WORKSHOP: In our last update, Brena and I were in Wewak, PNG where I was helping with consultant checking for an Oral Bible Translation workshop. Brena was able to be there for two out of the three weeks, so it was nice to not have to be separated for the entire time! There were over 30 people from three languages attending the workshop and I was responsible for checking the 17 Scripture passages that the One (Oh-nay) team produced. It was my first time in almost twenty years of consultant checking to check oral translation and it took me a while to adjust. But when I got the hang of it, it was a really good experience and I was impressed with the quality of the Scripture passages the One team recorded. During the course of the workshop, it was evident that the participants really want to grow in their faith and the Scriptures they recorded were chosen because they addressed issues that their communities struggle with (fighting, sorcery, sickness, etc.). Pray that the participants will have opportunities to share the Scriptures they recorded and explain to people how God can help them in their lives.

Below you can watch a 38 second clip of Colin Anisi, of the of the One speakers, recording a story. He’s very gifted in recording stories and enjoys it!

CAFES: I (Brena) have been able to put on two cafés since returning from Wewak. One was a special one for married couples to enjoy a night out for Valentine’s Day. My Staff Care colleague and friend Max Voss and I hosted 45 couples in two sittings with music and candlelight.

The construction department recently added another covered area in back of the Staff Care building, and just in time for the Valentine’s Café! This allowed for more couples to sit outside and stay dry if it rained.

Max and I baked 13 different desserts and if the couples had a hard time choosing, they could order a “Splurge” platter and try 4 different kinds!

Max (3^rd from left) and I were thankful for the ladies and men (our husbands) who helped with serving, washing dishes, and cleaning up the night of the café.

PRAISE & PRAYER:

• Praise God that John and the team he worked with all remained healthy during the workshop! Thank God that I was able to go with him.

• Pray that the participants from the OBT workshop will have opportunities to share the Scriptures they recorded and explain to people how God can help them in their lives.

• Next week there are 5 interns (preparing to be translation consultants) who are coming to Ukarumpa for two weeks for John to teach them. Please pray that they will stay healthy while they are here and that their time will be profitable. There are numerous cases of COVID on center now and John just had it as well.

• I have two cafés and a dinner for ladies who work in villages coming up next month and would appreciate prayer for strength and that those who attend would be encouraged.

TO BE IN TOUCH:

john_bruner@sil.org

PO Box 1 (134), Ukarumpa EHP 444, Papua New Guinea (OR send to: c/o Andrews, 4807 Ruidoso Dr., Arlington, TX 76017 because of COVID delays in airmail)

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 (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)

Right now, John and I are in the coastal town of Wewak, PNG. John is one of three consultants doing the checking for an Oral Bible Translation (OBT) workshop. All the translation work is done by audio recording, so it is a new process for John to learn. I was able to come with him this time (a rare treat!) and am fondly reliving our years in the Solomons (minus the heat :/), since Wewak is very similar to Honiara. Please pray for the checking that God would give wisdom & good health to John and the men he’s working with. We will update you on how it all went in a few weeks.

The participants at the workshop are from three language groups

John is checking for the One (oh-nay) language group

EMAIL & OVERSEAS/STATESIDE ADDRESSES:

john_bruner@sil.org – PO Box 1 (134), Ukarumpa EHP 444, Papua New Guinea (Or send to: c/o Andrews, 4807 Ruidoso Dr., Arlington, TX 76017 because of COVID delays in airmail)

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 (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 newsletter summarizing this past year of 2021.

We are thankful for your friendship, prayers, and financial support. Hope you have a special and happy Christmas, remembering Jesus, our Savior and friend.

EMAIL & OVERSEAS ADDRESSES:

john_bruner@sil.org – 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 (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)

I RETURNED TO UKARUMPA (and Brena) on Nov 19^th after spending 2 weeks in Ubuo village in Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea, where I did the consultant check of Luke for the Kope language. I can’t say I was looking forward to the trip beforehand – I knew it is in a river delta area that is very hot and swampy. Thankfully it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had made it out to be in my mind, and the checking of Luke turned out to be a very encouraging experience. I’ll use pictures to tell about my trip there:

After a 35-minute ride in a small plane, and then just over 2 hours in a 30HP motorboat through tidal rivers which serve as the roads in Gulf Province we arrived at Ubuo, a village of around 500 people.

You can see when we arrived the tide was out (bottom left). The picture beside it was taken at the same place at high tide!

I realized that I had not lived in a village for over 10 years! It brought back so many memories – most of them good: cute kids, kids playing games, dugout canoes, using an outhouse (wiping maggots off the toilet seat was a new one for me!), bucket showers, roosters crowing, people sitting around and talking for hours and hours.

The only place in the village where you can get a phone signal is here by the river. I was so thankful for this spot as I was able to talk with Brena for an hour every afternoon!

A translation project in the Kope language had been started in the mid-1980s but for a number of reasons it stopped around 1990. About 6 or 7 years ago Hanna Schulz was looking at various language groups to work with and felt God leading her to work with the Kope. She has a great team of people to work with and it is exciting to see them making progress on the translation. I was very impressed with Hanna’s dedication to the work and her willingness to work alone in the Kope project. I was also impressed that she drives her boat on the rivers!

Tompkin Aumari is the Paramount Chief of half of the Kope villages and the translation project coordinator. He has been working for many years to get the translation work going in Kope and he is a very gifted individual. When I told him that I was surprised to see there were not many people in church he told me that he had said to a church leader, “You will have more Kope Christians when there is a translation in the Kope language.”

I stayed in this translation building which was built by the construction department at our mission center at Ukarumpa. It was great to have such a nice building with lights, fans and enough power for a hot water kettle!

Every day we had between 10 and 20 people come for the consultant check. About half were part of the translation team and half were others who came to answer the comprehension questions I asked.

Pastor Mark came from a different village to help with the checking. He was such a sweet man and I enjoyed getting to know him. It was a bit of a shock to find out that he had lost his wife to a crocodile attack – something that happens once or twice a year in the area!

It was clear to me as we did the check that the Kope people don’t understand the Bible very well (not surprising since they don’t have it in a language they understand well). That made it really encouraging to see people’s expressions as a section was being read. A number of times I would see their faces light up as they understood the meaning. After reading the sections where the Pharisees and teachers of the law kept trying to trap Jesus, but Jesus keeps outwitting them, Sandra (above middle) said, “Wow, Jesus sure has tricky talk!“ Another time, someone said, “Hearing this in our own language is frightening (convicting).”

After the section where Jesus says that only the sign of Jonah would be given to the people, Elijah, upon understanding that Jesus was referring to his rising from death after 3 days being like Jonah in the belly of the fish for 3 days, just kept shaking his head and clucking his tongue in amazement.

I’m so thankful I had the chance to do the consultant check for the Kope as it once again confirmed to me that the work of translation can have an impact on people’s lives. Thanks so much to all of you, who through your prayers and financial support, make it possible for Brena and me to be involved in this work.

PRAISE & PRAYER:

1. We are thankful that the check of Luke for the Kope language translation was able to be completed and that it went so well. We’re also grateful that Brena’s time in Ukarumpa while I was gone went well and that we were able to communicate daily.

2. Please pray for my scheduled trip mid-January to Wewak PNG (Sepik area) to help with a consultant check of languages doing Oral Bible Translation. Pray that all the arrangements for that trip will go well and that Brena will be able to go with me for 2 of the 3 weeks.

3. After a big surge in COVID-19 cases in PNG in September and October, it has died down recently so life seems almost back to normal. Brena has been able to resume her Staff Care work and socializing with colleagues has been a little easier.

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)

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)