DID YOU KNOW that there have been more than 450 English translations of the Bible since John Wycliffe did the first in 1382! While I know there is a need for new English translations, I’m thankful that Brena and I can be involved in translating the Bible into languages that still don’t have even one. And we appreciate your part in making that possible through your support and prayers! On to the latest…

I (John) leave next week for the Solomon Islands where I will be doing a consultant check of Joshua and Judges for the Zabana language translation. I would like to ask your prayers for their head translator, Isaac Matezama (below). In the last six months he has been having pain in his legs that have made it difficult for him to walk. He is hoping to travel by ship from his village to Honiara (the capital) for the consultant check, so please pray that he will be well enough to do that. If he isn’t able to travel, I will still do the check with the other members of his team, but it will make things more difficult.

While I’m in Solomons I also hope to meet with the three translators for the Bughotu Old Testament translation. They are going to be meeting with the translation committee in the next week or two (in the village of Sigana where we lived when working on the New Testament) to discuss how the OT translation can move ahead. Please pray that their meetings will go well and that the Bughotu community will be supportive of the OT translation. Also pray that when I meet with the translators in June, we will be able to come up with a good plan for the work (if the community is supportive).

In Other News (by Brena)

Besides translation work, we have had a number of friends and family visit in the last two months and we have taken a couple of short trips. Here are a few pictures:

John’s brother, Brad, was able to bring their parents to Texas for a weekend visit in March. It was such a blessing and privilege to have them come and we had a fun get-together with lots of other Bruner relatives living in the Dallas area.

At the end of March we welcomed Luke, Kate, Kairu, and Charlotte to Dallas, which was the first time for them to see where we live! It was a short but sweet visit, and a couple of their other PNG friends/classmates came as well!

I was able to help Sara up in Springfield, Missouri for 4 days while Grant and John attended Seed Company meetings. It’s so special spending time with Lillian (almost 3) and Eleanor (16 months)!

John’s Pacific area team at the meetings in May. It is nice John gets to room with Grant. 😊

Two of my good friends from PNG (who are now living in the States) made the trip to Dallas to visit me, and it was such a fun weekend getting caught up.

John, his brother Bill, and 2 of Bill’s sons, Keith and David, enjoyed a weekend of off-road motorbiking and camping in Arkansas. It reminded John of his dirt bike rides in PNG!

My sister and I with our childhood missionary friend from Nepal days, Robyn (Mathieson) Peterson

PRAISE:

• for the privilege we have to work in Bible Translation even though we’re based in the States now
• for God’s provision in meeting all of our needs
• for the many good visits with friends and family in the last couple of months
• for our wonderful church and new friends

PRAY:

• for John’s trip next week to the Solomons (prayer requests listed above). He’ll be gone May 28 to June 13.
• for wisdom for John to know how to help the translators of 7 projects in Solomon Islands who are working on their post-workshop assignments.
• for me while John is gone. I always struggle a bit more with my OCD.
• for wisdom as we make plans for the summer months.

TO BE IN TOUCH:

903 Pontiac Ct., Arlington TX 76013

John: john_bruner@wycliffe.org (personal); john_bruner@tsco.org (work)

Brena: brena_bruner@wycliffe.org

WEB ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/Bruners

MAILING ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

Send gifts to: Wycliffe Bible Translators, PO Box 628200, Orlando, FL 32862-8200 (The check should be made payable to Wycliffe Bible Translators and include a note that says “preference for the ministry of John and Brena Bruner”.)

Translation Principles Workshop

I (John) am happy to report that the two-week Translation Principles workshop that my supervisor, Pat Andrews, and I taught in February went really well. Twenty translators from seven different language groups attended and by the end of the workshop we saw significant improvement in their understanding of translation principles and ability to draft. One of the translators, Gaias Daefa (see picture below), said,

I had taken Greek and Hebrew and other classes, but I still didn’t know how to translate. Thank you for teaching this workshop because now I feel like I understand what I’m supposed to be doing.

