I, JOHN, RECENTLY RETURNED from a ten day trip to the Solomon Islands where I taught nine people from four different translation projects how to use Paratext, the software program developed especially for Bible translation. I taught the workshop at a Bible school called Islands Bible Ministries (IBM) which has recently partnered with Seed Co. to start three translation projects. I have known the founder of the school, Dr. Alphaeus Zobule, since 1995 when Brena and I were studying linguistics and translation with him and his wife, Sanny, in Dallas, Texas.

Dr. Zobule and I in Honiara, Solomon Islands a couple of weeks ago

And us, back in 1995

Alphaeus and Sanny later returned to Solomons and Alphaeus completed the New Testament translation into his own language, Ranonga. They then went back to the U.S. and Alphaeus got his PhD in Old Testament studies. When he returned to Solomons he saw that there was a big need for Biblical training so he started IBM. And because he has seen the value of Bible translation he has incorporated that into his school. Since we have known each other for so long I was thrilled when Alphaeus asked if I would come teach Paratext. The participants had all taken a basic computing course so two week material I took, we managed to cover in just over four days! During the next year, the participants will begin using Paratext to do translation work and I plan to go back next January and teach them how to use the more advanced features of Paratext.

Fataleka N.T. Update

We just received an email letting us know that typesetting of the Fataleka New Testament has been completed and is ready for printing! 2000 copies will be printed in Korea and they should arrive in Solomon Islands sometime mid year. No date has yet been set for the dedication but Brena and I are both planning to attend. The audio recording of the New Testament is currently being finished up so it is looking like it will also be available at the time of the dedication. We are thankful for the good news. If you’d like to hear a bit of the audio recording, go to our Facebook page, Brena N John Bruner, and see a recent post.

Thank you for your prayers and financial report that allow us to continue helping with Bible translation!

TO BE IN TOUCH:

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

Grant Bruner, PO Box 2159, John Brown University, Siloam Springs, AR 72761 – brunerg@jbu.edu

Joey Bruner, ETBU Box 6-331, One Marshall Drive, Marshall, TX 75670 – joseph_bruner@etbu.edu

TO GIVE ONLINE:

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

TO GIVE BY MAIL:

send gifts to:
Wycliffe Bible Translators
P.O. 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)

 

 

 

Whew! It’s done. Hopefully not something we have to repeat for a long time to come. We’re now at lot C1, one of the first homes built in Ukarumpa – back in the early 1960s. Thank you for your prayers!!

When I (Brena) think of all the things I like about the house, I realize what a gift God gave us. It’s centrally located, private, has a beautiful view, quiet, large living/dining area (perfect for having people over), a bedroom with lots of windows and even a nook where a comfy chair sits, homey window seats, and a big nice kitchen. There are still a multitude of projects that John would like to do to make the house a bit more livable; cover over the back stairs so that the rain doesn’t blow under the door, enclosing the basement so rats can’t get in, etc., etc., but we’re in, curtains are hung, and things are put away. (photos below)

Luke is back in school and also playing basketball this term. I will start up again with Cafes and Teas the end of this month, and John is back in his cubicle working on translation. He’s been finishing the typesetting of the Fataleka New Testament and preparing for a consultant check which he will do as soon as he gets back from the Solomon Islands. That’s right, John is leaving tomorrow for a 10-day trip (short one this time – woo hoo!) to teach a group of Solomon Island translators how to use some specialized translation software. Please pray for safety and good health for all us.

Thank YOU for the part you play in us being here. We’re grateful that we can be a small piece of what God is doing here in PNG and the Solomons, and we can only be here because of your prayers and support. Thank you.

many wonderful friends helped with cleaning, painting, and providing meals

how many guys does it take to cart away a piano??

Luke helping to clean out the basement (aka ‘the dungeon’)

I love our big living room with the window seats and beautiful view

a remodeled kitchen! how blessed can I be when I spend so much time here!

our bedroom nook – it’s the little things that make me happy

John replacing the back stairs which are rotting. I’m so thankful I have a husband that enjoys (and is very good at) house repairs!!

TO BE IN TOUCH:

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

Grant Bruner, PO Box 2159, John Brown University, Siloam Springs, AR 72761 – brunerg@jbu.edu

Joey Bruner, ETBU Box 6-331, One Marshall Drive, Marshall, TX 75670 – joseph_bruner@etbu.edu

TO GIVE ONLINE:

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

TO GIVE BY MAIL:

send gifts to:
Wycliffe Bible Translators
P.O. 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 PNG!

