
 Watchword

Survey Results Coming on Typhoon Spares Bible

Canadians Bible Use Translators in the Philippines

R esults of a survey to discover Canadians attitudes towards the

Bible and its use will soon be released.
The survey, sent to nearly 4,500 people, asked 80 questions to
measure Bible engagement among Canadians. It was initiated
by the Canadian Bible Forum (of which Wycliffe Canada is a
member), with involvement by the Evangelical Fellowship of
Canada and Stronger Together Grants.
Wycliffe Canada President Roy Eyre is eager to learn from the
data and see Bible engagement improve in Canadian churches.
B ible translators and other language workers were spared
when super typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda hit the Central
Philippines in November, causing extensive damage and
thousands of deaths.
Wycliffe personnel were all accounted for after the
disaster, but some colleagues on the edge of the typhoons
path suffered property damage, and were without power
and other basic services for weeks.
Taiwan

Philippine
If Canadians dont value Gods Word themselves, they wont Sea
see its value for other language groups, he explains. So we
wanted to get a realistic assessment of where Canadians are in Myanmar
(Burma)
Vietnam

Philippines
terms of reading the Bible and allowing it to touch their lives. Laos
Palau
To see the survey results, visit <news.wycliffe.ca>, at the Thailand
end of April. Cambodia
South China
Sea

Quarter of Worlds Languages Andaman

Sea
Gulf of
Thailand
Brunei

Need Bible Translation

J ust over a quarter of the worlds 6,900 language groups still need
Bible translation to start for them, according to new statistics
from Wycliffe Global Alliance (WGA).
No active translation program is underway for those 1,919
languages, spoken by nearly 180 million people. Of the total, 70
per cent are spoken in Africa and Asia (see map).
While considerable Bible translation work still needs to be
done, the latest gures show a huge increase in Bible translation
starts in the past decade. In 2000, languages needing translation
totalled 3,000; 1,000 more than todays total.
Bible translation and/or related language work is currently
happening in 2,167 languages, spoken in 130-plus countries by 1.9
billion people. Nearly 80 per cent of this effort involves staff from
the 100 organizations in the WGA, including Wycliffe Canada.
Slightly more than 2,800 languages have some Scripture: about
500 a complete Bible; 1,300 a New Testament, and 1,000 one or
more books of the Bible, says WGA. Nearly 80 per cent of the
worlds actual population have the Bible in their mother tongue.
For more details, visit <wycliffe.net> and click on Statistics.
Number of Languages
with Likely Need of
Bible Translation with
No Active Program
Sinte Romani New Testaments
Almost Depleted
S upplies of the New Testament for the Sinte Romani people
of Europe, widely distributed since it was published in 2011,
are nearly depleted already.
The Bible translation team in Germany has asked for prayer
to decide whether to reprint the New Testament alone, or
combine it in one volume with those Old Testament portions
that have also been translated in recent years.
There are 12 million-plus Roma (Gypsies) worldwide, who
speak more than 100 different dialects. The Sinte Romani
language is used by more than 300,000 Roma, who live
mainly in Germany, France, the Netherlands and the former
Yugolosavia (see Word Alive, Summer 2012 and Fall 2006).
Word Count
200+
Languages used as a home language or mother tongue in Canada.
6
Canadas largest metropolitan areas where 80% of immigrant
language speakers live.
5.8 million
Number of Canadians who speak at least two languages at home.
64%
Increase in number of Canadians speaking Tagalogone of two official
languages in the Philippinesmost often at home (compared to 2006).

Source: Wycliffe Global Alliance Source: Statistics Canada (2011 Census of Population)

4 Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca

SIL Helps Make School Work
in a Multilingual World
S IL, Wycliffes key partner organization, has contributed to
a new book to help school systems in developing nations
work better in todays multilingual world.
Closer to Home stresses that many children around the
world nd education impossible because they are taught in
a language they dont understand. Some children, says the
book, never to go school, knowing that their language and
identity will not be welcome.
The book provides direction on how to bring the languages
that children understand and speak at home into school, using
these as the basis for learning new and unfamiliar languages.
Dr. Catherine Young of SIL was part of the team of
education specialists that co-authored the book, published
by Save the Children
and the Council for
Raising the Participation Age
British Teachers. SIL
partnered with the two
organizations to translate
the book into French
and Spanish.
Bigger Revival Expected
A s translation of the New Testament into Igo winds down,
the project team anticipates a deep impact among the Bogo
people who speak the language in Togo, Africa.
We are hoping that with completion of the New Testament,
there will be a bigger revival and transformation among the Bogo
people, say the workers.
They have good reason to hope. Several years ago, two Bogo
villages had a spiritual revival with the publication of the Gospel
of Mark and Luke in Igo. A man who was a wizard accepted
Christ as Lord and Saviour, and his conversion led to about 30
others. In about two weeks, the total stood at 80.
Two children were miraculously healed through the prayers
of believers there. Today new churches are planted in the main
villages of the Bogo people, a farming people who number about
6,000. Though a majority of the Bogo people attend churches,
most also practise animism.
N i g e r
Senegal
C h a d
ambia
Burkina Faso
Guinea-
Bissau Guinea

SILs long history Sierra

Benin
Nigeria
Leone
of eld work in Bible GUIDANCE
Liberia
Cote d'Ivoire Ghana
Togo

translation, literacy and Afric

vernacular education Cameroon

Closer to home: how to help schools in
has shown repeatedly low- and middle-income countries
Equatorial Guinea

respond to childrens language needs

that students succeed
at school when taught Helen Pinnock
Pamela Mackenzie
Gabon
Congo
Elizabeth Pearce

initially in their mother Catherine Young

tongue, rather than in

their countrys national www.cfbt.com 1

language.

Coffee Supports Bible Translation in PNG

W orld-renowned coffee grown in Papua New Guinea
(PNG) is helping to subsidize key Bible translation and
related language work there.
Many villages throughout the Pacic nation have no
access to highways, so the only way local coffee growers can
transport their crops to the countrys seaports for world
export is by air.
The small planes that carry Bible translators and other
language workers to isolated villages also carry bags of coffee
on their return trips to towns located along major roads.
Pilots can make eight or nine ights daily to remote airstrips
where appreciative villagers are eager to pay to transport their
coffee to market. Each time a delivery is made, it provides
coffee-growing income for PNG families and helps airplanes
keep ying language workers to distant areas of PNG.

Wycliffe Canada

Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca 5

DEEPER

instead of
WIDER
Articles by Dwayne Janke | Photographs by Natasha Schmale

A church in B.C. pursues a relationship-based missions partnership

with AIDIA, to advance Bible translation and use in Peru.

Sheila Denis greets a welcoming Quechua woman while on a stroll through the village of Quillabamba
(Key-a-BAHM-bah) in south-central Peru. With her husband Chris, Sheila has helped lead several
groups from Chilliwack Alliance Church in B.C. on visits to the South American country. The encoun-
ters help deepen a direct partnership the church has with AIDIA, a local agency translating Gods Word
and encouraging Scripture use among the 200,000-plus Eastern Apurmac Quechua people.

Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca 7

(Top) The Chilliwack Alliance team
walks to a Sunday morning service at
a church where AIDIA director Luis
Cervantes serves as a pastor, in Abancay,
Peru, home to AIDIAs translation and
training centre (see story on pg. 18).
(Right) Cervantes (standing, left) joins
team members on a tour through
AIDIAs various departments, where
they are impressed with the dynamic
and multi-faceted ministries of the local
church-based agency that Chilliwack
Alliance supports to the tune of nearly
$25,000 annually. In this case, the
Chilliwackians see what audio/video
specialist Cirilo Vsquez is working on
to reach his people with biblical truth in
their heart language. (Opposite page)
Cervantes and team leader Chris Denis
exchange notes, further building the
crucial administrative side of the two-
way, long-term AIDIA-Chilliwack Alliance
relationship. Wycliffe Canada sees this
Kingdom Friendship as the way forward
for global-minded Canadian churches
wanting more personal missions
relationships with minority language
groups around the world.

