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”.)
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).
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 18th 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.
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.
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.
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”.)
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!
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 wanted to give a brief update on what has been happening in our lives since we left Papua New Guinea just over a month ago. What a busy month it has been: Seed Company meetings (John), family gatherings and then Thanksgiving with Grant and Sara, doctor’s appointments and John’s wrist surgery, settling into our temporary home on the Wycliffe center in Dallas, attending the wedding of a former PNG student (and friend of our boys), and buying a car. We are thankful for how smoothly things have gone so far and for the ways God has answered prayer. Honestly though, it has also been a bit overwhelming for us, especially when we think of all the things we still need to do! I (John) was recently encouraged when I read in 1 Peter to, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.” We know that is true and would appreciate your prayers that we will be able to follow that exhortation each day!
We hope this Christmas season is one where you too sense His presence in whatever you are going through.
Please note our NEW email and current mailing address at the bottom of the letter, along with some prayer requests.
Before flying to the States, we enjoyed a few days in the beautiful Blue Mountains, near Sydney, Australia. We were there right when the rhododendron bushes were blooming!
The mobile home we are staying in at the SIL center and the car my brother Bill loaned us
My Seed Company Pacific Team at meetings in Arlington, Texas in mid-November
It was great to see all the people with PNG connections who were at Amaechi and Megan’s wedding, including Joey, Moriah, and Grant.
All 5 of us boys with my parents in Florida. First time we had all been together in many many years!
Enjoying time with Grant’s little family at Thanksgiving in Springfield, Missouri
PRAISE:
Our departure from PNG, while bittersweet, went very smoothly.
We were able to move into a fully furnished mobile home at the SIL/Wycliffe center in Dallas.
My brother loaned us a car until we bought our own.
We have had good times with extended and immediate family.
Joey and Moriah were just accepted as missionaries and plan to go overseas next year.
The surgery on my left wrist was successful (it will be in a cast for up to 3 months).
PRAY:
that God will give us wisdom (and peace) in making a decision about where to live long term.
that we’ll find a good church to get involved in.
for the safe arrival of Grant and Sara’s second child (daughter) due January 6.
for healing of the surgically repaired bone in my left wrist.
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.)
In two days we leave Ukarumpa to start living permanently in America. Because we’re leaving, I was asked recently to speak at a ladies’ gathering here on our mission center about my experience of living overseas. Honestly, I didn’t feel qualified to speak because I know all of my shortcomings and struggles, but then I remembered that it’s not about me, it’s about God and what He’s done for me in spite of my struggles. The following is a story I shared that reminds me of that truth:
It was 1999 and we were preparing for one of our very first trips out to the village in the Solomon Islands. Grant was two and just a couple days before we were to get on the ship to take us to our village, he had a severe asthma attack. We had to take him to the hospital for oxygen and then the next day we went to see a doctor and he prescribed medication. Over the next week and a bit Grant slowly got better but he was still wheezing and not able to breathe normally. We went back to the doctor again, and he told us he thought that Grant was improving enough that it would be alright for us to go out to the village.
We came home and wondered what we should do. Should we keep to our plan and go out to our remote village? Or should we stay in town to make sure Grant was really okay. We decided to go.
On the ship we noticed there was a young European couple. It was highly unusual to see other expats on the ship, so we wondered where they were going. Then, when the ship arrived at our village, they too got off! What?? Come to find out they were visiting the Solomon Islands and while they were in town they met a Bughotu man from our village and had arranged a visit to experience village life. And the amazing thing was they were both doctors! And pediatricians at that! It was like God saying to me, “Brena, I see you. I know what you need and I’ve brought these two people to Sigana just for you. I love you.”
And that was the start of God showing me in more ways than I can count how He was with me. He was with me when we had to go home a few years later because I was really struggling with something I would later learn was OCD. He was with me through the many long (and often boring) days in the village, through the many moves from town to the village and then back, when we came to PNG and had to start over, and when we had to pack up again and live in transition in America for our furlough months. Through my struggles I have come to know deeply how much God loves me. And it isn’t dependent on how much I do or don’t do, or how much I struggle. I don’t have to have it all together. I can just BE and that is enough.
Now that I’m about ready to finish living overseas, there is some sadness, excitement, and also anxiety about the future. But I know without a shadow of a doubt that just as God has been faithful to me all these years overseas, He will also be faithful to me in America.
Here are some pictures of recent “lasts” for me and also some prayer requests at the end. But check out our last newsletter where we shared how John will continue working in Bible Translation and making trips back to the Pacific.
Thank you for your friendship and prayers all of these years!
Brena
The two last cafés
The last time to host friends in our house and Grant when he’s on a work trip!
Just some of the last meals and coffees with friends
PRAISE & PRAYER
We are so thankful that our last weeks of packing up and saying goodbye have gone so smoothly.
We are so grateful to God for allowing our house to sell (especially when there were almost 20 other houses for sale here on our mission center)!
I feel so blessed and privileged to have lived overseas for all these years. I’ve learned and experienced so much and I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.
On our way home to America, John and I will spend four nights in the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney. We’re looking forward to the time to rest after the busyness of leaving PNG and before the busyness of establishing ourselves in the States.
Please pray for us as we settle into our apartment in Dallas, TX, on the SIL (Wycliffe) center. November will be a full month of meetings, visiting, and getting used to things. We are looking forward, though, to spending the holidays with all of our kids.
John has an appointment with a doctor on November 12th to schedule surgery for the broken bone in his wrist. Please pray that God will give the doctor wisdom and also that John won’t further injure his wrist before his appointment.
Please pray that God will show us clearly where we are to settle down and then guide us in buying a house. I am so looking forward to putting down roots and not moving again.
Pray that God will show me what to do with my time in America. I may end up doing something similar to what I’ve been doing here. We’ll see.
Even though John will continue his work with Bible translation and be making several trips a year to the Pacific, pray that God will help him adjust to a different work schedule and setting.
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.)
Because not everyone reads our updates online, this is a general 2-page update being sent by post to everyone on our mailing list. You can read it below in the post or click on the link below the letter to see it larger.
To those of you who keep up with us more regularly, some of this information will be a repeat to what you have heard before.
Thanks for keeping us in your prayers as we head back to the States! We will send out another update before we leave on Nov. 1 about all the bits and pieces of finishing up.
johnandbrena 