I (John) have recently come back to Ukarumpa from Alotau where I spent two weeks checking the gospel of Luke for the Kaninuwa language. It was both a humbling and encouraging trip for me. Here’s why:

I, along with Joseph and Joyce Park (the Wycliffe advisors for the Kaninuwa translation), had an easy 2-hour flight to Alotau in a small plane and enjoyed seeing the beautiful mountains and coastline on the way. The five Kaninuwa speakers, however, had a 6-hour motor canoe trip in rough seas (they actually ran out of gas before they reached the mainland and had to paddle the last half hour!). Then one of them, Phocus, was feeling sick during the checking. He spent most of one day in bed but the next morning showed up and told me that he was really sorry he had missed some of the checking as he felt like he was letting down the team. He didn’t miss any more of the sessions even though I could tell he was still not feeling well! It was very humbling to me to see what the Kaninuwa were willing to go through for the sake of translating the Scriptures into their language.

Kaninuwa Team: (L to R): Jack, Rose, Phocus, Lynette, Lebi, Joyce, Joseph

Alotau, being on the coast, brought back memories of our years in Solomon Islands

My job as a translation consultant is to find places where there are either mistakes or the translation is not communicating clearly. It can be difficult for the translation team to be told many times during the check that they need to change things. However, Jack (photo below), the main translator, would thank me almost every time I pointed out something that needed changing! I was so encouraged by his desire to make the Kaninuwa translation accurate and meaningful.

Phocus and Lynette (photo below) are not part of the Kaninuwa translation team, but they came as helpers to answer my questions to see whether the translation was accurate and clear. After the check Joseph asked them to write down their thoughts about the time spent checking. Phocus said that he was thankful for the new insights he gained from the check and was looking forward to sharing what he learned with people in his village. Lynette said that she was thankful to learn more about how to dig into God’s Word to understand it and, “I understood God speaking to me in the Kaninuwa language.” Hearing those types of comments makes me very thankful I can be involved in this work!

Thanks for your prayers while I was away doing the consultant check. Brena managed fine at Ukarumpa, but because of a large surge in COVID cases (in all of PNG but especially in the highlands where we live) she wasn’t able to put on Cafes, Teas, or cut hair. Currently all the different departments here on the missionary center have to shut down every day at 2pm and we are only allowed to get together inside with one other family. It has made life more difficult and we would appreciate your prayers that the situation would improve so the restrictions can be eased soon.

I am scheduled to leave on Nov 5^th for another consultant check (also the gospel of Luke) for the Kope language. I plan to be gone until Nov 22^nd. We would appreciate your prayers that the check would go well and that we will stay healthy. Please pray for Brena too as she will again be staying here at Ukarumpa.

Thank you for your part in the work here through your prayers and gifts. We are so blessed and humbled by your partnership.

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)

Many people have asked us, “How was the wedding?” or “How was your time in the States?” So much happened that we thought it would be best to “describe” our stay in the U.S. in August and September through pictures. We also value your prayers for the items listed at the bottom of the update, especially for John’s consultant checking trip starting tomorrow.

Our first stop in August was Texas. We stayed five days and were able to see a few family members in that area like John’s brother Bill and wife (picture above), and my sister and her family (picture below).

From Texas we flew to Charleston, South Carolina, but because Joey had COVID we weren’t able to move in immediately with him and Luke. So we picked up a car and drove down to Florida to spend a few days with John’s parents. What a sweet time we had with them and with another one of John’s brothers, Brad.

After Florida we drove back up to Charleston and stayed with this hospitable, sweet couple the Huletts (prayer partners of ours and the caterers for Joey and Moriah’s wedding) for a few days before we moved in with Joey and Luke. We lived with the boys for three weeks during which time we shopped, made plans for the wedding rehearsal dinner, and shopped some more (sigh).

Although our time was busy, it was very special to hang out with Joey, Moriah, and Luke. It was also so nice to get to know Moriah better (since we’d only seen her briefly a couple of times before) and be able to attend her bridal shower! Here I am with Moriah and Moriah’s mom, Denise.

John, Joey, Moriah, Gabe (a friend of Joey) and I ran in a 5K while in Charleston. I love doing races when we’re back in America so that was one of the fun things we did on the trip.