T en members from Chilliwack Alliance Church in B.C. have
nally arrived in the Apurmac region of south-central
Peru. Tired and looking a bit disoriented, they are the only
white faces emerging from a regional bus into the darkness of
Abancay city on an early evening this past September.
The group has been winding their way for ve hours with
other local passengers along the switchback-laden highway from
Cusco. One Chilliwackian is rubbing his stomach, trying to shake
off motion sickness from the rocking and rolling bus trip. Warm
rubber and hot brake odours wafting from the bus tires provide
evidence of the mechanically taxing trip.
The bus ride was the groups nal stretch of travel, which got
off to a rough start the previous day when their passenger van
blew a tire en route to Vancouver International Airport. But that
is literally thousands of kilometres behind the excited Canadians.
Across town they unload luggage and sit down for supper at the
headquarters of AIDIA, the Interdenominational Association for
the Holistic Development of Apurmac (see A Different God
Speaks, pg. 18).
Before praying for the meal prepared by the AIDIA cook, Rosa
Zapana, team leader Chris Denis pulls a book from one of dozens
of nearby boxes labelled, APURIMAC QUECHUA NT (BLACK)
32 COPIES MADE IN KOREA. He shows the New Testament,
translated by AIDIA, to the church group.
This is what its all about, guys, he emphasizes to the group,
consisting of men and women ranging from 20-somethings to
retired couples.
These Eastern Apurmac Quechua Scriptures are a direct link
to why the Chilliwack church team is here. The congregation is
a key partner supporting, praying for and nancially equipping
AIDIA to do its multi-faceted ministry.
God, I
Busy Schedule
Craving a much-needed nights sleep after being
fed, the Chilliwack group heads to bed; women
bunk in one large room, men in another. These
believe, is
Fraser Valley believers can use the rest. Over the
next 10 days or so, the Chilliwack group members
will be busy, meeting with dedicated AIDIA staff, moving
doing maintenance work around the headquarters
and participating in a New Testament dedication
ceremony in a mountain village. (They will also
re-connect with and encourage their brothers and
in the
sisters at the Abancay Alliance Church.)
Their visit is designed to deepen a type of
partnership that Wycliffe Canada calls Kingdom hearts of
Friendshipspersonal, two-way, long-term
missions relationships it sees as the way forward
for global-minded Canadian churches (see Taking
Steps Towards Kingdom Friendships, pg. 14).
what I call
The Chilliwackians rise refreshed the next
morning, despite the all-night choir of barking dogs
and crowing roosters in the city. After the group normal
eats breakfast and shares in the half-hour morning
devotional time with AIDIA staff, Denis sits down
to explain Chilliwack Alliances missions strategy.
people,
Personal Connection
The multi-generational church of 900, with a
sizable number of people serving in several ordinary
dozen para-church agencies, has had a personal
connection with Peru for several decades. The
strongest link was forged through members Larry
and Carol Sagert, a manager and nurse whom the
people, like
church sent out as Wycliffe missionaries to the
South American nation 32 years previously. During
their last ve years in Peru, the Sagerts mentored myself ...
AIDIA staff in management, planning, training,
funding, reporting and accountability.
I rst met Larry Sagert when I was a kid in
Boys Brigade in Chilliwack Alliance Church, says
Im not
Denis, 51. He is much more than just a fellow
partner, a fellow worker; hes been a spiritual
mentor to me all my life. what youd
The Chilliwack church, says Denis, has been
happy to send and support people around
the globe like the Sagerts, driven by the strong
missions heritage of its denomination, the Christian
call your
and Missionary Alliance. But the Chilliwack
congregation is in a transition, from just sending
professional missionaries to engaging persons in typical
the pew more directly in global outreach.
God, I believe, is moving in the hearts of
what I call normal people, ordinary people, like
myself, explains Denis. Im the vice-president of
theological
a construction-development company, so Im not
what youd call your typical theological missionary.
missionary.
Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca 9
 If its going to In 2005, the church began to look at how it could move
beyond nancially supporting missionaries and sending groups
for short-term, one-off missions trips of a few weeks at a time, he
says. People were asking, How can we get involved?

be sustainable, Plan and Pathway

In 2009, after more thought, the church adopted what it called
a vision tree, says Denis. It is a strategic plan, the soil being
the healthy church and the tree growing out of that having
various branches.
and multi-
The branches are the wide-ranging ministries of the
church, including missions, which has four limbs. They are the
denominational missions program plus other projects in three
places: Poland, Quebec, and Peru with AIDIA and Abancay Alliance.
generationally Denis reads aloud the churchs mission statement for Peru:
Chilliwack Alliance Church in partnership with Abancay
Alliance [Church] and AIDIA, working in concert to build up and
strengthen and grow the local church, promoting the use of the
Quechua Scriptures and biblically solid leadership for effectual
sustainable, advancement of Gods Kingdom in Eastern Apurmac, Peru. To
make it happen, the congregation has a sustainable partnership
plan and pathway from 2011 to 2016.
Really what were trying to do is go deeper instead of wider,
explains Denis, who directs the Peru mission.
youve got to
Chilliwack Alliance and AIDIA have a formal agreement,
with built-in reporting and accountability. The congregation
has specically chosen to fund the agencys pastoral/leadership
development and Sunday school/childrens ministries to the tune
connect their of nearly $25,000 annually.

More than Cheques

But the partnership is not about Chilliwack Alliance just sending
cheques to AIDIA; its about relationships between actual people
hearts. So on both sides.
If its going to be sustainable, and multi-generationally
sustainable, youve got to connect their hearts, Denis stresses.
So we are really trying to create a relationship. Everything we
are doing in this program is trying to connect Chilliwack Alliance
we are really
Church members with AIDIA and Abancay Alliance Church.
To that end, Chilliwack
More on the Web: church sends groups of
Wouldnt it be better stewardship to give
different people to Peru
all the money spent on trips by church
trying to create members to AIDIAs ministries? Chris Denis (this past September
gives his answer (and a challenge to other was the third trip) to
churches) at <exclusives.wycliffe.ca>. experience rsthand
what AIDIA does and
help serve where possible. Logistics are handled on this trip by
a relationship. Kelly Edgeley, international communications and team leader for
Hungry for Life International. The Christian organization comes
alongside churches, directly engaging them in projects that help
alleviate suffering throughout the world (www.hungryforlife.org).
Over the course of three decades, about 45 Chilliwack Alliance
members have travelled to Peru, and so far, 21 different members
have visited AIDIA in Peru on three actual AIDIA project trips.
Also on these trips, the groups interact with the Abancay
Alliance Church, connecting its pastors with AIDIA, since they

10 Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca

(Above) Eastern Apurmac
Quechua speakers at a church
gathering in Quillabamba
purchase copies of the New
Testament in their language after
it is dedicated. Their eagerness
for Gods Word impresses the
Chilliwack Alliance team attend-
ing the event (below). In the case
of missions pastor Holly Duke,
the scene overwhelms her to
tears: Its so great for these peo-
ple, but its so great for me as an
individualthat He [God] would
want me to . . . know that that
love He has for these people is
the same love that He has for me.

(Top) In Quillabamba village, retired teacher Erma Vietorisz leads
a childrens lesson in the local church while adults meet outside.
(Above) Back in Abancay, church team leaders sit down for lunch
with AIDIA director Luis Cervantes and the pastor of Abancay
Alliance Church, which is also part of the relationship Chilliwack
Alliance has with brethren in Peru. (Opposite) Chris Denis exam-
ines the progress that hammer-swinging David Clow is making, as
several of the men create an opening in an outside wall of AIDIA
headquarters for a new, more accessible bathroom door.
12 Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca
both have the vision to get Gods Word to the people to whom
they are ministering, just as Wycliffe does.
In turn, local leaders in Peru visit the church in Chilliwack.
They preach in Sunday services, attend Sunday school classes,
visit small groups and meet church leaders. This May, AIDIA
director Luis Cervantes travelled to B.C. to spend time and
interact with the Chilliwack Alliance church-goers.
With visits going both ways, Denis says upwards of 400
people in Chilliwack Alliance have connected directly with their
Peruvian partners. We really want to try and get as many people
meeting with each other as possible.
Moreover, regular reports come to the church several times a
year so people can be praying knowledgeably for their partners,
he says. Because this is an ongoing project and longer term, its
talked about a lot.
Those who actually visit Peru go back to the congregation
truly understanding the work and impact of AIDIA, and
enthusiastically chatting up its ministries to fellow churchgoers,
says Denis. Until youve been here, its just another place on the
map and names, right?
Opening Eyes
Awareness in the group begins to build quickly in the rst days of
this past falls visit.
Denis starts meeting with the AIDIA director, sorting out
a whole range of ongoing administrative issues related to the
AIDIA-Chilliwack Alliance partnership. Justin Hettinga, Wycliffe
Canadas vice-president of engagement and strategy, also attends
to translate and provide his insights from previous years serving
AIDIA in Peru.
The rest of the team, including Chris wife Sheila, take a day-
long tour through the ministries housed in AIDIAs headquarters.
In the literacy department, they hear of eight-hour bus trips
and multi-hour hikes by AIDIA facilitators before they even reach
an isolated Quechua village to train literacy volunteer teachers.
In the childrens ministry area, the group is told about trying to
meet the huge need to promote usually overlooked ministry to
youngsters by area churches.
Eyes open even wider in the room where ve local pastors are
translating the Old Testament into Eastern Apurmac Quechua.
The complexity of the task becomes apparent as the team
does a careful review of their draft translation in Numbers, via
Skype with Wycliffes David Coombs, the projects translation
consultant working in California.
What these people do here is unimaginable, Adrian Koppjan,
a retired musical organ builder, says after the tour. I had no idea.
I am really impressed when I see the work they do.
Im excited to be on the trip to see Gods grace and His work
continuing wherever it is in the worldand we are just part of it.
Big Things for the Kingdom
Holly Duke, the churchs missions pastor, is delighted that the
AIDIA staff dream and want big things for Gods kingdom.
These people are . . . being missional to their own people,
because they recognize the need in their people, she says. Its an
(continued on pg. 15)
What these

people do

here is

unimaginable.

I had no idea.

I am really

impressed

when I see the

work they do.

