If penguins are cool ... how come I'm so hot?

Head East

Our trip to ministries east of Niamey in early April went very well. Some of what we did can be seen at my daily (well when I have the time) blog. We were able to deliver and setup 5 new computers to Galmi Hospital, install new antivirus there, work on getting backups to work (still some work there to do that needs to be done), and tried to splice together a network wire that a mouse(?) had been nibbling on. (Didn't work, they'll need to run a new cable :-( )

In Maradi we setup all the machines to be one the same workgroup, and then set up a systematic backup system that will run automatically every 3 hours, only backing up the files that have changed. This makes the backup jobs pretty small after the initial backup, and gives pretty good "realish" time backups. We used Karen's Replicator, a free (VB6 source code downloadable too). It does many of the things I do with xxcopy backup scripts on the command line, but Karen's Replicator has a fairly user friendly GUI. In Maradi also I was able to convert one of the last Pegasus mail holdouts to Thunderbird, which can be a time consuming process. Unfortunately, the other users there are still using Outlook :-( We were also able to rescue one Australian family's computer that they use for home schooling. Got everything straighted out on it, did a full new install of the OS and the applications and installed some web filtering software.

Danja was many little tasks, getting antivirus on a couple of machines and trying to update those without an internet connection manually (we could not get that part to work, and I need to get back to them with a better procedure looking over the network changes they have made since my last visit, and made a couple of network cables for inside of one of the houses. The Danja compound always strikes me as a combination of wide open spaces and stark beauty.

I was also blessed to be able to visit many of Issiakou's family across Niger, from Dogonduchi to Maradi. One of the places we greeted family was a small village where I met many people and had some millet porridge (sort of like watered down oatmeal but made out of the grain we use for bird seed.) Other places, part of the hospitality included baked yams (white, not orange) with a few pieces of beef , rice and sauce, cabbage with a spicy peanut based powder, masa, which are small, not sweet, (pan)cakes made out of millet flour, and other Nigerien foods.

We did have one problem on the way back. We had stopped to look at the progress of a Christian conference center being built near Maradi, and as we were going around the buildings we ran into an old piece of iron and ruined our tire. We changed it with the spare, figuring on getting or borrowing one in Galmi to get us back to Niamey. Unfortunately, Galmi did not have our size tire and we had to go on another 50 km (approx 30 miles) to another larger town to get one.

The experience was a typical Nigerien transaction. Not finding what we wanted right away, we stopped to ask a place that fixes tires (they do not sell them) if they knew where we could find a new one. One of the guys there said sure, and he would show us. He hops in the van and directs us through narrow streets, over piles of refuse, and I am wondering if this is the route you go to see if you can sell 2 tires, not just one!

Finally, we arrive at an intersection, make our need known, and with in 2 minutes we have 4 different vendors trying to sell us 8 different kinds of tires! All of them lauding their particular tires traits. "This one is from Thailand, not China!" boasts one. "Steel Belted!" "Radial!" "Tubeless!" shout others. Eventually, even separated by this almost throng we are able to decide on one. The price is reasonable, and we negotiate adding removal of the old tire and mounting of the new one included in the price. No problem.

The tire gets changed, put back up under in the spare rack, we pay the man and get a receipt. The man who showed us the way to the "tire intersection" wants a little stipend for his part in the escapade. Ok. As we are ready to pull away, the man who actually did the changing of the tire, came up to us to get money for his part, even though we had negotiated that as part of the price with the guy we bought the tire from. Here Issiakou did a very smart thing. Instead of arguing with the man, he took him the the first guy, and told them this is what we negotiated, it is now your issue. Very smart! We got in the van once again and headed back to Galmi.

Before we were half way back, it was dark, and driving after dark in Niger is almost impossible. The road we were driving is a series of potholes interrupted occasionally by just enough smooth road to make you think you can go faster, only to be interrupted by cratered road once again. On this tableau are motos with few, if any rear lights (one with out any lights, front or back), overloaded trucks going very slowly, and dark shadowy donkey carts. Thankfully, the Lord guided us back to Galmi safely, ready to return to Niamey the next day.