We had a quiet and low-key Christmas day here, just the 3 of us. It was a nice reprieve from the busyness of the past two weeks as we have been getting our new house ready to move into (cleaning and painting). This week we will move our stuff over and then clean the house we’ve been renting, in preparation for another family to move into on January 3rd. Moving doesn’t get easier as you get older, and to be honest, these last couple weeks have not been easy. We could use your prayers for the coming week and then the month of settling into our new place.

In spite of the difficulties, we have MUCH to be thankful for this Christmas:

• A God who loves us unconditionally, has taken away our sins, and gives us the hope of eternal life with Him someday,
• Good health and the ability to keep working overseas, doing work we enjoy,
• Grant and Joey doing well in America and enjoying the holidays with family and friends
• The Fataleka NT being typeset and soon to go to the printers,
• Wonderful friends here in PNG,
• And our very own house!!!

Thanks for being a part of our 2016 year through your friendship, prayers, financial gifts, and letters. We appreciate you.

TO BE IN TOUCH:

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

Grant Bruner, PO Box 2159, John Brown University, Siloam Springs, AR 72761 – brunerg@jbu.edu

Joey Bruner, ETBU Box 6-331, One Marshall Drive, Marshall, TX 75670 – joseph_bruner@etbu.edu

TO GIVE ONLINE:

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

TO GIVE BY MAIL:

send gifts to:
Wycliffe Bible Translators
P.O. 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)

We are so happy and excited to announce that we’re officially HOME OWNERS!!! Yes, you read that right. The “forever renting and moving” Bruners now own a house here at Ukaumpa! It’s the “submarine house” (notice the round window in the door) and has been owned by many different missionary families over the years. Now it’s unbelievably ours! As we have never lived for more than two years in one house since we got married, I (Brena) was beginning to think we would never have a house of our own.

So here’s the story behind the purchase.

In August we had no intention of buying a house. We figured we’d move once a year until we head back to the States for furlough. Once a year is better than 3 or 4 times a year like we used to do in the Solomon Islands.

But then…the Director announced to the community that because there has been a large influx of missionary families coming to Ukarumpa (a good thing), it would mean that people renting houses would likely have to move every 3 to 6 months.

When John and I heard that we thought, “How can we do that for the remainder of our term here – 2 ½ more years?!” Moving even once a year has been getting more and more difficult for us, so we were feeling quite discouraged.

But then…a house came up for sale that was very cheap and that we could buy without going into debt. We also liked the fact it is in a great location (close to the school, store, clinic, tennis courts), has a nice remodeled kitchen, and should hopefully be easy to sell when we leave. So we put a bid on it. It was a blind bid so it would go to the highest bidder.

We honestly thought we wouldn’t get it.

But then…two days before we left for the States in late October we heard we got it!! What great timing! I hurriedly measured all the windows in the house so that I could buy fabric in the States for curtains.

So we plan to move to our new house during the Christmas break. We are thinking of painting a few rooms first as it’s an old house and could use freshening up. Then we can settle in and not have to think about moving again until June 2019 when Luke graduates and we head back to the States for furlough. I can even put nails in the wall and not worry about ruining other people’s things. Wow. What a wonderful Christmas present!! Thank you, Jesus!!

TO BE IN TOUCH:

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

Grant Bruner, PO Box 2159, John Brown University, Siloam Springs, AR 72761 – brunerg@jbu.edu

Joey Bruner, ETBU Box 6-331, One Marshall Drive, Marshall, TX 75670 – joseph_bruner@etbu.edu

TO GIVE ONLINE:

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

TO GIVE BY MAIL:

send gifts to:
Wycliffe Bible Translators
P.O. 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)

At this very moment, the audio recording of the Fataleka NT is being done in a village in the West Fataleka area on the island of Malaita in the Solomon Islands. They hope to have it finished by Dec. 2. This is a recent request from Oliver and Robert Mark, two of the recorders:

“Robert and I are doing ok with the recording, the speakers are getting there with their parts, and hopefully they will all finish by the 2nd of December. It’s rainy season now so please pray for good weather because we’ve noticed from other recorded lines we took, we heard the rain in the background.”

Thank you for praying for this important recording as it will reach people who aren’t able to read the NT.

