January 2017
By Diane Strzelecki
When they first began their work as missionaries in Nigeria, Rev. Dr. Paul Bruns and his wife, Ruby, lived in a village with a Lutheran church and a Lutheran school. But they were troubled by the lack of Lutheran resources available for lay leaders and their people.
“The teachers didn’t really know what it meant to be a Lutheran—they didn’t really know what they were supposed to be teaching and they led the service in English, not Bokyi, their native language,” Bruns says. “It was very sad. It’s one of the things I kept in my heart for all these years.”
You might say the couple’s writing ministry began at that very moment. After working for more than six years to learn the Bokyi language, they worked with other missionaries on literacy materials for the Bokyi people. Later, they developed Lutheran materials to be used in the village’s church and school. Rev. Bruns worked with Eugene Ekpange to write a Bokyi Lutheran Catechism and developed a Bokyi Lutheran Liturgy and Song Book together with Timothy Oduyaya.
Ruby’s work included a Bokyi primer series (six books with stories by Peter Byisong) and several teacher manuals. Rev. Bruns and Ruby also published God’s Plan for Christian Marriage, a book he says was used in Nigeria for Christian life instruction.
Today, Rev. Bruns and Ruby live in Rockford, Illinois, where they attend Redeemer Lutheran Church. Bruns retired from missionary work in 2000, but his heart for immigrants and non-English-speaking people has kept him writing.
Bruns recently published Luke-Acts, the first of a series of commentaries titled The Mission Bible Commentary. He says the purpose of the book is to show how God fulfilled his promises made long ago to provide a Savior, and how men and women gave their lives to bring that good news to others.
Bruns is currently working on the second book in the series: Hebrews-James. Ultimately, he would like to publish commentaries on the entire New Testament.
According to Bruns, his material is unique because it is written specifically for people with non-native English skill.
“In our English-speaking world, there are tons of Christian materials and so many different Bible translations, but I wonder how many people actually use them,” he says. “The level of English in those materials is really only useful for native speakers.”
Bruns writes his materials in Basic English, emulating the principles of the Good News Bible translations. “I try to use short sentences and I avoid passive voice, long words and idioms,” he notes. He says he works carefully to unpack Christian terms that are full of bits and pieces of meaning, such as righteousness.
“The first few years after we came back from Nigeria, I did some preaching, especially in local congregations, but I’m physically not able to do that anymore,” he says. “But I can sit at my computer for as long as I want to and write. It’s the job that God has given me to do now.”
When asked how he would feel if his commentary provided clarity and touched the heart of just one person, he recalls watching native Bokyi speakers pick up and begin to read the Bible in their own language.
“The smiles on their faces were just incredible,” he says. “They had never read God’s Word in their own language before and then to be able to read it for themselves was amazing. It’s that level of joy that I hope to make possible.”
How to Learn More About the Book
The Mission Bible Commentary is available at the following outlets:
In 2015, Bruns published his memoirs titled How Gracious of God! That book is available at the Lutheran Society for Missiology website. “I gave it that title because I was the most surprised person in the world at what God’s grace did through me and my family for 32 years in Nigeria,” Bruns said. “It was he who sent us, equipped us, and enabled us to serve him. My prayer is that my story will motivate others to depend on his grace to do the same.”