The first week of September we drove up to see Grant and Sara in their new place of residence, Charlottesville, Virginia. Grant is working as a mechanical engineer at a commercial refrigeration company and Sara is in her first year of pharmaceutical residency at the University of Virginia Health System. What a special five days we had with them. They are very near Washington D.C. so we enjoyed sightseeing with them. Here’s our cute tour guides on the streets of DC.

We also saw Mt. Vernon and some sights in Fredericksburg.

On the way back to Charleston we stopped briefly in Waxhaw, North Carolina to see our good friends from Papua New Guinea, Brad and Toni Guderian. We were so happy to hear Toni’s colon cancer is in remission.

Then the wedding week began! What a busy week, but there were many sweet moments with so many friends and family. It was heartwarming to see “the boys” together again: (left to right: Luke, Grant, Icy, Jesse, Amaechi, Kairu, Stacy).

We hosted the rehearsal dinner in the gym of the church where Joey and Moriah were married. Since we couldn’t get in to set up and prepare until 3:00 p.m. it was a mad rush to get it all done, but we managed with the help of others. What a wonderful evening of celebrating what God has done in Joey and Moriah’s lives.

We shared an Airbnb with my immediate family. It was very special to be together with my sister, brother, and dad, a very rare occurrence.

We felt so blessed to have several sets of dear friends from around the country share the weekend with us like Robin and Lee Montgomery (left), Rick and Jolene Nachtigal (top right), and Keith and Karen Anderson (bottom right). *you can click on the tiny pictures to enlarge

and….The VERY Happy Couple!

Joey and Moriah spent their honeymoon in the Dominican Republic and are now settling into normal life in Charleston, South Carolina, where they intend to stay for a couple years before serving as missionaries wherever God leads them. Joey is working part-time and finishing up his degree. Moriah is working as an assistant to John’s brother, Dave, who is the missions pastor at East Cooper Baptist Church.

Here is a barely coherent John on the last leg of our 50+ hours of travel! We arrived back to Ukarumpa and to our home on Friday, Sept. 24. A friend had made sure it was clean and put some meals in our freezer so that we would have an easier time settling back in. It sure made a difference.

PRAISE & PRAYER:

• We thank God for how He answered prayer and met our needs so wonderfully during the entire time we were in America. Some examples: a car being loaned to us for the exact number of days we needed it, being able to get a quick and painless root canal done on the spur of the moment, finding an Airbnb so close to the church and the right size for our family, and a quick and easy wedding dress find for me.

• Pray for Joey and Moriah as they begin their new life together.

• Please pray for John’s consultant checking trip in Alotau PNG from Oct. 8-22. He will be checking the gospel of Luke for the Kaninuwa language. Pray that he and the translation team will remain healthy, have wisdom in knowing how to correct any errors and find ways to improve the translation, and that John would be able to come back when scheduled. Things are constantly changing in regard to COVID regulations. Please pray for me as I remain here in Ukarumpa. This will be the first time to be kid-less while John is away on a trip.

• Pray for contentment and remembering why we are here.

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)

It’s official! We gained another lovely daughter-in-law! Joey and Moriah were married two days ago and we are so thankful for how God led them together, and that we were able to be here for the wedding.

It’s been a VERY busy but good two months in the States and hopefully we will start the long journey back to PNG tomorrow (as long as our COVID tests come back negative this afternoon!).

We will send more pictures and stories once we get settled in PNG, but for now we just wanted to let you know we are thankful that God answered prayer regarding Joey and Moriah’s wedding and to ask you to pray for our trip back.

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 s

We would like to ask for prayer for our upcoming trip to the U.S. in a few days for Joey and Moriah’s wedding. On Tuesday, July 27, we fly down to the capital city, Port Moresby (as long as the COVID tests our clinic does come out negative). Then we are scheduled to leave Port Moresby on Thursday, July 29 (as long as our COVID tests AT the airport come out negative). And then it’s on through Singapore, Doha, Dallas, and then South Carolina. We have return tickets for September 20th.