Taking Steps Toward
Kingdom Friendships
J ustin Hettinga, Wycliffe Canadas vice-president
of engagement and strategy, is encouraged by
partnerships like the one Chilliwack Alliance Church
has with AIDIA in Peru.
It is just the kind of thing that Wycliffe Canada wants
to facilitate in Kingdom Friendships: a more personal,
long-term way to link the Canadian Church with
minority language groups around the world that need
Bible translation and related ministries.
This seems like such a great example of what could
be, what can be, and what God is doing, says Hettinga.
I really believe this is what a lot of churches in Canada
are longing for, but havent yet been able to nd.
Hettinga says most churches struggle with nding focus
in their global mission efforts. They want to be connected
directly and personally with overseas people groups, but
they mistakenly opt for short-term, one-off missions trips
to a series of different countries.
Theres no focus and it doesnt build towards is the catalyst, coach and service provider, drawing on
something, explains Hettinga. Theres no continuity in its deep experience and expertise to help the Church
the relationship.
What Chilliwack Alliance has succeeded in doing is
using a relationship-based approach, touching hundreds
of people in its congregation, with an impact on a project
over time. This is exciting to me because they seemed to
have found the sweet spot of long-term, focused mission
while being involved with short-term trips.
The other thing is its not just a patronizing
sponsorship kind of top-down approach, says Hettinga.
They really want to get into relationship, friendship.
The key to a friendship compared to a top-down
relationship is theres give and take. One receives
blessing from another.
Wycliffe Canadas Justin Hettinga (right) leads Kingdom
Friendship Exploration Trips so church leaders can see and
consider Bible translation eld projects with which they
might partner.
Growing Trend
Hettinga says the Chilliwack church is an example
of a growing trend that Wycliffe Canada is seeing:
churches today want to have more input and greater
participation in Gods mission globallyand rightly
so. Gods people, the Church, have been given the gift
of participating in His mission, at His invitation and
command. Gods mission in the world is to build His I cant
Church, and do it through His Church. Bible translation
plays a key role because translated Scriptures help
create and grow Christian communities that live out
the reality of Gods kingdom, drawing in others.
Wycliffe Canada is bringing together the Canadian believe it
Church and minority language groups overseas who
need Gods Word in their mother tongues, in Kingdom
Friendships that can dynamically advance Gods
Kingdom in a personal, hands-on way.
In Kingdom Friendships, Hettinga says Wycliffe Canada
its amazing!
accomplish what God wants it to do globally.
We help churches see what God is doing around the The work,
world and how Bible translation ts into His mission. We
serve to broker multiple avenues of involvement and
interaction in these relationships. These are characterized
by mutual friendship, sharing and reaching out.
the effort
Common Features
The practical outworking and possibilities for involvement
in Kingdom Friendships are almost endless, but they share
some common features and results. Canadian churches
and overseas congregations are connected in a sensitive
and the
and kingdom-building way. People on the other side
of the globe become real and personal. Prayer for each
other becomes specic, informed and intimate. The
hopes, struggles and faith of fellow believers in Christ insight they
are shared and experienced across cultures. Financial
support is unleashed for Bible translation, literacy and
related ministries, and eld projects are more tangible
and meaningful. Churches can see and touch what their
nancial support is doing on the ground. have in what
Hettinga says Wycliffe Canada is ready to serve
Canadian churches to develop relationships with
language groups around the world. For starters, it is
organizing exploratory trips for church leaders to see
Bible translation projects among groups to which they
they doits
could partner in Kingdom Friendships.
Our Kingdom Friendship Exploration trips are designed
to allow pastors and church-mission leaders to get to
know one of our exceptional eld partners, says Hettinga. fabulous.
During the trip, visitors will begin to build relationships
that will form the basis for a Kingdom Friendship between
their church and a Bibleless people group.
Trips to Peru are planned for May 29-June 4 and June
4-12 to visit the ATEK and AIDIA projects, respectively.
For details, visit <friendship.wycliffe.ca> or email
<church_connections@wycliffe.ca>.
Chilliwack Alliance team members join AIDIA staff for a ve-hour mini-bus drive on
roads that cling to towering Andes mountain slopes. Their destination is Quillabamba, a
Quechua village, to attend an outdoor church gathering and dedication ceremony for the
Eastern Apurmac Quechua New Testament, which has been available since April 2013.

overwhelming project and their dedication is just so humbling.
AIDIA staff dedication is a common characteristic noticed
by the church group members, including 69-year-old retired
engineer, Dennis Vietorisz, visiting with his wife Erma.
I cant believe itits amazing! he says, with a voice rising
with emphasis. The work, the effort and the insight they have in
what they doits fabulous.
Erma, a 63-year-old retired school teacher, expresses surprise at
the low literacy rate among the Quechuas and amazement at the
childrens ministries effort led by AIDIAs Roci Villegas.
Of course, because Im a teacher, my heart goes to the kids.
What Roci is doing is mind-boggling to me. My heart goes out
to her, says Erma, struggling with emotion. Sorry, Im going to
get teared up.
While Chilliwack Alliances trips arent work projects per
seone year, for example, the visiting group served by leading
a biblical marriage seminar for 50 Quechuason this trip, team
members roll up sleeves to tackle maintenance tasks listed by
AIDIA director Cervantes. Whatever gaps need to be lled, says
Denis, were willing to do it.
For several days at the AIDIA headquarters, the Chilliwackians
trim the lawn, work in plant beds, reorganize the tool shed, paint
exterior walls and x a leaky bathtub. Several men led by sledge
hammer-swinging David Clow, who is here without his wife, knock
out an exterior wall to make space for a door to a bathroom.
Into the Andes
Several days later, the group joins AIDIA staff in two Toyota
mini-buses for the highlight of their stay: a visit to a Quechua
village for an outdoor church gathering and New Testament
dedication ceremony. The buses bounce along for ve hours to
the community of Quillabamba (Key-a-BAHM-bah), navigating
through heavy construction on a road that clings to steep Andes
mountain slopes.
Welcomed by local Christians under blue tarpsblocking
a glaring sun at an altitude of 2,900 metresthe visitors are
served a late 10:30 a.m. breakfast of sweetened, watery lima
bean porridge and bread. They then settle into nearly two days
of sermons and worship, much of which is broadcast live over a
nearby FM radio station run by the church. As more Quechuas
arrive from their farm work, they greet the Canadians as is
customary by shaking with one hand and tapping a shoulder
with the other.
After some vibrant singing, it is time for the Chilliwack group
to be introduced. Translation is done by Eastern Apurmac
Quechua-speaker Irma Phelps, who has for several decades
served various Quechua groups in Peru through Wycliffe with
her American husband, Conrad.
We are very excited . . . that you are going to receive Gods
Word in your own language, says Denis, through Irma. It is a
light to our path and God wants us to know it personally.
Sitting through sermons in Quechua that last up to three

Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca 15

hours, the Chilliwack team members participate occasionally by
giving devotionals. Travis Wesley, a 28-year-old bank manager,
shares about his personal pursuit of godliness. Erma and Dennis
Vietorisz act out a scenario of nding someone elses lost wallet,
reminding the believers that they must respond using Bible
principles of honesty to return the item to its owner, instead
of keeping it. Adrian and his wife Coby talk about faithfulness,
as some Quechuas take notes. God has been faithful to you
Quechua, she says. The Bible is in your own language, which
is wonderful.
When the Quechua believers are separated into groups to
dramatize the teaching of submission between husbands and wives
taught in Eph. 5:21-25, the Canadians join right in with their own
groups. They act out examples of couples interacting successfully
and unsuccessfully, their animated antics drawing laughter and
applause from the Quechua audience.

Its So Good
When it comes time for the Scripture dedication, Cervantes rst
gives an overview of the effort by the AIDIA translation team. Its
not a work we can do in a month, he stresses to the assembled
Quechuas, some of whom are already asking for the Old
Testament. We have to think well, and with much fear we do this
work because its a big responsibility to do a good job.
 An open copy of the New Testament, surrounded by owers,
is brought forward on a wooden platter. Cervantes explains
that the owers are symbols of what bees need to make honey.
Gods Word is sweet to our hearts like the honey . . . because
its in our own words. When we are a church in heaven from all
nations, from all languages, from all kinds of people, we Quechua
speakers will also be in that big gathering.
After the ceremonial New Testament is given to local pastor,
Jacob Huaman, he prays: Dear Lord, you gave wisdom and
knowledge to your children so they can translate this. Bless this
Bible. Help us use it. . . . May it be like good food for our souls.
Thank you that you are giving us your Word for every day to
nourish our souls.
Within minutes, 65 copies are sold to Quechua men and
women eagerly buying their copies at the front.
Pastor Holly from Chilliwack is overwhelmed by the scene
and bursts into tears. Its so good, she assures team members
concerned about her reaction. Its good.
It was really a beautiful moment, she explains later, seeing
people excited and passionate about having the ability to have
the Word of God themselves. I remember when somebody gave
me my rst Bible . . . so to see people being able to have their
own Bible was very moving.
Beyond usual culture
More on the Web: shockshair-raising travel,
Hear Holly Duke, missions pastor, share country squat toilets,
more of her impressions in an interview
excerpt at <exclusives.wycliffe.ca>.
constantly changing schedules,
adobe dirt-walled sleeping
quartersall the team
members carry their own personal impressions from the village.
On three trips to Peru helping her husband lead the church
groups, Sheila Denis says she has been touched by the same
thing: the desire that Quechuas have for Christian teaching. It
was denitely presented to us with the three-hour sermon. They
will sit there, she explains. The hunger is there . . . they will go
back time and time again.
For Travis, a highlight was his devotional I started to
translated into Quechua. I started to get an actual
emotional connection just realizing that I was
sharing the Word with them and getting to speak
to them in a language which they understand, and
just actually how powerful that was. get an actual
Coby says it will be difficult to convey to people
back home all that she has experienced, but she
was deeply impressed by how hard the Quechuas
work in elds high up mountain slopes. With just
a pick to work the ground. They are old before their emotional
time, and thats really hard [to see].
David was impacted by the breadth of what
AIDIA does. I thought it was just a Bible
translation organization. And here theyre teaching
people how to read and write in their own connection just
language. Theyre teaching people about abuse
and how wrong it is, and how to raise a family. . . .
That, to me, is really good to see.
A New Type of Partnership realizing that I
Whatever their personal memories, everyone on
the trip is convinced that the type of relationship
their church has with its Peru partners is the way
to go, reinforcing their team leaders excitement.
Its really about God bringing a new type of
was sharing the
partnership together, says Denis. Were not just
going and doingwere going and partnering, and
enabling and helping each other grow, and helping
each other develop.
In his interpretation of the book of Acts, Denis Word with them
says, thats always what God intended the Church
to be. Its not denominational. Its not cultural. Its
under Christs leadership.
Someday that will be a reality on earth, but
until that point we have to struggle to get there, and getting to
he adds. I think thats really what were trying to
do here.
(Opposite page, top) Quechua believers assembled
at the Quillabamba church gathering act out skits
illustrating biblical concepts they learned during
speak to them
one of many sermonssome lasting three hours.
Ministering together, the Chilliwack church team
members also dramatized some of the teachings.
(Opposite page, bottom) Chilliwack Alliance teams
visiting AIDIA, especially the women, have developed in a language
a special relationship with cook Rosa Zapana. On
the most recent visit, they went to her house and
prayed for her and her severely handicapped son,
Alexadra. Previous team members are also paying
the nursing school tuition for Rosas daughter. (Left) which they
Erma Vietorisz and her husband Dennis are exposed
to another sight and sound (and smell) of Quechua
culturethis time a woman cooks and sells hunks of
pork on the street.
understand. . . .
Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca 17
 A
DIFFERENT
GOD
SPEAKS
AIDIA is working hard so that Gods Word in
Eastern Apurmac Quechua effectively spreads
to isolated villages in the Peruvian Andes.