TO BE IN TOUCH:

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

Grant Bruner, PO Box 2159, John Brown University, Siloam Springs, AR 72761 – brunerg@jbu.edu

Joey Bruner, ETBU Box 6-331, One Marshall Drive, Marshall, TX 75670 – joseph_bruner@etbu.edu

TO GIVE ONLINE:

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

TO GIVE BY MAIL:

send gifts to:
Wycliffe Bible Translators
P.O. 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)

John and I just returned from our 3 week trip to the States. It feels good to be back “home” and back with Luke. Our time in the States was fun but really busy. Here’s our time in a nutshell….thanks for praying!!

TWO DAYS in Brisbane, Australia – just John and I together; eating out, walking, watching movies

a tad bit of excitement for Gelato!

FOUR DAYS in California – with the Peters side of the family; eating at the famous Pantry, birthday party for several of us, jet lag, I share in our home church’s SS class after John leaves for meetings

the morning  we arrive – at The Pantry with my  parents

enjoying time with my step-brother and family

coffee and conversation with my wonderful Daddy

FOUR DAYS in Arlington, TX – John in Seed Co. meetings and me with my sister and family; shopping, shopping, shopping for things we need and can’t get here, playing with my little grandnephew, seeing Joey and Amaechi, celebrating John and little Patrick’s birthday (they fall on the same day), shopping  for Joey

Joey and Amaechi!

Shopping is only fun with those I’m with…my sister, niece, and grand nephew!

on Nov. 6 Patrick and John were born (Patrick didn’t want to do the hat-thing) :)

my dear sister (an expert in sewing) helping me cut out curtain fabric

FOUR DAYS with Joey and Grant – driving up to their schools, touring their campuses and meeting their friends – including Grant’s lovely new girlfriend

Joey in front of his East Texas Baptist Univ. Soccer Team locker

Got a great tour of Grant’s Engineering building and classrooms at John Brown University in Arkansas

Catching up and eating out –  :)

FOUR DAYS in Florida – with the Bruner side of the family; celebrating my mother-in-law’s 80^th birthday with about a 1/3 of the family, eating, playing golf, talking, laughing

John with his brothers and parents

the Bruners that were able to celebrate the lovely Dorothy Bruner

TWO DAYS traveling – from the east coast to the west coast and then to Australia and finally to PNG – all in one fell swoop!

Great fun to see our good friends, the Burtons, at LAX during our 3 hour layover!

Well,  hope I won’t be traveling again any time soon. It was a blessing to go, but so good to be back. Luke had a good but very busy time while we were gone. He also survived an accident on a 3-wheel cart (with no brakes). He had some stitches and abrasions, but thankfully nothing worse than that!!!

PLEASE PRAY:

• That this sore throat I’ve had for 2 weeks will go away soon
• For John as he starts work with a Papua New Guinean translation team on Monday

TO BE IN TOUCH:

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

Grant Bruner, PO Box 2159, John Brown University, Siloam Springs, AR 72761 – brunerg@jbu.edu

Joey Bruner, ETBU Box 6-331, One Marshall Drive, Marshall, TX 75670 – joseph_bruner@etbu.edu

TO GIVE ONLINE:

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

TO GIVE BY MAIL:

send gifts to:
Wycliffe Bible Translators
P.O. 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)

There’s just a tad bit of excitement around this house because, I (Brena) get to accompany John on his trip to the States for Seed Co. meetings tomorrow!! Thankfully I don’t have to attend the meetings J. I just get to spend time with family members AND my two dear college boys, Grant and Joey. I feel so very blessed. Besides seeing family, I’m really looking forward to having a break from cooking and enjoying all the treats that aren’t available here. I feel pretty ready for a little break/vacation.

Luke will be spending the 3 weeks with his friend, Joel, and he is looking forward to that! He recently had a two-week school break and enjoyed going on motorbike rides with his friends. He is now back in school and playing soccer this term.

John just finished doing a consultant check for two different language groups from a coastal area of PNG. One group is just in the beginning stages of their translation project and for their assignment in a Translation Training Course they had to translate 5 chapters of Joshua and then have it checked. The other group has been working for a number of years and John checked 4 chapters of the gospel of Mark for them. Both of these groups are getting financial help from The Seed Company, so John was happy he could help out.

Please pray that God will keep us all healthy and safe during these weeks. Pray especially for me as I have been feeling under the weather lately. I would really like to be feeling good on the trip.