PLEASE PRAY

• for negative COVID tests
• that the countries we fly through will stay open
• and that the flights/connections will go smoothly

It feels a bit weird to be leaving after getting back to PNG just 8½ months ago. But I, Brena, feel like we’re both ready for a little break and to see family!! So excited!

FUN FACTS

Here are 24 fun facts about PNG and these last 8½ months for us. We thank Him that He’s given us the strength to accomplish the work; me encouraging fellow missionaries through Staff Care, and John with checking and translating.

• Our trip home next week will be 30 hours on planes and 10 hours in transit.
• Approximately 250 languages in PNG have not yet had any translated Scripture.
• I was able to put on 21 Cafes and Teas.
• John has been able to check about 3000 verses of Scripture for six different languages.
• Last week was the first time in 6 months for me to go anywhere outside our mission center.
• We will be staying with Joey and Luke until the wedding.
• One of John’s favorite activities is going on motorbike rides with friends.

• There is 1 small grocery store on our center and an outdoor produce market once a week.
• I have about 20 colleagues who volunteer their time to help me with serving, baking, or making specialty coffees at the Cafes.
• Over the years, our organization has published New Testaments in 217 of PNG’s 840 languages.
• We drink locally grown coffee every morning.
• Our organization here in PNG has workers from 19 different countries.
• Our routine in the evening is to watch a show together while eating some dessert and drinking tea. So fun!
• Because the roads on our center are dirt and the windows in our house are “louvered” (photo below), our house gets really dusty.

• I’ve recently taken up tennis (guess who my instructor is? :) ), but normally go on a run for my exercise.
• Translation work here in PNG is happening in 134 languages.
• I did about 100 haircuts.
• We have an English church service on our center where different missionaries volunteer to preach and lead music.
• Around 250 Papua New Guineans serve as full-time employees in our organization. About ½ of them live in local villages.
• Our missionary center is enclosed by a 2-mile perimeter chain link fence.
• Ata works as our yard man and usually brings his wife and one-year-old daughter with him. They walk about an hour to get here. We are thankful for his help and expertise in gardening!

• The different missionary jobs here on center include pilots, teachers, doctors, nurses, computer specialists, literacy workers, Bible translators, linguists, accountants, principals, staff care workers, store manager, managers for all the departments, auto mechanics, construction workers, and the list goes on. It takes a lot of different skills to make Bible translation happen!
• Worldwide, 1.5 billion people still do not have the whole Bible in their own language.

Thank you for your part in helping us stay working with Wycliffe. We couldn’t do it without your prayers and financial support.

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)

Korry Reuben!

Over the last six years I, John, have worked with a lot of Papua New Guinean interns who have wanted to become translation consultants. Not all of them have succeeded, so it is really rewarding when some do. One of those is Korry Reuben, and it has been really encouraging to see how he has stayed committed to the work of Bible translation in the four years since he became a consultant. Korry lives in Kainantu, the closest town to the missionary center where we work, and after he finished his internship, he was asked by his denomination to start a Bible school there. So he did that while also assisting with a revision of the Bible in his own language, and consultant checking from time to time for various translation projects. Korry has finished with his commitment to teach at the Bible school and the revision of the Bible in his own language is completed so he has had more time available. He has been telling me for some time that he would really like to be more involved in consultant checking and also do more Biblical studies. For a number of reasons, I wasn’t sure if there was much of a chance of either of those happening, but in just the last two months God has been opening doors so that both now seem possible. There is a lot that needs to be done in the coming months to make these things a reality, and I am responsible to do quite a bit of that work. So, I would appreciate your prayers that I will have success in completing the work that will enable Korry to become more involved in the work of Bible translation here in PNG. That will be cause for celebration!

Korry (top left) checking with the Fore translation team

Vaccine!

Several weeks ago, out of the blue, the clinic here on our missionary center informed us that they had obtained COVID vaccines and that we could get vaccinated if we wanted! And we did! We are so grateful that we are now more protected.

Trip to the U.S.!

As you all know, our Joey is getting married to Moriah Cassano on September 18th in Mt. Pleasant, SC. We recently purchased our tickets and are set to leave PNG on July 29th. We are giving ourselves a little extra time in case we are delayed due to a positive COVID test. To explain, we are required to take one test before we leave our missionary center, and another before we depart from PNG. There have already been two missionary families who have had positive results on the last test and had to quarantine for ten days.