I n their ancient belief-system, the Quechua people of

Perus Apurmac (ah-poo-REE-mak) region considered the
breathtaking Andes Mountains and other phenomena of
nature to be gods. So it makes sense that in the Quechua
(KE-chwah) language, the Apurmac Riverfrom which the
region takes its namemeans something like the god
who speaks.
To the ancestors of todays Quechuas, the river and its
surrounding mountains talked. Part of this speaking was likely
the Apurmac Rivers noisy, torrential plunge some 4,500 metres
from its source to its end, along a 350-km course.
Today, another kind of speaking is echoing well beyond
earshot of the churning Apurmac River in south-central Peru.
Gods Word is radiating quietly but effectively from the capital
city of Abancay, along narrow, zigzagging roads and foot trails
(and even via the airwaves), to isolated villages in deep canyons
and on steep mountain slopes. These life-changing words are

Director Luis Cervantes leads AIDIA, a church-based team impacting

the Eastern Apurmac Quechua people of south-central Peru with
the translated Scriptures in their language. The organization is head-
quartered in the city of Abancay, where this cross stands on a look-
out high above the valley below.

18 Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca

Its our vision that . . .
we would see an impact
of the Word of God in for the high-altitude dwellers
of this stunningly majestic
peoples lives. Theres area, the Eastern Apurmac
simply no use having the Quechua people.
Word of God sitting there God is speaking through the
efforts of AIDIA (pronounced
and peoples lives just idea). Thats the Spanish
continuing as normal. acronym for a church-based
organization known in
English as the Interdenominational Association for the Holistic
Development of Apurmac.
AIDIA is a Wycliffe Canada focus-area partner (see back cover)
staffed by pastors, other church leaders and many volunteers
from the major Apurmac evangelical denominations. They are
translating and promoting use of the entire Bible for at least
200,000 Eastern Apurmac Quechua speakers in churches and
communities scattered among the rugged highlands of Peru.
Leading the effort is AIDIAs director Luis Cervantes, a 40-year-
old pastor, husband and father of two.
Its our vision that through the various ministry departments
of our organization, we would see an impact of the Word of
God in peoples lives, Cervantes explains. Theres simply no
use having the Word of God sitting there and peoples lives just
continuing as normal.

The Trouble with Normal

Normal life is difficult in the Apurmac region (a government
administrative department, something like a province in Canada).
Apurmac is one of the poorest areas in Peru, with two-thirds
of the people considered impoverished. Most Quechuas are
farmers who raise crops and livestock that provide meagre
incomes. Basic services such as clean water and sewage treatment
are rare in communities isolated by rugged distances and limited
transportation.
Almost all Quechuas would consider themselves Catholics,
explains Cervantes, but they have little knowledge of Christian
teaching or doctrine, since the Catholic Church functions in
Spanish, where it functions at all. Many still cling to old beliefs that
the mountains are gods, needing to be appeased with sacrices.
Cervantes cites government census gures as he stresses the
spiritual needs of his Quechua people. There are 3,255 towns,
villages and communities in Apurmac. Only 252 have a church.
About 3,003 communities are without a churchunreached,
he says. One district, for example, has 20 communitiesvillages
and hamlets. How many churches exist within that district? Not
even one!
Apurmacs population has a lower percentage of evangelicals
than the national averagefor one major reason. Until AIDIAs
work in recent years, there has been a lack of Gods Word and
other Christian materials in Eastern Apurmac Quechua, the
peoples heart language.
In response, AIDIA is focusing on a half-dozen ministries,
including: translating Gods Word, promoting literacy, developing AIDIA is serving Eastern Apurmac Quechua speakers, most of whom
church leadership, producing audio/video Scriptural materials, live and work in far-ung agricultural communities, where the land
is farmed with back-breaking work on high-altitude Andes mountain
encouraging childrens Sunday school and camps.
slopes and valleys.

20 Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca

 Peru: At a Glance
Name: Republic of Peru
Area: 1.28 million sq km (slightly larger
than Ontario).
Location: Western South America, bordering
the South Pacic Ocean, between Chile and
Ecuador.
Geography: Western arid coastal plain; high
and rugged Andes in the nations centre; eastern
lowland jungle of the Amazon Basin, with
tropical lands bordering Colombia and Brazil.
Population: 29.5 million.
Capital: Lima (8.77 million).
People: Amerindian 45%; mestizo (mixed
Amerindian and white) 37%; white 15%;
other 3%.
Economy: Fishing, mining, agriculture (especially
coffee) and tourism are economic mainstays.
More than half of the population lives in poverty.
Religion: Roman Catholic 81.3%, Evangelical
12.5%, other 3.3%, unspecied or none 2.9% (2007
census). It is estimated that 25% of Peruvians are
inuenced by animism and witchcraft as much as
Christianity.
Languages: 65; Spanish & Quechua (official),
plus many other indigenous languages.
Pastor Buenaventura Rojas shows a copy of a Wordless Book prepared by AIDIA. It Bible Translation Status: 4 languages
is lled with pictures to help students in his orality class memorize Scripture stories in (including Spanish) have Bibles; 42 others have
Quechua and then retell them to evangelize others. With so many Quechua believers New Testaments; 16 others have Scripture
especially among the elderlyunable to read or write, orality strategies are important.
portions; 8 have work in progress.
Literacy: 67%79%
Sources: World Factbook; Operation World, 7th Edition;
Ethnologue, SIL