All the translators are currently doing a post workshop assignment. They are drafting a couple chapters each and also doing back translations so that Pat and I can check their work and make sure they are putting what they have learned into practice.

Gaias Daefa (right) receiving his certificate from Dr Alphaeus Zobule (head of the organization that manages the seven translation projects)

As a former school teacher it is always enjoyable to me to have a chance to teach (especially students who want to learn 😊)

One of the translator’s work on their assignment: left – NIV version; middle – language translation; right – back translation into English

Bughotu Old Testament

You may recall that Brena and I worked with the Bughotu people in the Solomon Islands from 1997 to 2009 to translate the New Testament. After we left, there were attempts to start translating the Old Testament, but for a variety of reasons not much was accomplished. It was quite discouraging to us. Now, though, it looks like there may be hope! A couple of months ago I (John) received an email from Edward Goha, a Bughotu man who had helped some with OT translation many years ago. Edward told me he recently retired from his work as a meteorologist, and he wants to be involved again in translation. There are also two young women who have just finished training and are ready to start translating. My Seed Company supervisor is in favor of allowing me time to assist with the Bughotu translation as a consultant and we are currently trying to come up with a plan so things can move ahead. Encouraging!

I met with Edward Goha (right) and Japhet Sikou (he is currently overseeing the Bughotu OT translation) to discuss how I might help with the translation.

Boutique

Brena has been volunteering recently at the SIL/Wycliffe center’s “Boutique” which is a thirty-minute drive from our house. The Boutique is a place for Wycliffe members to get free clothing, furniture, and household items (a lot of things in our house are from there!). They have been in need of help so she has been enjoying organizing the fabric room, one of the many areas in the Boutique.

PRAISE:

• that the Translation Principles workshop was successful, and the translators improved in their ability to draft well. I’m also thankful that for the most part we all enjoyed good health for the entire workshop.
• that Brena has been enjoying helping out in the Boutique.

PRAY:

• that plans for translating the Bughotu Old Testament will continue to move ahead and that I will be able to assist.
• for the translators from seven different languages in the Solomon Islands, that they will be able to apply the translation principles they learned to improve the quality of their drafting.
• that God will give John wisdom as he goes over the translator’s assignments in the coming months so he can give them helpful feedback

TO BE IN TOUCH:

903 Pontiac Ct., Arlington TX 76013

John: john_bruner@wycliffe.org (personal); john_bruner@tsco.org (work)

Brena: brena_bruner@wycliffe.org

WEB ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/Bruners

MAILING ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

Send gifts to: Wycliffe Bible Translators, PO Box 628200, Orlando, FL 32862-8200 (The check should be made payable to Wycliffe Bible Translators and include a note that says “preference for the ministry of John and Brena Bruner”.)

Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ is coming again! Those phrases are something we say every Sunday at our church. And they help to keep our focus on what is really important. As we look to this new year, we are thankful that God is with us, guiding and helping, and that we can have peace and joy in Him. Thank you for being a part of our lives and thanks for your prayers and support that allow us to stay working with Bible Translation, even though we are now based in the U.S.

The 2 Johns

For the last several years, John has been mentoring one of his Seed Company colleagues, John Miller, who is training to be a translation consultant. Now that they are both working in the office here in Arlington, my John has been able to spend more time working with John M., teaching him how to prepare for a consultant check by going over the back translation that the translation team has prepared (the team actually translates their translation back into English so the consultant can check it for accuracy). John M is traveling soon to Papua New Guinea to check 2 Corinthians and Ephesians in the Kakabai language, so my John has been helping him prepare for that check. Pray for John Miller as he continues to learn the ins and outs of becoming a good consultant and pray for John as he teaches him.

Another Trip

My John has also been preparing for his next trip to Solomon Islands (Feb 5-23). He and his boss (and brother-in-law), Pat, will be teaching another translation principles workshop to translators from seven languages. Please pray for this trip – that it would be beneficial to those learning and that John and Pat would have wisdom as they interact with the students, and good health the entire time.