TO BE IN TOUCH:

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

Grant Bruner, PO Box 2159, John Brown University, Siloam Springs, AR 72761 – brunerg@jbu.edu

Joey Bruner, ETBU Box 6-331, One Marshall Drive, Marshall, TX 75670 – joseph_bruner@etbu.edu

TO GIVE ONLINE:

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

TO GIVE BY MAIL:

send gifts to:
Wycliffe Bible Translators
P.O. 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) received the sad news yesterday that Joseph Gofi, one of the members of the Fataleka translation team, passed away a couple days ago. Evidently Joseph had gone to the hospital about two weeks ago because of a problem with his heart, but he was told they couldn’t do anything for him and they sent him back to his village where he died.

It makes me sad that I won’t see Joseph at the dedication of the Fataleka New Testament next year, as he was really excited that we had finished all our work and the NT was in the typesetting process. I am, however, very thankful that Joseph was able to be on our team for the last 5 years. He was dedicated to seeing the Fataleka NT finished and commented often that he was so glad that finally the Fataleka people would have a Bible they could understand.

Joseph had arthritis in his knees and while he had to miss one of our checking sessions because he had fallen and was unable to walk, he was at all our other sessions even though it was evident that it was painful for him to walk. Last year I was asking the men what time suited them for our next checking session and Joseph said, “John, you are the one who has a busy schedule. This checking is the most important thing we have all year, so whatever time you set is fine with us.”

So while I will really miss seeing Joseph next year, it will give me joy knowing that what he saw as so important will be in the hands of the Fataleka people.

Joseph, far left

TO BE IN TOUCH:

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

Grant Bruner, PO Box 2159, John Brown University, Siloam Springs, AR 72761 – brunerg@jbu.edu

Joey Bruner, ETBU Box 6-331, One Marshall Drive, Marshall, TX 75670 – joseph_bruner@etbu.edu

TO GIVE ONLINE:

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

TO GIVE BY MAIL:

send gifts to:
Wycliffe Bible Translators
P.O. 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)

Hello from PNG! Please click on the link below  to read our latest newsletter. Some of it may be familiar if you have been reading our updates, but there are also some new things. 4 pages, a lot of pictures. And please continue to keep us in your prayers. Thanks!

bruner-sept-2016

John is back from his three week trip to the States! Thanks for your prayers for his time there. This is how God answered prayer and what was accomplished…

• He attended three days of Seed Co. meetings discussing work in the Pacific.
• He was able to spend some time with two of his brothers and their wives, my (Brena) sister and brother-in-law,  two nieces, and his little great-nephew! He was also able to see two friends of Joey and Grant from school here in PNG who are in the U.S. now.
• He got Joey moved into his dorm at East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) and met his soccer coaches.
• He met up with Grant and drove him to his school (John Brown University) to start his third year of college, stopping first at Joey’s school so that Grant could see him and ETBU. (*their contact information is below)
• He shopped for things we need here.
• And he met with the typesetter for the Fataleka NT (yes, God provided a typesetter)!!

Please continue to pray for Joey as he adjusts to this new school where he doesn’t know anyone. We’re thankful that he is on the soccer team, which gives him a ready-made group of guys to hang out with and a coach that desires God to be glorified in their playing. Most of all, we’re thankful that God is there with Joey.

Joey (center) with his soccer team

Joey enjoyed showing his school to his Ukarumpa friend, Amaechi

Thank you for praying for my time here in Ukarumpa with Luke. My OCD didn’t bother me too much, I put on a Village Ladies Tea, and I was able to keep busy practicing with six other ladies for the community play which was performed this past weekend, a DAY after John returned!!! :) It was GREAT fun for me to act again in a real play (should I say more than 30 years after my high school drama days?!) A dream come true. It was a lot of work, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I played a 25 year old hairdresser named Annelle. Maybe you can guess the play? (because of play write laws we are not allowed to name the play on the internet.)

Village Ladies’ Tea on our back patio

Luke has been busy with school, band, friends, and volleyball. It was fun for me to watch him play several games while John was gone. He recently took a trip down to Lae with friends and had a great time. Thank you for continuing to pray for him and us as we parent him.

Luke on his recent trip to the coast

TO BE IN TOUCH:

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

Grant Bruner, PO Box 2159, John Brown University, Siloam Springs, AR 72761 – brunerg@jbu.edu

Joey Bruner, ETBU Box 6-331, One Marshall Drive, Marshall, TX 75670 – joseph_bruner@etbu.edu

TO GIVE ONLINE:

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

TO GIVE BY MAIL:

send gifts to:
Wycliffe Bible Translators
P.O. 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)