VENEZUELA
GUYANA
FRENCH GUIANA
COLOMBIA SURINAME

ECUADOR

South America
BRAZIL
Lima PERU
Cusco

At the core of the AIDIA ministries is the Bible translation effort. With the New BOLIVIA
Testament translated, printed and being distributed among the 200,000-plus
Quechua speakers, the translation team is pressing ahead on the Old Testament. Here,
Bernardino Lancho reviews drafted translation text, with input via Skype, from Wycliffe
consultant David Coombs in California.
CHILE PARAGUAY
 . . . While pastoring a
Careful About S-o-o-o Many Things We would often go church, as I prepared
Spanish may be Perus most dominant language, but it is not out into the countryside sermon messages, I began
used much in day-to-day Quechua life, says Cervantes. Normal to teach. Right on the to realize I had committed
communication in the home is in Quechua. According to spot, we would literally
the census, it is estimated that 21.7 per cent of the Apurmac translate from the a lot of errors in the past
population have never been to school and are therefore Spanish Bible to people [using a Spanish Bible].
monolingual Quechua speakers. in Quechua. At the
But those with a very limited grasp of Spanish are much more moment, this didnt seem too hard to us.
numerous than indicated by the official gures. When it comes Then we started learning what was involved in Bible
to using the Bible, the vast majority of Quechuas simply cant translation, recalls Valenzuela. In reality, it was not as easy as we
understand Gods Word well enough in Spanish. Bibles have thought. We realized that you had to be careful about s-o-o-o
been available for years in neighbouring languages such as Cusco many things to make sure what Jesus wanted communicated
Quechua and Ayacucho Quechua, but are not similar enough to was going to be clearly communicated. At that point, we
meet the needs of Eastern Apurmac Quechua speakers. really started valuing the Scriptures in the mother tongue and
In 2006, six Quechua pastors from the three largest evangelical understanding the importance of it.
denominations trained as translators and, headed by Cervantes, The translators acknowledge that it was challenging in
began translation of the New Testament into their mother tongue. the beginning to work together, coming from different
Team member Felipe Valenzuela, an Assemblies of God pastor, denominations and perspectives. But they have persisted, doing
remembers how he and the others preached before working on draft translations and talking through them verse by verse. They
the translation. have drawn on insights from Wycliffes David Coombs, who is the
exegetical consultant on the Bible translation project, working
remotely with the team from California.
Little by little, says Valenzuela, we began to gel, and now I
am quite content and happy.
Ive learned a lot through it. I was pastoring a church at the
same time, and as I prepared sermon messages, I began to realize I
had committed a lot of errors in the past [using a Spanish Bible].
In April of 2013, the rst of 8,000 printed New Testaments in
Eastern Apurmac Quechua became available at a dedication
ceremony in Abancay (see Word Alive, Spring 2014). The
Scriptures are serving as a vital, life-changing tool for believers
and pastors alike (see Hugging the Word, on page 30).
Understandable and Life-changing
Cervantes says Gods Word, coming in accurate, natural and clear
Quechua, will only deepen and expand the impact the gospel
can have among his needy people.
Alcoholism plagues many people in the countryside. Many
husbands verbally and physically abuse their wives and children,
and hold them back from attending school.
When people receive Christ, they stop drinking; then they
stop beating their wives and children. Their children start going
to school. And at the same time . . . they suddenly start working
their elds like they should be.
Youll observe that when you enter a community where
the majority of the people are Christians. Their elds are green
and lush, and their houses are in better condition. Its an
observable difference.
The translation will also help battle the inuence of cults in the
area that are misleading Quechuas who have a shallow grasp of
Gods Word.
Currently, the translation team is working hardat a pace
of more than 2,900 verses a yearto translate the entire Old
Testament and combine it with the existing New Testament by
2022. Those Scriptures are also sure to penetrate deeply into the
minds and hearts of the Quechuas, whose culture shares many
traits with that of the Old Testament.
Miriam Unzeute is early evidence of that. The 24-year-old
nursing student in Abancay is the rst person exposed by the
team to newly translated Old Testament text. Three or four
(Opposite page) AIDIAs current
Eastern Apurmac Quechua Bible
translation team consists of local
pastors from several Peruvian
evangelical denominations: (left
to right) Carlos Arias, Oscar
Snchez, Luis Cervantes, Felipe
Valenzuela and Bernardino
Lancho. The men are driven by a
deep need to equip their people,
like these visiting outside a local
church (left), with Gods Word
in clear, natural and understand-
able Quechua.
Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca 23
 Where Wycliffe Fits In
W ycliffe personnel, including some
Canadians, have long been supportive of
Bible translation and related ministries in
Eastern Apurmac Quechua.
As early as 1996, speakers of the language
contacted Wycliffes Peter Landerman (serving in
Peru with Wycliffes key eld partner, SIL), expressing
a desire for Gods Word. Two years later, Conrad
and Irma Phelps visited Abancay to meet with these
and other Quechua speakers, who made some
early attempts at adapting Scripture from the New
Testament in Ayacucho, a related language.
Dave Crough
Two Wycliffe couplesLarry and Carol Sagert (left fore-
ground), and Justin and Tammy Hettinga (the Sagerts
daughter), in this photo taken nearly a decade ago
worked with the Quechua people for years, assisting
AIDIA and its staff through mentoring and training.
Around 2000, a Wycliffe team worked in
southern Peru to promote distribution of the Cusco
Quechua Bible. They discovered that it was not as
understandable as expected in the neighbouring
Apurmac region. Wycliffes Chana Franchy was sent
to investigate Apurmacs language situation and
subsequently began meeting with a group interested to AIDIA. Campus Crusade sent a team to help
in translating Gods Word. Various Wycliffe staff
presented linguistics studies and grammar workshops Comes By Hearing provided a team to help AIDIA
to the group, and Chana continued helping.
A translation committee of Eastern Apurmac
Quechua speakers was created in 2002, and they
started to translate various materials into their
language. A year later, the committee formed AIDIA
as a legal organization. It continued to produce and
distribute to churches various Quechua materials,
including a hymnbook and a Life of Christ booklet.
Training and Mentoring
In 2004, Wycliffes David Coombs was invited to
teach a Bible translation introduction course to
various church leaders, which helped AIDIA choose
the rst members of its Bible translation team. AIDIA
leaders invited David and his wife Heidiwho had
spent several decades working on another Quechua
New Testament project to help with translation
of the whole Bible. In 2005, the Coombses moved to
Abancay and began training AIDIAs ve translation
team members. The Coombses now work with the
team remotely.
In 2006, the team began translating the New
Testament, published this past year, and in 2012
they began the Old Testament. Although motivated
by Bible translation, right from the beginning
AIDIA realized the need to minister holistically and
expanded into a variety of ministries (see A Different
God Speaks, pg. 18).
Various Wycliffe personnel have taught workshops
for AIDIA workers in translation, linguistics, grammar,
computers, ethnomusicology, literacy, writing and
publishing, radio, childrens ministries, etc.
Two Canadian Wycliffe couplesLarry and Carol
Sagert, and Justin and Tammy Hettinga (daughter
of Larry and Carol)worked with the Quechuas
for ve and 10 years, respectively. They mentored
AIDIA staff, helping them to learn to manage the
organization wisely and develop skills in planning,
training, funding, reporting and accountability.
From Canada and Beyond
Canadian churches and believers have nancially
supported AIDIA from its beginning, through
Wycliffe Canada project funding and partner
agencies, including OneBook. Designating AIDIA as
a focus project, Wycliffe Canada is committed to
supporting the remaining Old Testament translation
and related ministries, now that the New Testament
is nished (see back cover). Wycliffe U.S.A. also helps
fund AIDIA.
Other organizations have also encouraged and
assisted AIDIA over the years. Wycliffe Associates,
a lay technical partner of Wycliffe, sponsored a
construction project to expand a house, formerly
owned by an SIM (Serving in Mission) missionary,
into AIDIAs translation and training centre. SIM
has provided nancial support and personnel
record The JESUS Film into Quechua. Faith
record the entire New Testament and put it on
The Proclaimer digital audio player for use in the
countryside. The Peruvian Bible Society sends
offerings to support literacy publications.

Forty-ve-year-old Teresa Quispe practises writing as her daughter looks
on outside their adobe brick home in Tacmara village. As a youngster,
she had little schooling, restricted by her parents to shepherding the
familys sheep. Teresa just recently began learning to read in her Eastern
Apurmac Quechua language, thanks to a literacy centre in the local
church, one of about 40 started by AIDIA throughout the region. I feel
very happy. Im reading the Bible and I can read songs in the songbook,
she says. Thank you, God, thank you, God, I do feel stronger as a person.
In our literacy classes, its
not just about the actual mornings a week,
act of reading and writing, she listens as a team
member reads her
its also about lifting their a draft translation,
self-esteem and how they so she can give
value their language. feedback about how
understandable it
is. Asked what Old Testament stories in her Quechua mother
tongue have impressed her so far during her checking sessions,
Unzeute enthusiastically and thoroughly recounts the post-
exodus experiences of Moses, the Israelites and God. But is she
not familiar with all this in Spanish?
I had heard it, she replies, but it is different now. I
understand it more. Sometimes when people would read the
Word before [in Spanish], we just couldnt understand it. This is
so much more intelligible. . . .
Reading for Self-esteem and Truth
For the many illiterate Quechuas, AIDIAthe only organization
promoting literacy in their languageis providing a unique
opportunity to grow as individuals.
Helping them to learn to read and write is helping them
to incorporate themselves into the wider society, explains
Cervantes. Quechua speakers often feel inferior when they
come into the city here. They are treated as less. In our literacy
classes, its not just about the actual act of reading and writing,
its also about lifting their self-esteem and how they value their
language.
And, of course, the ultimate goal is to equip the Quechuas to
read the Scriptures in their own language.
The arrival of the New Testament has had a big impact on
many, especially the sisters [women] who have had little training
in reading, says Cervantes. Many of them who have bought
their Bibles now are beginning to read more and more. Some
of these sisters have bought Bibles even though they dont yet
know how to read, thinking that they are going to be able to get
their kids to read it to them.
Kids were a major reason Noem Rojas joined AIDIA to
co-ordinate its literacy program, which is also staffed by her
four facilitators, who help her train and guide many volunteer
teachers.
I always had been taught since a child that I should be
teaching others, she says of her Quechua church upbringing. I
always had this desire . . . to teach others, particularly children,
the Word of God.
Though she was literate in Spanish, Rojas rst had to take
AIDIA literacy classes so she could learn to read and write in her
Quechua mother tongue, a widespread need among her people.
The big thing is that people just dont know how to read
and read the Word of God, says the passionate 25-year-old
single woman.
Many people may come to their churches with a Bible in
hand and they can actually sound out the words of the Bible in
Spanish. But they have no idea what they are reading.
They are not reading with understanding, explains Rojas.
Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca 25
Youngsters to Seniors
To change this situation, AIDIA works through evangelical
pastors to set up literacy centres in their churches, for Christians
and non-Christians alike. AIDIA staff train volunteer teachers to
run the classes.
The majority of these volunteer teachers are actually leaders
and pastors in the community, explains Rojas. But God doesnt
have limits and often uses young people and even children to do
the teaching.
Bible-based materials are used in three levels of classes, with
students ranging from three-year-olds to those who are 60 or
more, says Rojas (pictured on the back cover). Quechuas often
come to literacy classes with no schooling, including middle-aged
women, who she is thrilled to see grow in their skills and become
formal leaders in their own churches (see From Fingerprint to
Signature, pg. 34.)
Our main goal as of late has been to open up literacy centres
at 42 different churches, she says. Our goal is to see a thousand
students at any given time in the program.
This past fall, nearly 800 people were taking classes in 38
literacy centres.
Having put their hard-working hands on farm tools all their (Above) After a hard day in the elds at an altitude of nearly 3,500
lives, some older Quechuas have enough trouble holding a metres, Arturo Larria enjoys a kind of milky rice pudding, piping hot
pencil, let alone learning to read. So AIDIA has added orality from his mug. His wife Reina brings in grass for guinea pigs (an even-
tual meat supply), scampering around underfoot in their village home
classes into its program.
at Tacmara. AIDIA taught Arturo to read and trained him as the local
In the village of Huascatay, for instance, Pastor Buenaventura
Evangelical Church of Peru congregations literacy teacher. As a church
Rojas leads an orality class of 12 people. Like other class leaders, leader, he is delighted to use the New Testament in his mother tongue.
he uses the Wordless Book, lled with pictures to help students No matter what kind of trials come our way, when I open up the Word
memorize Scripture stories in Quechua and then retell the Bible and begin to read it, it encourages me and gives me strength, he says.
stories to evangelize others. Its pretty beautiful to read the Bible. (Right) Young and old, like this
They had always heard these teachings, says the 64-year-old woman spinning wool as she walks through her village, now can have
with a well-lined, National Geographic face, but when I teach access to the Scriptures in their Apurmac Quechua.
the story, we end up memorizing the text that goes with it and
people will ask me to keep expanding and teach more about it.
They are very excited about learning. AIDIA is beginning to train pastors and other Quechua
church leaders to use Gods Word in their language to build
Its the images here that really spur them on and help. Thats
how they are learning; its through the pictures. their understanding of basic Christian teaching. While AIDIA
now holds regional workshops for groups of leaders out in the
This AIDIA-inspired new ministry is fuelling this driven pastor,
who gave his life to serve God after recovering from a serious countryside, it started the effort with two, week-long events in
Abancay for those in neighbouring communities.
illness. I came to the Lord when I was 49, Rojas says, and I will
serve Him until I die. In the two groups, something pretty interesting happened,
recalls Cervantes. I never had a chance to teach a single page of
Developing Church Leadership my teaching materials. Within ve minutes, they started raising
While pastors like Rojas may have passion, unfortunately many in their hands and asking questions.
the countryside dont have much formal training. The questions kept comingfor ve days: What are the
I dont have an exact number, says Cervantes, but my quick attributes of God? Who is Jesus? When a Christian dies, where
estimate is that 95 per cent of leaders and pastors have never do they go? Where do non-Christians go? Arent the Jehovahs
gone to seminary or Bible school. Because they have very little Witnesses just other brothers and sisters in the church? What are
preparation and training, you end up having so many errors the prerequisites and roles of a pastor?
entering into their teaching. Probably 80 per cent of the pastors in the countryside
These leaders are compelled to shepherd churches because of dont meet any kind of biblical requirements for a pastor, adds
the Quechua tendency for the Christian community to simply Cervantes, who pastors a local church in Abancay. Many of
make them pastors, explains Cervantes. Untrained rural pastors them could be living with someone common-law. They might be
do their best but often teach unbiblical ideas. separated from their families.