A photo of last year’s workshop

Christmas

Christmas was a busy but really fun time. Our oldest son, Grant, and his sweet little family were able to join us for a few days. We also had gatherings here with other local family. After Christmas, my dad and stepmom were able to come to Texas for a week. I am so grateful that God provided us with such a wonderful house where we can host family and friends!

PRAISE & PRAYER:

• We are so thankful for the blessings of life and the privilege to work in Bible Translation. Thank you to those who give and pray!
• Pray for John as he mentors John Miller and for John Miller as he learns.
• Pray also for John as he heads to Solomon Islands to teach another translation workshop. He will be gone from Feb 5-23.

NEW PRAYER CARD:

We have new prayer cards with updated information. If you would like one, please drop us a note and we will put one in the mail for you.

TO BE IN TOUCH:

903 Pontiac Ct., Arlington TX 76013

John: john_bruner@wycliffe.org (personal); john_bruner@tsco.org (work)

Brena: brena_bruner@wycliffe.org

WEB ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/Bruners

MAILING ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

Send gifts to: Wycliffe Bible Translators, PO Box 628200, Orlando, FL 32862-8200 (The check should be made payable to Wycliffe Bible Translators and include a note that says “preference for the ministry of John and Brena Bruner”.)

Merry Christmas!

This year John and I are especially thankful to God for:

• His faithfulness and blessings during our first year back in America
• the provision of a house and peaceful neighborhood
• being led to a wonderful church where we are constantly reminded that it’s all about Jesus
• new friends
• extended family nearby
• visits with our kids and granddaughters (and chances to babysit!) :)
• good health
• faithful prayer and financial partners
• the privilege of being involved in Bible translation
• the gift of each other and Jesus, our loving friend and Savior!

TO BE IN TOUCH:

903 Pontiac Ct., Arlington TX 76013

John: john_bruner@wycliffe.org (personal); john_bruner@tsco.org (work)

Brena: brena_bruner@wycliffe.org

WEB ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/Bruners

MAILING ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

Send gifts to: Wycliffe Bible Translators, PO Box 628200, Orlando, FL 32862-8200 (The check should be made payable to Wycliffe Bible Translators and include a note that says “preference for the ministry of John and Brena Bruner”.)

Checking Seqa in Solomon Islands

Whenever I (John) work with translation teams in Solomon Islands or Papua New Guinea, it is always a good reminder to me of the sacrifice that people are willing to make to get the Scriptures into their own language.  I recently returned from Solomon Islands where I spent 2 weeks checking the book of Numbers in the Seqa (pronounced, “Senga”) language located on the island of Choiseul. Choiseul is the island farthest west in Solomon Islands, very close to the border of Papua New Guinea. And to give you an idea of how remote it is, it took less time for me to fly the 7300 miles from the U.S. to Honiara (the capital) than it took for the Seqa translators to travel the 250 miles from Choiseul to Honiara! And I can assure you that my trip was much more comfortable than theirs!

During the two weeks I worked with the Seqa team, we were able to get 19 chapters of the book of Numbers checked and also have time for me to give instruction to Fred and Daniel, two of the Seqa translators, on how to apply translation principles so they can improve the quality of their drafts. I hope to be able to interact with them by Zoom in the coming months (if they can get their satellite internet working) so I can continue to help them.

The two Seqa translators I worked with, Daniel (L) and Fred

Kids and Camping

While I was in the Solomons, Brena was able to fly to South Carolina to say a final good-bye to Joey and Moriah before they left to go overseas. It was a special time for her and she also had a wonderful (and unexpected) day with Luke and Kate, who also came to say good-bye.

Brena has always enjoyed tent camping, but we hadn’t gone for almost 20 years since we were living overseas (where camping isn’t a thing to do). She had been really looking forward to a chance to go, so recently we drove up to a state park in Arkansas to camp for a few days. We had a really good time and we’re already talking about when and where to go camping in the future.

