We arrived safely back to our home at the mission center, Ukarumpa, in the highlands of Papua New Guinea on Friday August 18th. Our travel was long, but it was nice to travel with fellow missionaries, the Matt Gentry family, who we happened upon at LAX. We’re also grateful that our six pieces of luggage made it with us (something we can never take for granted). We were happy to enter a clean house and have meals with friends for our first three nights so that I (Brena) didn’t have to think about cooking.

Phew…made it to the capitol city of PNG with the Gentrys.

Our last flight….looking down over Ukarumpa.

So how are we doing?

To be honest, it was harder coming back this time around than previous returns. I had a cry the first morning here as it all hit me; getting used to how things work over here again, cooking from scratch, shopping, laundry, etc. A different life and another season. But I’ve reminded myself that it’s all to be expected after making another international move. And thankfully as the days have gone by, my spirits have improved.

Here’s a few key things to be praying for in the coming weeks:

1. John has been working non-stop since returning on two things: 1) making travel arrangements for 11 interns (10 Papua New Guinean and 1 Solomon Islander) whom he’ll be taking to Israel in October (13-30) for a tour that is geared for Bible translators, and 2) preparing for the consultant check of the last half of Exodus for the Luqa language in Solomon Islands. John leaves September 13^th and returns on the 27^th.

2. Wisdom and help for me as I have begun my two main Staff Care roles; cafes and hair cutting. Pray that I can find enough people to help in the Cafes, dependence on Him as I feel inadequate, and wisdom to know if I should add anything else to my plate.

3. Our son, Grant, is currently in the middle of his second work trip to PNG with Seed Company (an affiliate of Wycliffe). He spent 4 nights here with us in Ukarumpa, and now he is visiting some translation projects in the eastern coastal area of PNG. He arrives back in the U.S. on September 19^th. Please pray for Sara and baby Lillian while he is gone.

Besides a couple of meetings a day, Grant was able to spend time with a few of his high school classmates.

Thank you so much for reading and praying. We appreciate you all,

Brena & John

TO BE IN TOUCH (there are changes!):

john_bruner@sil.org

*We no longer have US phone numbers

Permanent Address: 4807 Ruidoso Dr., Arlington TX 76017

Overseas Address: PO Box 1 (134), Ukarumpa EHP 444, Papua New Guinea

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)

VIDEO:

You are welcome to view a short video of our work with Wycliffe. It is located in our About page.