26 Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca

I dont have
an exact
number, but
my quick
estimate is
that 95 per
cent of rural
leaders and
pastors have
never gone to
seminary or
Bible school.
Almost everybody that
watches it says, My Jesus Loves the catches AIDIA staff by surprise. Probably the best example is
Little Children a half-hour drama lm in Quechua, lmed in just one day by
husband does the same Separation, of a sort,
Vsquez and a team of Christians from various churches. It tells
thing to me. So thats the story of an abusive husband.
also exists within
Almost everybody that watches it says: My husband does the
why people leave crying Quechua churches same thing to me, explains Cervantes. So thats why people
when it comes to
they so identify with it. children. Many
leave cryingthey so identify with it.
The video ends with a call to receive Christ as a rst step to
Quechua believers
dealing with such marital problems.
have not seen kids as an important part of a congregation; they
associate the church with adults.
Because churches never had anything like a Sunday school
Walking with Us
Despite their progress and successes, AIDIA ministries are
program, explains Cervantes, what happens is that during
stretched to capacity. Gods speaking has not been heard clearly
church, kids remain out shepherding the ocks and the cows.
in many, many more isolated Quechua communities.
His eyes moistening with concern, Cervantes says AIDIA
To achieve AIDIAs strategic goals, translator/Pastor Valenzuela
launched its Sunday school and Christian camp program,
says it is crucial for Canadian believers, through Wycliffe Canada,
recognizing two things: that the Quechua Churchs future is its
to stand with AIDIA (see back cover).
children, and that childhood is a crucial time to learn about God.
We are very thankful
Those concerns also drive Roco Villegas, a young female AIDIA More on the Web:
for the help weve
staffer, who serves as facilitator of the children/youth program, Listen to a translated interview excerpt
gotten from them, he
working with a core of youth volunteers from Abancay. in which AIDIA Director Luis Cervantes
says. We know that
Shes doing an excellent, excellent job, says Cervantes. She outlines the main challenges his organization
many are praying. We faces, at <exclusives.wycliffe.ca>..
was able to . . . train various Sunday school teachers and then
know many have been
they were able to open their Sunday school programs in each of
supporting us nancially, so the work of God in this part of Peru
their churches.
can continue to grow and extend the kingdom of God.
Through their efforts, Quechua-language Sunday school
We Christians, we are one in the body of Christ, in whatever
programs started in 30-plus churches this past year, and several
part of the world, and we need one another, adds Valenzuela.
youth camps were held for kids under 15.
With their prayers and with their offerings, they [Canadian
I see that the local church is beginning to take ownership
Christians] are walking with us.
for doing something . . . for the children in their churches, says
Thats what it is to do missions.
Villegas. We hope it will become routine for churches to do
more for children.

Heard and Seen

Back at AIDIAs translation and training centre, it has become
routine, as part of the Eastern Apurmac Quechua language
emphasis, to produce audio and video materials to strengthen
individuals, families, small groups and churches.
With leadership from audio/video specialist Cirilo Vsquez,
AIDIA has recorded and distributed audio and video versions of
the Quechua Christian song book it published. It has also recorded
two versions of the New Testament. One is for Hosannas hand-
cranked/solar-powered Proclaimer audio-player, which is used
by Scripture-listening groups and has actually helped plant new
churches. The Genesis video is coming next, to accompany The
JESUS Film, that was dubbed into Quechua a couple of years ago.
Sometimes the widespread popularity of their products
(Opposite page, top) Roco Villegas, AIDIAs children/youth program
facilitator, leads some kids in Bible-based activities in the countryside.
She is working to encourage and train Quechua churches to provide
ministry to children as the future leaders, instead of overlooking them.
Often during church activities, adults attend while children stay at
home to work. (Extreme left) Along a roadside, children help separate
lima beans from chaff and husks, and (left) herd livestock to and from
pasture. (Right) Quechua storybooks like this one, prepared by AIDIA
for literacy classes, not only are written in the mother tongue, but fea-
ture content related to the life and culture of the people.

Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca 29

An Eastern Apurmac Quechua pastor knows full well the value of
the New Testament for his church. After all, he helped translate it.
A s Mario Valverde received his copy of the Eastern Apurmac
Quechua New Testament in April 2013 in Peru, he did what
only seemed naturalhe clutched it to his chest.
I received it with a huge hug, because I needed it as well,
says the pastor of the Quechua congregation at the Evangelical
Church of Peru in Abancay. I needed something to be able to
read and give to the people.
As part of the Bible translation team, Valverde got his New
Testament immediately when the shipment of 8,000 copies
arrived in Peru from printers in Korea, ahead of the dedication
ceremony in Abancay (see Word Alive, Spring 2014). He began
preaching from it before the celebration.
People would come up to me and say, Oh, brother, where can
we buy it? recalls Valverde. I kept having to say, You have to
wait until April, at the dedicationthen you can buy one.
They waited with hunger and thirst for that day.
Having led a growing ock of several hundred Quechua
30 Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca
speakers since 2000, Valverde knows how indispensable the
mother tongue Scriptures are for 200,000-plus Quechuas living
in the Apurmac region of south-central Peru (see A Different
God Speaks, pg. 18).
Getting Prepared
Born to a Catholic family in a small town, Valverde came to know
Christ at a house church service in a jungle community when he
was 17. From there I began to live for Christ and prepare myself.
Pretty quickly I began to get trained to become a pastor.
After preaching in rural communities in the Andes Mountains
for several years, the Evangelical Church of Peru leadership asked
Valverde to start leading a Quechua-speaking congregation in
the regional capital of Abancay. It began with 14 people; today it
has 250.
The majority of them are from the countryside, but some are
from the city as well, Valverde says of his growing congregation,
(Above) Members of the Evangelical Church of Peru congregation
in Abancay, Peru, fervently sing, worship and pray in their mother
tongue (Eastern Apurmac Quechua), encouraged by Pastor Mario
Valverde (right), who helped translate and enthusiastically uses the
New Testament to nourish his rapidly growing ock.
People kept asking me, From what Bible are you reading?
When I read it, people . . . really understood it well.
many of whom now work in the city market. It all happened
naturally through our languagethe language that was given by
our parents.
Early on, Valverde faced the challenge of preaching in Eastern
Apurmac Quechua without translations of Scriptures in the
language. The best he could do to prepare sermons was to read a
Spanish Bible and translate the Word into Quechua. Quite often
pastors will preach in Spanish and somebody will be translating
it into Quechua.
Valverde was introduced to the concepts and methods of
Bible translation by Wycliffes David Coombs, who has since
served as translation consultant with the Eastern Apurmac
Quechua translation team. Having seen Valverde preach in
Abancay, AIDIA invited him to several training workshops
and then suggested he be part of a team of pastor/translators.
Working half-time, Valverde slowly got equipped for the job,
When we began talking about translation in the rst training
event, it seemed really difficult, recalls Valverde. I knew that
God would have to give me wisdom to be able to do this.
Huge Blessing
Valverde was correct to expect the task of translating Scriptures
would be challenging for him and the translation team.
Sometimes we would get stuck for 30 minutes or an entire
hour on one single verse, trying to get clarity on it. One person
would say this, another person would say that.
But persevering in the work brought a huge blessing to
Valverde and his church.
Since I was analyzing the Word of God in the translation
[process], I was able to preach really well, so that people could
really understand. And because of that, the church started to
grow, says the 47-year-old pastor. I always give thanks to God
for being able to translate the Word of God.
The best the Eastern Apurmac Quechuas previously had were
Bibles in neighbouring languages, Cusco Quechua and Ayacucho
Quechua. Those are pronounced quite differently, use a number
of different words and are not understood well by Eastern
Apurmac Quechua speakers.
As the translation of their
More on the Web: New Testament progressed,
Listen to worship at the Valverde would read from
Quechua church Mario leads, print-outs of those sections in
at <exclusives.wycliffe.ca>.
his church. People kept asking
me, From what Bible are you
reading? When I read it, people . . . really understood it well.
Valverde also printed out translated Scripture for the
congregations leaders to study. The pastor quickly noticed
that Gods Word in their mother tongue deeply touched those
leading worship, deacons ministries and prayer and social
assistance ministries.
They began to understand better and they began to change,
says Valverde. Their spiritual lives started to get better. Their
married lives got better. And their ministry life would improve.
Homes began to get better and youd see whole families
beginning to serve God with their whole hearts.
Scriptures for Outreach
Whats more, the translated Scriptures have played an important
role in two outreach efforts of the church.
The church buys a time slot on local radio to minister entirely
in Quechua for two hours each night, reaching well beyond the
walls of its sanctuary.
Felicitas Coyori, an illiterate 51-year-old woman, began the
radio programs in Quechua ve years ago.
I would just pass on the teachings I had received from the Word
of God, and sing songs and praises, she says, adding that the
popular program is now simultaneously distributed beyond the
local airwaves. Our programs are streamed through the Internet
and we get notes from Quechua speakers all over the world.
Others in the church have joined the radio ministry, now using
the printed Eastern Apurmac Quechua New Testament.
With help from fellow literate church member Isabel Hurtado,
Coyori has turned to serve elsewhere: among the 360 inmates at
the prison at Abancay.
The two women are thankful to be using the Scriptures in
Eastern Apurmac Quechua as they minister.
We need it. Its very good. People can comprehend it, explains
Hurtado. For me, when I hear it, I comprehend it better, and am
able to pass it on better.
Coyori notes that one inmate, who had killed someone while
driving, but surrendered his life to God while in prison, is now
attending the Abancay congregation.
A Lingering Vision
Back at the church, Valverde is excited about the future impact
among his people now that the New Testament is available in
their mother tongue. And he looks back fondly on his seven
years of service with the translation team.
Unfortunately, however, he is no longer involved in the
current Old Testament translation. This past summer, the former
bricklayer was forced to resign from the translation committee
and take up higher-paying construction work to pay back a debt
on which a member of his family had defaulted.
But Valverdes vision for Bible translationwhich will likely take
until 2022 for the Old Testament to be completedhas not died.
One day, he says in faith, Ill nd myself back in translation.