All in all a good but exhausting trip. We got most of our tasks done, the Lord blessed us with time to greet many people throughout Niger, and He gave us safe travels in potentially dangerous conditions.

90Days - A daily task blog

We invite you to take a look at Randy's daily task log at http://dustypenguin.blogspot.com

It is an daily log that will help answer the question, "What do you do?"

Friday, March 06, 2009

• 
• Installed battery in two UPS's
• Installed operating system and office suite (and associated service packs) to a computer for the bible school.
• Discussed changes to computer acceptable use policy for the field.
• Got paperwork ready for a stamp for our car.
• Talked to someone about adding some users to the internet system at the bible school.
• Troubleshoot an antivirus update problem
• Read a DVD in Linux and transfered files enclosed to a USB stick ... disk would not read in Microsoft Vista
• Researching a possible automatic (or pretty simple) backup / synchronizing tool to sync XP and Vista laptops connecting to a network
• It looks like the easy answer is Windows offline files feature. However, I have seen it fail before so I am leery!
• Finishing up bible school computer. This entailed the aforementioned operating system and office suite, but also the French language packs for both of those things, the latest service packs for each of those things AND the latest service packs for the language packs!!! God Bless Microsoft (sarcasm).
• Consulted with another missionary on what do do with his now disabled laptop (bad hard drive)
• The evening project today is setting up a couple of decent powered XP machines (They are the old servers that need to be reconfigured to workstations anyway), to play host to a couple of virtual machines for a couple of proof of concept ideas. The first is a beta test we have been invited to participate in of the Ulteo Open Virtual Desktop. The second project has to do with setting up a virtual SME server for a university ministry here for their computer room.

Back in Niger

Dear Friends,

After a emotionally draining 10 days we are back in Niger, truly saddened by having to say good-bye to my sister, but happy to be home. It seemed strange, as we came across the desert in the plane and as I glimpsed down at the barren, reddish earth below, that I felt I was getting closer to "home". After almost 4 years here off and on, I guess Niger has become more of a home than we would have imagined.

Candace's memorial was, as one put it,"The longest funeral I have been at, and the best." It was really a celebration of her life and those she touched while here on earth. It was also an opportunity for the Gospel to be clearly articulated to many people, as bringing others to Jesus was one of her passions. We grieve, not because we have no hope of seeing her again, but because we will miss her laughter and company while we are here.

Please continue to pray for her husband and children, for my dad, for my brothers and sisters, and others who knew her. Thank you.

This will be short and sweet. We will update you on the recent Galmi Hospital trip and other things soon. We just wanted to let our praying friends know that we are back safely and thanking you for you prayers in our travels.

Peace and Grace,

Randy and Wanda

God's plan?

An invitation to pray

Colossians 4:2 - Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

Thursday, December 4th, 2008, a Sahel Academy service team leaves for Galmi with Randy driving, to serve the hospital there. Randy, Christopher and Justin are part of the 9 person team.

There are 2 workgroups in the team. One that Justin is with will be doing cleaning and painting of rooms at the hospital, while Randy, Issiakou (who is traveling independently), and Christopher will be redoing the computer system at the Galmi hospital office.

The timeframe set out to do the computer work is tight, so we would like to invite you to give us a little extra prayer cover for this service trip. To help you in this I will give you an outline of what we think our time will look like so that you can pray more effectively the next few days. ( As a reminder, we are 6 hours ahead eastern time, and 7 hours ahead of central time )

There have been many events in that last 6 weeks we have not updated you on, but that will wait for our return.

Thank you for praying for us!

Thursday Dec 4th (all times approximate)

Traveling to Galmi (8AM-3PM) - Pray that the journey will be safe and that the vehicle is mechanically sound throughout the journey. Pray also for Wanda and Noah while we are gone.

Unpacking \ Orientation \ Setup at Galmi (3PM-5PM) - Pray that we arrive in a timely manner, and that we are not so warn from the trip that we can do some setup.

Data backup preparation (6PM-8PM) - Pray that we can setup a good plan of attack for the next day for both workgroups, the painting group and the computer group

Friday Dec 5th (all times approx.)