Praise:

• that my trip to Solomon Islands to work with the Seqa translation team went well.
• that Brena was able to travel to South Carolina to see Joey and Moriah before they left to go overseas.

Pray:

• that the Seqa translation team will be able to get their satellite internet working so I can help them by Zoom.
• that I will have wisdom in preparing the next part of the translation principles workshop which should happen in February 2026.
• that God will lead Brena in finding a ministry (she has explored some opportunities but nothing so far has been a good fit for her gifts).

TO BE IN TOUCH:

903 Pontiac Ct., Arlington TX 76013

John: john_bruner@wycliffe.org (personal); john_bruner@tsco.org (work)

Brena: brena_bruner@wycliffe.org

WEB ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/Bruners

MAILING ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

Send gifts to: Wycliffe Bible Translators, PO Box 628200, Orlando, FL 32862-8200 (The check should be made payable to Wycliffe Bible Translators and include a note that says “preference for the ministry of John and Brena Bruner”.)

Brena and I (John) are continuing to adjust to life in the U.S., and so far we haven’t found it as stressful as we had imagined it would be. We are so thankful for how God has helped us in many ways, and we greatly appreciate your prayers on our behalf. Brena is still exploring different possibilities for what she will do with her time, so we would appreciate your continued prayer for her.

Saisai

Lately I have been busy preparing for two consultant checks. One of those is a “correspondence” check for the book of Acts in the Saisai language of Papua New Guinea. For a correspondence check, I prepare like I normally would for any check, but instead of traveling to do the check myself, someone else meets with members of the translation team and some speakers of the language to read the translation and ask the questions that I have prepared. Then they report back to me what the responses were, and I will determine if any changes need to be made. For the Saisai check, I’m not expecting many changes will need to be made as I can tell the team is doing very good work!

Seqa

The other consultant check is for the book of Numbers for the Seqa language. For that check, I will travel to Solomon Islands on September 18^th to do the check in person. The Seqa team took part in the Translations Principles workshop I helped teach in April, so it will be good to see how they are applying what they learned and help them in areas in which they are struggling.

The Seqa translation team (from L to R): Fred Lala, Simeon Mela and Daniel Dalimutu

Solomon

Part of my job is to manage interns who are funded by Seed Company to train for roles in Bible Translation. One of those interns is Solomon Wara, an Are’are speaker (Solomon Islands) who is training to be a translation consultant. He is entering his third year of an M.A. program in Linguistics in Thailand, and I was encouraged by what he wrote in a recent report: “The entire MA Theory program at Payap University is truly an opportunity of a lifetime, one that I continually praise God for. As I reflect on this journey, I recognize that it has not been easy. It has been marked by challenges, moments of confusion, and periods of deep personal and academic growth. Yet, in all of it, it has also been one of the richest learning experiences I could have ever hoped or prayed for. As I continue in this journey, I do so with a grateful heart, grateful for the growth, the relationships, the knowledge, and the transformation that God is working in me not only as a student but as a servant of His kingdom.” Reading Solomon’s report made me thankful for the privilege I have to work with people like Solomon who are committed to serving God and their language communities!

Solomon Wara (left) with his family in Thailand

Visits and Visitors

In late July, I had work meetings in Colorado, so afterwards Brena traveled there to meet me and we were able to visit a few friends and a supporting church. It was great to connect with people we hadn’t seen in a quite a while. We’ve also had a number of people visit us in Texas and it’s been fun to show them our new home.

Dinner with the pastor and missions coordinator of our supporting church in Colorado

We enjoyed a day at beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park with some friends.

Brena’s dad and stepmom visited Texas in August and we enjoyed time with them and other family members.

Our son Joey and his wife Moriah stayed with us for a week in June when they traveled through Texas.

PRAISE:

• for his gracious help as we continue to adjust to life in the U.S. and his provision for all that we have needed.
• for interns like Solomon Wara who feel called to serve God in Bible Translation.
• for good connections with friends and supporters during our time in Colorado.

