Dear Friends,

One of the earliest books that I remember as a child was called "Caps For Sale", where a cap salesman has a run-in with a troop of monkeys. One of the illustrations that sticks in my mind is of the cap salesman sitting under a tree, balancing all of his caps on his head. That image can be a perfect illustration of the life of a missionary! We find ourselves wearing many different hats, some we even feel qualified for! I thought this month was a good time to talk about a few of my 'caps' that I try and keep balanced on my head.

Since last November, I have been serving as Deputy Director for SIM Niger. Essentially, this involves assisting the Director in any way, as we seek to lead our field. Many times, I serve as a sounding board as we work through issues. I also sit on several committees, both in the mission and with our church partners.

The last few months have been especially hectic as we transitioned to a new director after 12 years. Steve Schmidt (center) had been in Niger since the early 90s, and felt the Lord leading them in a new direction. Roger Stoll (left) has many years of experience in Africa, but is relatively new to Niger and to SIM. Much of my role since the end of July has been walking along side Roger, helping him to better understand the history and context of this field.

Another hat I've been wearing for several years is that of Security Officer for SIM Niger. My main responsibilities are communicating with other organizations (missions, NGOs, embassies) about current events, and also communicating security concerns to our mission family across Niger. As our world continues to change, we are also constantly looking at how we need to train our missionaries to help them understand the realities of where we are called to serve. Much of the time, this is a pretty boring job, though it has its moments!

Earlier this year, another missionary approached me about helping him with a group of boys from a local Christian orphanage. Since I have coached softball with other groups through the years, we started teaching them softball and forming a team. At the same time, we try and speak into their lives in a number of ways. For example, in a local tournament last week, they were able to bounce back from a disappointing loss, overcoming their discouragement, and play well through the rest of the weekend.

BIG Praise!
In our last letter we asked prayer for Wanda and Randy Potratz. Well, we are very happy to announce that they got the remainder of their support and are here now.  Bonnie and Wanda have been busy in their literacy classes for the last few months. Randy is busy in the office doing IT stuff. Not having a missionary in that role for a number of years now, he's finding it a bit more of a challenge than he was planning on (a lot of clean-up+ to do). Pray for Randy that the Lord will give him wisdom, understanding and joy!

Prayer Requests

• Pray for Roger, as he continues to get used to the new job
• Pray for Randy and Wanda, as they settle back into life here in Niger
• Pray for Bonnie and Wanda, that they would be good witnesses to the girls they are working with.
• Pray for Jonathan as he balances the many demands on his time.
• Pray for his relationship with these boys from the orphanage and that he can help them to grow closer to God.