With about 250 languages still needing God’s word in Papua New Guinea, we are thankful to be back here where we can help with the task. This last month was full so thought we’d show you through pictures what we’ve been up to.

The Christmas holidays were definitely different without our kids or extended family with us, but God provided many colleagues and friends here who helped fill in that gap. It was fun to visit with old friends and get to know new ones.

We were able to spend Christmas afternoon at a gathering with some of our colleagues

Here we are with Hilkka Arminen who was in our Field Training Course here in PNG in 1997 (before we went to the Solomon Islands)! She has been working in translation ever since.

Enjoying an afternoon trip to a nearby town with our good friends, Terry and Cyndi Cirre

John has been very happy to be back in PNG and have plenty of translation work to keep him busy. He was able to do a consultant check of Ephesians for the Kaluli language in January. He was thrilled to do it, especially since it was the last book of the New Testament that they needed to have checked!

John with the Kaluli translation team

Noel Diru (below) is one of the consultant interns John mentors. He came to Ukarumpa last week to meet up with a Wycliffe expat consultant and they planned to go to a remote location for a consultant check. Unfortunately, the expat consultant had a medical emergency and the trip was canceled. While Noel is waiting to return home, John is mentoring him by having him practice checking some translations and reading articles on translation theory.

John has also been preparing to teach five other interns he works with how to use specialized translation software. They will come to Ukarumpa for two weeks in mid-February.

Noel Diru with John

I (Brena) have been enjoying getting back into my Staff Care job. In December I put on a Tea for ladies who spend time out in the villages doing translation or literacy work. I’ve also been scheduling Saturday Cafes and have put on two so far, with the help of a great team of bakers and servers. Around 90 people come each time to spend time with family members and/or friends. One mom told me her teenage daughter loves to come to the Cafes because it’s the one time all week she feels like she’s away from our fenced-in center.  It does my heart good to hear that! I’m so thankful that I can do something that I dreamed about doing almost 20 years ago. I’ve also been cutting hair two days a week and that’s been a humbling experience (since I’m not a professional), but also fun.

Village Ladies sharing around the tables

With one of my rotating teams at the Elim Cafe

This translation family from Germany enjoys coming to the Cafes every Saturday to have a late lunch of desserts so that the mom doesn’t have to think about making a meal

cutting hair in my “salon”

 PRAISE AND PRAYER:

• We are very thankful that there haven’t been a significant number of COVID cases in the area of PNG where we live and because of that we have relatively few restrictions. Pray for continued good health.
• Solomon Islands has been closed to nearly all international travel for almost a year, which means John isn’t able to make his usual trips there to teach and consultant check. Pray that the country will reopen for travel before too long.
• Please pray for wisdom, peace, and strength as we carry on with our lives and work here. We are thankful for those of you who give financially and commit to pray for us.

TO BE IN TOUCH:

john_bruner@sil.org – PO Box 1 (134), Ukarumpa EHP 444, Papua New Guinea

TO GIVE ONLINE:

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

TO GIVE BY MAIL:

send gifts to: Wycliffe Bible Translators, PO Box 628200, Orlando, FL 32862 (The check should be made payable to Wycliffe Bible Translators – include a note that says it is for the ministry of John and Brena Bruner)