PRAY:

• that I will have a productive trip to Solomon Islands working with the Seqa translation team from Sept 18-Oct 4.
• that God will direct Brena in finding a suitable ministry opportunity.
• that God will raise up more people like Solomon Wara who want to help their own language communities have access to the Scriptures.

TO BE IN TOUCH:

John: john_bruner@wycliffe.org (personal); john_bruner@tsco.org (work)

Brena: brena_bruner@wycliffe.org

903 Pontiac Ct., Arlington TX 76013

WEB ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/Bruners

MAILING ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

Send gifts to: Wycliffe Bible Translators, PO Box 628200, Orlando, FL 32862-8200 (The check should be made payable to Wycliffe Bible Translators and include a note that says “preference for the ministry of John and Brena Bruner”.)

We’ve been in our house for a month now without traveling somewhere! It has been very nice! In these recent weeks we’ve been able to figure out what things we still need to buy for our house, what things to hang on the walls, and even what colors we like. Setting up a house at age 60 is not for the faint of heart 😊. We still have a ways to go, but it’s slowly becoming homier (echoes less now) and feels like our own. We are so grateful for this house. God is so good!

When I (Brena) think of all the options for ways to use my time, I feel quite overwhelmed and don’t feel like I’m close to figuring out what to do. But for now, I am grateful for the chance to rest, get together with family who live in the area, walk the pleasant streets around our house, and be minutes away from a grocery store and library—simple pleasures that I don’t want to take for granted.

Finding a Church

Last month we asked you to pray that God would lead us to a church. Shortly after we sent out that request, we decided to try a church not far from our house, and it immediately felt like a fit. Thank you for praying! We are overwhelmed with how worshipful and Christ-centered it is and how welcoming everyone has been to us.

Raising Support

We also asked you to pray that the approximately $1100 we needed in monthly support would come in, and it has! Thanks for praying, and to those of you who decided to increase your support or start giving, thank you so much! It has been very encouraging, because we want to keep working with Wycliffe when there are still so many people in the world that don’t have the Word of God in their own language.

I am thankful for the miles of lovely streets around our house in which to walk.

Last month I was able to go up to Springfield, Missouri to help Sara while Grant was away on a work trip. It was so much fun to spend time with those little girlies! Lillian, who is almost 2, is very happy and active. One of her favorite words now is, ‘no’ 😊. Eleanor is a very happy and calm baby who loves to coo and play with her hands.

It has been wonderful being able to have family and friends over to our house!

John is happy to have his brother, Bill, close by. Bill recently helped him repair the shed in the backyard, jacking it up and replacing the siding.

John at the Seed Company office: in his cubicle and with Pat Andrews, his boss and brother-in-law

PRAISE & PRAYER

• Praise God for leading us to a good church and that all of our needed support has come in.
• We are so grateful for all of you who give and/or pray so that we can stay working with Bible Translation.
• Please continue to pray that God would guide me in deciding how to use my time.
• Pray that John will continue to adjust to his new working environment where it is harder to stay in touch with the people he works with in Solomon Islands and PNG.

TO BE IN TOUCH:

John: john_bruner@wycliffe.org (personal); john_bruner@tsco.org (work)

Brena: brena_bruner@wycliffe.org

903 Pontiac Ct., Arlington TX 76013

WEB ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/Bruners

MAILING ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

Send gifts to: Wycliffe Bible Translators, PO Box 628200, Orlando, FL 32862-8200 (The check should be made payable to Wycliffe Bible Translators and include a note that says “preference for the ministry of John and Brena Bruner”.)

Let me take you back a few years.  In early 2020 I (John) taught a workshop in Solomon Islands for over 20 national translators working on translations in seven languages. At that time, I was teaching them how to use Paratext – the main software used in Bible translation. The plan had been to go back in the middle of 2020 to teach a course in translation principles. Unfortunately, COVID happened, that workshop was canceled, and for the next several years it wasn’t possible to travel to the Solomons. The translators, however, went ahead with their translating.