I will also be having meetings with the Seed Co. Pacific Area Team in the middle of August, so we’re grateful that the timing works out for that.

Me with the Pacific Area Team in 2019

Work Completed!

We have had a productive last month here in PNG. I have been continuing to prepare for two consultant checks and will be doing the checks when we return from the States at the end of September. Brena has been keeping busy doing Cafes, a Village Ladies Tea, and hair cutting in spite of the COVID restrictions.

Village Ladies at the latest Tea

Baked Items that Brena and her team prepared for one of the recent Cafes

PRAISE & PRAYER:

• We are so thankful that a COVID vaccination was available for us to get, especially before our international travel.
• Please pray for us in this final month before we leave; that we will stay healthy and get a lot of work done. Pray too that we won’t be delayed when we are ready to leave for the U.S.
• We are thanking God that Grant’s new engineering job up in Virginia is going well, that Sara has started her residency program, and that they are getting settled in their new place of residence.
• We are grateful that it is looking positive for Korry Reuben to become more involved in Bible translation work and ask you to pray that I will be able to complete all the work so it can happen.
• Continue to pray for Joey and Moriah as they prepare for their wedding and marriage. We are so thankful that God brought the two of them together.

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)

Since our last update in March there has been some not-so-great news regarding COVID in Papua New Guinea, but some good news regarding our kids.

COVID

It seems that COVID in Papua New Guinea is about a year behind COVID in the U.S. In the past two months the cases have risen rapidly in PNG – and there have even been a few positive cases here on our center (thankfully, none of them severe). Since vaccines aren’t yet available to the general public and health care here is very limited, we have been taking more precautions lately (which you all know isn’t fun). Up until a few weeks ago, the clinic here didn’t have any tests and people had to isolate whenever they felt sick (along with people they had been in close contact). Thankfully the clinic has tests now, so it has made life less stressful. That being said we would appreciate your prayers!

COVID is unfortunately affecting the work of Bible translation. Most travel between provinces is banned by the government so people from different languages that John works with aren’t able to travel to Ukarumpa. He has been preparing checks on the book of Luke for two different language groups and one of them has been postponed. The other one is scheduled for July, but we don’t know yet if it will go ahead or not.

I (Brena) am continuing with my Cafes, Teas, and hair cutting but with COVID protocols. Pray that I’ll be able to continue.

KIDS

A recent picture of the kids at Luke’s 20^th party (left to right: Moriah, Joey, Luke, Sara, Grant)

GRANT AND SARA: We are very proud of Sara for finishing pharmacy school and becoming a Doctor! Because she would like to eventually work in a hospital, she applied for a residency program and was accepted by University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, VA. She and Grant plan to move there the beginning of June. Grant was also offered a mechanical engineering job there and he starts in mid-June, which is a big answer to prayer. Please pray for them as they adjust to their new surroundings and jobs. Pray that they would be able to find a good church and Christian friends.

JOEY AND MORIAH: Joey’s fiancé, Moriah, recently returned to the States from her 1 ½ years in Turkey and she and Joey are enjoying living in the same city (Charleston) and not having to communicate virtually anymore. Moriah is applying for a job at a church and Joey is finishing his bachelor’s degree online and washing windows part time. They are still planning a September 18th wedding, so please pray for them as they prepare for married life. We are so thrilled to be getting another wonderful daughter-in-law! We hope to return for the wedding, so please pray that in spite of all the unknowns related to COVID, we will make it back.

LUKE: Luke just turned 20! Time flies. He and Joey have been living with John’s brother and his wife but they will move into Grant and Sara’s apartment when they leave for Virginia. Luke is continuing to wash windows, make music (@kalawaymusic), surf, motorbike, longboard, and jump off bridges! (it’s nice to know after the fact what he’s been up to :) ). Pray for Luke that God will continue to lead and direct him.