Scared But Protected

Coyori and Hurtado, 47, admit they were at rst scared going
into a mens prison. But they simply talked with the inmates,
were accepted and invited to return.
Because we are going there with clean hearts to preach the
Word, says Hurtado, God will protect us.
Every Saturday, the women lead Bible studies with about 15
prisoners using the New Testament in Quechua (and also the
Spanish Bible, since a few prisoners are not Quechua speakers).
The group has prisoners serving jail time for such crimes as rape,
drug-related offences, theft and fraud.
Inside the prison, its very, very sad. These men are always
crying. Many of them dont have any food, Coyori says,
explaining the Peru prison system. [Outside] people have to
bring it to them.
The couple sometimes brings food, but knows the ultimate
bread of life, Gods Word, is crucial for deeper life change.
Clearly, some in there are already believers . . . who need to
repent again, says Hurtado. But many in there have never
repented, and arent believers and need to repent.
We need to help them open and understand the Word of God.
They kept saying, We need Bibles. So we brought them Bibles.

(Opposite page) Pastor Marios wife, Silvia, and church colleagues

Felicitas Coyori and Isabel Hurtado, stroll by the prison at Abancay.
Felicitas and Isabel minister to male inmates there, thankful they
have Quechua Scriptures to use in weekly Bible studies with the
prisoners. (Right) Pastor Mario lifts sand to add to a cement mixer,
during construction work he does on the side to pay back a debt on
which a member of his family has unfortunately defaulted.
From Fingerprint to
A middle-aged Quechua woman journeys through the darkness of illiteracy to the light of literacy.

L ike other members at the Assemblies of God Church in

Abancay, Peru, Marcelina Saue (left) would occasionally
need to sign documents related to the congregations
business affairs.
While fellow believers wrote their names, Marcelina could only
provide a ngerprint of her thumb. For, until a few years ago, the
middle-aged Eastern Apurmac Quechua woman could not write
or read.
Saue explains her journey, from the darkness of illiteracy
to the light of literacy, as she stands quietly at the crowded,
downtown market in Abancay in the Apurmac region of south-
central Peru. She is selling small blocks of cheese brought from
farmers in the countryside. Other vendors around her are noisily
hawking vegetables, boxes of matches, plucked chickens with
feet and heads still attached, cooking oiland everything else
under the sun, blocked overhead this day by blue tarps.
The 40-something-year-old (I almost dont keep track of my
age) is at rst soft-spoken, almost expressionless. But as she
relates the latter part of her story, she becomes more animated.
Her eyes sparkle and a shy grin begins to grow on a face capped by
a traditional, brown felt hat.
Hers is a story of restricted educational opportunities as a
youngster and a late-blooming determination in adulthood to
read and feed on Gods Word.
My parents never put me in school, so I never learned to
read, explains Saue, of her early family life on a farm in the
Huancarama area. Her mother was more open to it, but her father
thought a girl who attended school would go only to learn how to
write letters to boys. A distraught Saue watched other children
around her attending school, conducted in Spanish.
I found myself feeling of less value. I was very sad.

Too Busy for Classes

So, Saue spent her days tending the familys animals and
looking after her younger siblings, a duty that became even
more essential when her father died. As Saue grew to marrying
age, her mother gave her away against her will to begin a difficult
period with her new husband.
That was my life, she recalls. When I was with this man, I
did not live well. This young man . . . began to drink a lot, and
treated me very harshly and abused me.
Later, literacy classes were offered by AIDIA (see A Different
God Speaks, pg. 18). But by this time Saue was a young mother
with the rst of an eventual six children; she was simply too busy
to attend.
Life took an important turn when both Saue and her
husband became Christians.
When we both came to the Lord, my husband completely
changed and stopped abusing me, she says.
Having moved by this time to Abancay, the family began
attending the Assemblies of God Church. Saue craved knowing
o Signature
Gods Word, even if it was still only available in Spanish. But her
inability to read was a barrier to the Scriptures. Moreover, her
illiteracy meant she was often cheated in her new cheese-selling
business at the marketplace, because she didnt know how to
properly count money during sales transactions.
Saue did the best she could on her own, praising God by
following along in church worship to memorize the songs.
When they read the [Spanish] Bible, I listened, she adds, but Feeling Great Joy
I would hear it just for that moment and then I would forget. It
did not stay in my head.
She began taking a Spanish Bible to church, asking persons
beside her to mark the text that was preached, so she could go
home and have her husband or one of her children read it. But
they lost patience and stopped reading it for her. A heart-broken
Saue wept with discouragement.
Another Chance
I used to ask God: My Father,
I want to learn those letters,
what they are saying, in order
to worship youso I can also
speak your words, Father.
Saue had turned to Psalm 40, a perfect t for her situation.
She read the whole passage, which God used to comfort and
challenge her to a deeper surrender. She continued to pray; her
husband eventually recovered.
Thats how I learned to read, she says. For God, nothings
impossible. God always helps. He helped me. He put a lot of
enthusiasm into my heart.
Today, Saue is a key leader in her Quechua congregation. She
leads singing and worship and continues reading the Scriptures,

In 2006, AIDIA staff began teaching mother tongue literacy in
Saues church and urged her to attend. It was nally the chance
to become literate that she had missed for decades.
I had a deep desire. I kept saying, Yes, Im going to learn, she
recalls. I used to ask God: My Father, I want to learn those
letters, what they are saying, in order to worship youso I can
also speak your words, Father. You will teach me. Help me!
Like the others in the class of about 15, she began to practise
Marcelina Saue
now available in her own Eastern Apurmac Quechua. She would
even like to learn Spanish, so she can take Gods Word to those
needing to hear it in that language.
I feel great joy and I give thanks to God, says Saue. When I
couldnt read, I felt like I was of no value to anybody. Now that
Ive learned, I feel great joy.
And what about those documents occasionally needing to be
signed at her church? Saue has graduated far beyond pressing

Ma
writing shapes with a pencil. She gradually learned the vowels an inked thumb down on paper.
and consonants in Quechua, recognized how small circles and Now, the humble cheese-seller says proudly, I am able to
sticks worked together to form letters in her mother tongue, and actually sign with my own name.

rceli
how those letters formed words.
At church, she followed along in the hymnbook, associating
what she heard sung with what was written on the pages. So,

na S
little by little, I began to learn to read.
After six months, she was asked do a church service reading of
Scripture (in the neighbouring language of Ayacucho Quechua)

au
in a church service. She did so to the degree she could, before
sharing her testimony.
Marc

While working through several years of AIDIA classes, Saue

e
came to another pivotal point in her life, when her seriously ill
husband had to go into hospital. With money running out and
concerns that her husband might not recover, Saue needed
Gods comfort. She borrowed her friends Ayacucho Quechua
New Testament (which was then the most closely related
translation available to her type of Quechua). Knowing that her
elina

Bible reading was still very limited, Saue prayed: My Father, this
night, I need you to talk to me through your Word. Because who
is there for me to trust? It is you. Now, in your name, I am going
to open this Bible. Now talk to me about what you want. In your
name, I will be able to read. Help me; talk to me.
Sau

Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca 35

 Beyond Words

Translating the Gospel

By Hart Wiens

Part 9
Lexical Equivalence
By Hart Wiens

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who
believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Editors Note: This

is part of a series of
14 articles reecting
on the verse John
T he little Greek word pas () is represented by the two English words
everyone who. The translators of the King James Version, writing in an older
form of the English language, were able to use just one word, whosoever.
The Canadian Oxford Dictionary labels this word archaic. More recent versions
such as the New International and the Revised Standard have also tried to retain
3:16 word by
word. The series one-word equivalence, with whoever. Unfortunately, in contemporary usage this
illustrates some of has become a rather ippant slang expression for the youth culture in the same
the challenges Bible domain as whatever. This contemporary usage of the term tends to diminish its
translators face as appropriateness to convey the meaning intended by the original Greek term.
they seek to present The term used in the Greek actually means all or every. In this grammatical
Gods Good News construction it means everyone who. This is exactly the rendering that the New
in every language Revised Standard Version and other meaning-based versions such as the Good
spoken on earth. News Translation and the Contemporary English Version have chosen. The term
extends the invitation as widely as possible. Using the word everyone challenges
our human tendency to be ethnocentric.
The early followers of Jesus were Jewish. They had grown up with the view
that they were Gods chosen people and therefore superior to the Gentiles, who,
according to them, lived outside of Gods blessing and
providence. They held this view even though, in the
Jesus made it clear covenant God made with their ancestor Abraham, He
had specically indicated His intention to cause them
that He came to earth to be a blessing to all nations on earth (Genesis
to love and rescue all 22.18, CEV). This sense of superiority is a natural part
people, regardless of of our human nature. We tend to dene God in our
own image and to believe that He cares about us more
their origins. Thats than He does about others. Jesus challenged these
Good News! assumptions. He made it clear that He came to earth
to love and rescue all people, regardless of their social,
religious or ethnic origins. Thats Good News!
The Good News that Jesus brought has a universal implication that motivates
His followers. They go to great lengths to ensure that this message is made
available to all people in the language and style of communication that speaks
to them most clearly. This is why the Canadian Bible Society, along with its many
partners such as Wycliffe Bible Translators, focuses signicant resources on the
support of Bible translation in Canada and around the world. People speaking
several thousand languages still lack the ability to hear this Good News in a
language they can really understand. We rely on your prayers and support to
change this situation.

36 Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca

 Part 10
Key Terms
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who
believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. (John 3:16)

T his word believes is a key term because of the critical role it plays in
communicating the message of the Bible. In the gospel, belief is the channel
through which salvation by grace comes to people (Ephesians 2:8). The
Greek root is translated in English as believe or faith, depending on the version
and context. This core word occurs 240 times in the New Testament.
The translators challenges are to rst understand the concept in the Greek, and
second, to express it in the language receiving the new translation. Its critical to
go to the source text for key terms, ensuring faithfulness to the original.
There is a problem with our English verb to believe. For those not very familiar
with the gospel, its meaning may be limited to a dictionary-level understanding
of simply accepting something as true. That is belief at the intellectual level. In the
context of the gospel, the original term carried a deeper meaning of acceptance,
not just at the head level, but also in the heart. Whenever the original Greek term
is used in conjunction with the preposition in or into as it is in this verse, it
carries the meaning of faith or condence in a person to the extent of acting on
that faith.
We struggle for the right word to translate key terms such as believe.
Sometimes a language has a unique word that captures the full meaning. The
common word for believe in Kalinga is manuttuwa. It goes back to the word for
truth, which in Kalinga is tuttuwa. When used as a verb, this term is commonly
used to mean believe as well as obey. The Kalinga understand intuitively that
to believe in Jesus means to obey His teaching. This does not make the road to
discipleship any easier for them. However, it does bring their understanding of
the gospel more directly in line with the teachings of our
Lords brother James, who maintains in his letter that faith
without works is dead.
To believe carried Translation is never easy. Often it seems downright
a deeper meaning of impossible to simply and accurately convey some of the
acceptance, not just teachings of the Gospel in other languages. But at other
times we experience the serendipity of nding concepts
at the head level, but in a new language that convey the message about Christ
also in the heart. with a clarity that almost transcends the original. There is
always something to be learned by reading or hearing the
message in a new language.

Reprinted with permission from the Canadian Bible Societys Translating

the Gospel article series, written by Hart Wiens, CBS director of Scripture translation. Hart and his
wife Ginny served with Wycliffe Canada in a Bible translation project among the Kalinga people in the
Philippines for 19 years. More recently, Hart has been a Wycliffe Canada board member.

Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca 37

 A Thousand Words

A Shadow of Their Former Selves

An Eastern Apurmac Quechua woman
and her children stand on the roadside
beside a ood-lit outdoor church
gathering (see related story, pg. 6) in the
village of Quillabamba, Peru, eerily casting
their shadows on an adobe brick building
across the street. Often a marginalized
people in Peru, the Quechua people are
nding hope, condence and Gods love
through the ministries of AIDIA, so they
can emerge from the shadows of society
into a brighter mainstream.

Natasha Schmale

38 Word Alive Summer 2014 wycliffe.ca

 Last Word

Meeting at the Crossroads

By Roy Eyre

L ast year I fullled a lifelong dream to attend the

dedication of a New Testament translated into
another language. On a Sunday morning in the city
of Abancay, Peru, I joined hundreds of Eastern Apurmac
Quechua men and women, many of whom had walked
for many hours to attend what would become a ve-
hour dedication service.
Of course, ceremony, greetings and multiple sermons
were an important part of the event. But it was
the other elements that held the crowds attention.
Organizers had their audience in mind. The service
included local folk bands, leading shrill songs of worship
and celebration that were distinctly Quechua. Their
musical style sounded almost Asian, involving stringed
instruments and even an accordion.
But it was the dramas that imprinted my memory.
Children pressed to the front to observe a group of kids
Natasha Schmale
acting out the parable of the sower who scatters seed
among thorns, rocks, beaten path and
fertile ground. Such agricultural references should ever be allowed to violate them. My throat went
Could the Quechuas easily hit the mark for these weathered dry as I realized that young, beautiful children like these
hunger for the farming folk. can experience abuse.
Bible inspire a new At one point, I noticed a stir at the Celebrating a completed New Testament is only the
back of the room. A man wearing tattered rst step. We desire to see mother-tongue Scriptures
movement within put to use in the church, in the home and in the public
clothes and waving a bottle snaked
Canada? Could we his way down the crowded main aisle, square. We long to see churches growing and marriages,
learn from their efforts grumbling and muttering to himself. families and communities transformed as Gods life-
to take the Bible into Finally he teetered onto the stage and a saving words cut to the heart.
well-targeted drama unfolded. While I There is an irony to a group of pastors coming down
every corner of their from Canada to participate in this celebration. The Bible
couldnt understand the words, the plot
community? was very clear: a drunken man abusing his does not enter conversations in the public square or in
kids, a wife pleading with him and then kitchens and living rooms of our country, as it once did.
taking his wrath. In some ways, Canada (which some may consider post-
It was a somewhat familiar story to those of us from Christian) and the growing Eastern Apurmac Quechua
North America. But how would the Quechua audience Church are going in opposite directions.
respond? Women leaned forward in anticipation, taking But maybe thats why its so important that we learn
in every word. They snickered at the jokes somewhat from each other. In some ways, we are meeting at the
self-consciously, almost afraid to show they resonated crossroads. Could the Quechuas hunger for the Bible
with the portrayed scene. This play was hitting extremely inspire a new movement within Canada? Could we learn
close to home. Most of these women knew this scenario, from their efforts to take the Bible into every corner of
and they were anxious to see how it could be resolved. their community?
The wife found a pastor to speak to her husband, and Gods Word provides answers to the desperation and
he used the Scriptures in the mans mother tongue to desolation common to both of our cultures. The Bible
soften his heart. God entered a desperate situation and gives hope to the poverty of our spirits. As Peter said
redeemed this husband and father. The crowd loved it. to Jesus in John 6:68 (NIV): Lord, to whom shall we go?
A couple of days later I attended a school where a You have the words of eternal life.
young Quechua woman taught a group of Grade 1
Roy Eyre is the president of Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada.
students (similar to the one pictured above) that God
had created them unique and special, and no adult
 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE ITEMS TO WYCLIFFE CANADA CIRCULATION
4316 10 ST NE
CALGARY AB T2E 6K3
Deliver to:

PM 40062756

Wycliffe Canada Featured Project

Invest in the Eastern
Apurmac Quechua!

Y ou can help advance Bible translation and Scripture

use in Peru through the work of AIDIA, a local
organization, serving the Eastern Apurmac Quechua
people (featured in this issue of Word Alivesee pages 6-35).
Here are the details of this specic project which Wycliffe
Canada is sponsoring with other partners.

Project Name: Eastern Apurmac Quechua (AIDIA)

Location: South-central Peru, South America
Language Group: Eastern Apurmac Quechua
Project Overview: Wycliffe Canada partners with a local
Peruvian organization, the Interdenominational Association
for the Holistic Development of Apurmac (whose Spanish
name is shortened using the acronym AIDIA), to translate
the entire Bible into Eastern Apurmac Quechua. At the
same time, AIDIA promotes its use in Quechua-speaking
churches and communities by advancing literacy, developing
church leadership, producing audio/video Scriptural
materials, and encouraging childrens Sunday school and
camps. These activities, carried out while the translation
of the Bible is completed, ensure that churches and
communities will be well-prepared to receive and use the
Bible when it is ready.
Timeline: 2012-2022
Project Funding Needed Annually: $120,000
Donate to this important Bible translation-related
project today!
Use this magazines reply form (ll in the box indicated
for this project).
Give online at projects.wycliffe.ca.
Call 1-800-463-1143 and indicate your gift is
for Eastern Apurmac Quechua (AIDIA).

Noem Rojas, a literacy program co-ordinator serving with

AIDIA (see story, pg. 18), helps a little girl form letters in her
Eastern Apurmac Quechua language.