During the last two years, I and a couple of other consultants were seeing that most of the teams were struggling to produce good quality translation, and we realized it was largely because they had never been taught a course in basic translation principles. We decided that needed to happen, so in late March my brother-in-law (and boss), Pat Andrews, and I made a trip to Solomon Islands to teach the first half of a translation principles workshop. It was very rewarding to be able to teach the 21 participants for two weeks about how to handle different translation issues. They all expressed how thankful they were to learn the material and how it would help them to make their translations more understandable and more natural. Pat and I took turns teaching lessons, which was nice as I had forgotten how tiring it is to teach! I unfortunately got sick the last 2 days of the workshop, but Pat was able to take over and finish up. The teams are now going to be using what they learned to revise the first 5 chapters of whichever book they have been working on, and then Pat and I and another consultant will check to see if they are applying what they have learned. Then in October we plan to return to teach the second half of the course.

As for Brena, thankfully things went really well for her while I was gone. She enjoyed settling into our new house and did some gardening, reading, and hanging out with her sister Beth (Pat’s wife).

Now that I am back in Arlington, I have started going to the Seed Company headquarters here several days a week. It is nice to have interaction with colleagues that I have never had a chance to get to know when we lived in Papua New Guinea.

While our classroom was very basic (and all the electricity was supplied by one receptacle!), it worked very well for teaching.

We tried to give the participants a lot of time to do exercises related to the different topics.

My brother-in-law Pat taking his turn to teach

The 21 participants from seven languages

PRAISE:

• Thanks for praying for us as we attended the missions conference at a small church in South Carolina in mid-March. It went really well, and we enjoyed sharing about the need for Bible translation and about our work with Wycliffe.
• We have had a number of people commit to supporting us financially and we are only a few hundred dollars from meeting the monthly amount we need!

PRAYER:

• Continue to pray for us that we will find a church that we can get involved in. We have tried several but are still not ready to make the final decision.

TO BE IN TOUCH:

John: john_bruner@wycliffe.org (personal); john_bruner@tsco.org (work)

Brena: brena_bruner@wycliffe.org

**NEW Address: 903 Pontiac Ct., Arlington TX 76013

WEB ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/Bruners

MAILING ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

Send gifts to: Wycliffe Bible Translators, PO Box 628200, Orlando, FL 32862-8200 (The check should be made payable to Wycliffe Bible Translators and include a note that says “preference for the ministry of John and Brena Bruner”.)

Thanks for taking a minute to read about God’s good gifts to us!

TO BE IN TOUCH:

John: john_bruner@wycliffe.org (personal); john_bruner@tsco.org (work)

Brena: brena_bruner@wycliffe.org

**NEW Address: 903 Pontiac Ct., Arlington TX 76013

WEB ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/Bruners

MAILING ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

Send gifts to: Wycliffe Bible Translators, PO Box 628200, Orlando, FL 32862-8200 (The check should be made payable to Wycliffe Bible Translators and include a note that says preference for the ministry of John and Brena Bruner.)

Click on the link below to read our latest news (also coming by regular mail) of how we are continuing on with the work of Bible translation even though we are now based in the States. We also share about the financial need we have since returning. Thank you for reading and praying!

Click to access continuing-on-2.pdf

TO BE IN TOUCH:

John: john_bruner@wycliffe.org (personal); john_bruner@tsco.org (work)

Brena: brena_bruner@wycliffe.org

Temporary Address: 4807 Ruidoso Dr., Arlington TX 76017

WEB ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/Bruners

MAILING ADDRESS FOR PARTNERSHIP:

Send gifts to: Wycliffe Bible Translators, PO Box 628200, Orlando, FL 32862-8200 (The check should be made payable to Wycliffe Bible Translators and include a note that says preference for the ministry of John and Brena Bruner.)