PRAISE & PRAYER:

• We’re very thankful for continued good health even with the increase in COVID. Please pray that translation work (and my Staff Care work) would continue to go ahead here in PNG, that we would have wisdom in our interactions here, and that God would keep the doors open for us to return for Joey and Moriah’s wedding.
• Praise God that Sara was offered a residency program and Grant a job up in VA. Pray for them as they move up to a new city and that God would provide a wonderful church and friends for them.
• We’re thrilled that Joey and Moriah are living in the same city now. Please pray for them as they prepare for their wedding and marriage and that Moriah would find a job.
• And pray for God to continue to direct Luke as he decides on work/school/career. We are so thankful that God has provided housing and good church and friends for him thus far.

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)

 

 

 

The last couple of months provided lots of opportunities for Brena and I (John) to be busy in our respective jobs. Things were operating pretty much normally here at Ukarumpa so translation work was able to go ahead as well as the cafés and coffee houses that Brena does. Unfortunately, there has been a large increase in the number of COVID cases throughout Papua New Guinea recently, and we now face restrictions that will make work more difficult for both of us (like a limit on the number of people who can gather indoors and no travel between provinces). We would appreciate your prayers that we would trust God each day and remember that he is faithful and sovereign over our lives. Here are a few highlights of our last two months.

Wampar Training

Five of the interns that I work with are translators for the Wampar language translation project. They are a talented group and dedicated to getting the Bible translated into their language. For two weeks in February, I had the pleasure of teaching them how to use the more advanced features of the specialized translation software (Paratext) that is used by translators. Besides enjoying interacting with them in class, it was an encouragement to me to hear their testimonies (in our devotions each morning) of how God brought them to faith and then led them to be involved in the work of translation.

The Wampar language translators at the completion of the Paratext (specialized translation) training.

It was encouraging to hear Jack Kase’s testimony of how God brought him from darkness into a relationship with Him.

Migabac Consultant Check

The McEvoy family, whom we have known since coming to PNG, are currently in the U.S. after having finished the New Testament in the Migabac language. There is a relatively new Migabac translator, Karis, who is working on the Old Testament and as part of his training he needed to have 11 chapters of Genesis consultant checked. I spent three days doing the check and it was a pleasure to work with and get to know Karis and the two other Migabac men (Cromwells and Leune) who helped with the check by answering my questions.

It was fun working with and getting to know the Migabac translation team (Karis, Cromwells, and Leune).

House Guests

Matt and Liz Gentry have been managing a Wycliffe center on the island of New Ireland in PNG. We have known Matt for many years as he grew up in Solomon Islands. Liz and their two kids Lucy (age 7) and Tasman (age 5) needed to come to Ukarumpa for a couple of weeks and are staying with us. It has been fun to have them and they brighten our days!

Our house guests for a couple of weeks: Liz, Lucy and Tasman Gentry.

Cafes/Coffee Houses

Brena has been doing cafes on most Saturday afternoons and then night-time coffee houses about once a month since mid-January. I enjoy going by and seeing how many people are enjoying the time to get to together and have a cup of coffee and special dessert. There are usually lots of people who go, and one of the cafes had over 100! I’m thankful Brena has a job she enjoys and is obviously gifted for.

The Wampar translators enjoyed going to a Saturday Cafe and eating some desserts they had never tried before.

Family News

We just heard this past week that our daughter-in-law Sara (Grant’s wife), was accepted for a pharmacy residency program at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, Virginia. We are proud of Sara and excited for her and Grant as they begin this new chapter in their lives. They will be moving to Charlottesville in the next month and Grant will likely be looking for a new job there.

PRAISE:

• that we have been able to have a time of productivity in our respective jobs
• that we have continued to have good health
• that Sara was accepted into a pharmacy residency program at UVA Health

PRAY:

• that God will protect us and others here at the mission center in PNG from COVID-19 as medical care is very limited
• that translation work will be able to continue here in PNG even with the rise of COVID cases
• that Grant and Sara will be able to find suitable housing and work (for Grant) as they move to Charlottesville Virginia

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)

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)

Merry Christmas from Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea! We are so thankful that God allowed us to return to our work here and that you have been a part of that through your prayers and gifts.

Thankful that we found our 27 years worth of Christmas ornaments that we thought we had lost when we went to the U.S.! Unbeknownst to us they were sitting right here in our storage!

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)