Dear Friends,

We will be heading to the US in September for Home Assignment. With our 6^th term in Niger drawing to a close we thought for this letter we would write about highlights of this last term! For fun, see how many of our activities (there are a total of 45 listed) you remember reading about from our letters in the last few years!  

• July – started our 6^th term in Niger. Jonathan joined Director's Council and became the Security Point Person!
• September – Jonathan began to suffer from fatigue and started the long process of diagnosis.
• October – Bonnie began her literacy classes.

2016

• January – Bonnie helped out at Sahel Academy (MK school) in the CAP room (Center for Academic Progress) filling in for a teacher who wasn't able to return right away!
• January – Jonathan went to the States to get checked out!
• February – Jonathan diagnosed with a failing aortic heart valve
• March – Bonnie arrived in the US just hours before Jonathan had open heart surgery.
• May – We were privileged to be present for the birth of Joshua, our 2nd grandson!
• April-November – in the States for Jonathan to recuperate!
• December – returned to Niger (began our 6^th term a second time!)

2017

• March – Hannah, a young college student, came to Niger and joined Bonnie in her literacy work! : )
• April – Bonnie began listening to the radio program, "The Way of Righteousness" with our house girl! (100 programs of 15 minutes each)
• April – Hannah and Bonnie did an Easter program for one of the literacy centers!
• May – Jonathan began mentoring Issa, a young believer in our neighborhood.
• June – Jonathan mentored some young men from our former softball group (Crocs) in their mid twenties now, using the book, Servant Leader! One is a believer, the other two are not yet!
• July – Bonnie organized a good-bye program for some colleagues who were leaving the field!
• August – We took in another boarder. Ben, a 10th grader, came to study at Sahel Academy.
• September – Jonathan joined the board of our local seminary
• November – Jonathan was named Deputy Director for SIM Niger
• December – Romans Project Conference (Jonathan and Issa are two of 14 people who completed the program of reading through the book of Romans 20 times and copying it out by hand once!)  
• December – Christmas service with all the churches in the area at a conference center in town! What a great celebration, albeit very loud (the way they like to do special events here)!

2018

• April – Jonathan began mentoring some boys from a local orphanage through Sports (softball).
• June – in the States for our son Tim's wedding to Gabby Von Moos.
• June – saw our grandsons dedicated to the Lord in their church!
• June – Back in Niger, Jonathan attended a 3-day conference on the Thompson Chain Reference Bible with 150 local church leaders
• July – Bonnie took a break from literacy to help the Short Term coordinator set up houses for newcomers!
• July – We became temporary foster parents for two young children of missionary colleagues while their mom recovered from emergency abdominal surgery. Thankfully, she is doing much better now!
• August – Wanda Potratz arrived to help Bonnie with literacy.
• September – Literacy classes began: 2 centers (15 students each)
• October – Bonnie & Wanda began doing literacy with wives of students at the local seminary 1 afternoon/week.
• October – Bonnie became assistant to the Regional Outreach director – basically helping to look after other SIM missionaries who are also doing outreach ministries here in the city!
• December – Bonnie and Wanda began tutoring 2 young boys after school who are struggling in their school work!

2019

• January – Wanda & Bonnie helped out at Sahel Academy in the CAP room (See January 2016) for a couple months, after the teacher left for retirement.
• February – Wanda & Bonnie attended a weekend Literacy Retreat!
• February – Jonathan assisted in two security trainings for SIM missionaries
• March – one literacy center closed for the year, freeing W & B up to begin at a new center!
• March – Wanda, Esther (another SIM missionary), and Bonnie did another Easter program at one of the Literacy Centers.
• March – Jonathan and our pastor co-taught a beginning discipleship class with 3 men from a nearby village
• May – Bonnie delivered the message at our local church during Women's Week!
• June – Jonathan began helping out at an evangelistic university student center for the summer.
• June – Jonathan served as Interim Director for 2 months while the Director was away!
• July – Assisted in the baptism of a young man who's been a part of our life for many years! Great to see him mature into the man he is today!
• July – Finished the last radio program (The Way of Righteousness) with our house girl!  Bonnie gave her some other programs to listen to after we go on Home Assignment.
• September – looking forward to attending a wedding in our local church!
• September – Leave Niger for an 8-month Home Assignment

Prayer Requests

• Pray for Bonnie and Wanda, that they would be good witnesses to the girls they are working with.
• Pray for Wanda who will be flying solo in the literacy program this next year
• Pray for Jonathan as he balances the many demands on his time.
• Pray for our the details of our Home Assignment. We will have lots of travel and visits to make.