Backing Up Data (8am-Noon) - Critical part of the process. Pray that we have captured all the old data to be restored to the new system. Particularly email. The painting workgroup will be organizing and performing odd jobs since they can not start cleaning a prepping the rooms until later in the day.

Unjoining computers from the existing domain (1PM-3PM) - Pray that this process goes smoothly. This should be one of the places we can make up some time if things go well.

Restoring data and rejoining computers to the new network system (4PM-8PM) - Please pray that as we reconstruct the new network that all the data is easily restorable and that the new computer configurations work well. The painting workgroup should be starting the prep and cleaning at the hospital sometime in this timeframe. Pray that they are able to get much work done in that time.

Saturday Dec 6th

Follow up on the reconstruction of the network (8AM-10AM) - This is built in buffer time, misc issues that will crop up and building backup scripts for data to offsite backup. Pray that this time is not filled with little details, but just a couple of things we can deal with effectively. The painting workgroup will begin painting during this time, and continue most of the day. Pray for their safety, good work relationships and ventilation from the fumes!

Workstation confuration and tweaking (10AM-4PM) - There will probably be a working lunch in here. This is potentially the most time consuming, to make sure all the computers work well on the domain, that all the users have access to the applications and data they need. Pray that this process is smooth, and the Lord grants us wisdom as issues arise.

User Education (5PM-8PM?) - There will be inevitable differences between the old system and the new system, despite efforts to make the transition as seemless as possible. Pray that we can effectively convey those differences to key staff members so that everyone can be productive quickly on Monday. The painting workgroup will hopefully be wrapping up during this time period too. Pray that their work has gone well, and spirits are high.

Evening meal (7PM-9PM?) - We will be looking forward to a traditional Hausa meal on Satuday Evening. We ask that this would be a time of reflection on what the Lord brought us here to do and how He accomplished His purposes.

Sunday Dec 7th

Packup / Say good bye (8AM-9AM) - Pray for good teamwork as we prepare to go back to Niamey.

Leave Galmi for Niamey (9AM-4PM) - Please pray for the same things we started the journey with; safety, road conditions, and additionally, alertness for the trip back, as I am sure we will be all quite tired.

Unpacking / decompressing (4PM-5PM) - There is an English language church evening service at 6 PM, pray that we have energy to attend and worship.

SIM Information Technology Consutation

Dear Friends,

This is just a quick note to let you know that I leave for an IT conference at SIM Int'l in Charlotte today.

What's this?

The IT conference will bring together IT people from all over the SIM world, to exchange ideas, and to help each other see what is going on in different parts of the world relating to Information Technology and how it impacts missionaries on the field. Part of the reason for this is, especially in computers and communication, it is not all one world. What may work well in western countries, may not work well, or work at all in other parts of the world. This is a first time thing for SIM and it is exciting to be a part of it.

Unfortunately, the schedule is packed and the time frame in which I am stateside is short, so I will not get to see many of you. After leaving to day from Niger, I arrive late night Friday in Charlotte, and have Saturday off to reorient myself to the US. Sunday I will be going to church with a long time Niger field family, and maybe picking up some things. Sunday night kicks off the conference with a dinner at one of the organisers.

I leave Charlotte again Saturday afternoon, arriving back in Niamey Sunday evening. It looks to be a very busy week. I've joked that when I get back to Niger, I will need a vacation!

For those of you playing along at home concerning our financial partnership levels, the cost of this trip does not come out of our support fund, but is being pulled from SIM funds to make this conference happen.

We'd really love to have you pray with us concerning these things

1 - Travel mercies and safety. Good connections and little stress. Air travel is not a relaxing exercise for me.

2 - Safety and a good time for the family while I am gone. From past experience, Satan delights in having little things go wrong while I am away. Anything from plumbing to cars.

3 - While I am gone, unfortunately I will be missing one of the 2 softball tournaments that go on in West Africa, and they boys are all playing. Additionally, the week I am gone is also an off week at school, so I will doubly miss being at home! Pray that the boys will have a great tournament and Wanda will be safe driving them back and forth to the 2 different locations.

4 - Financially, we have had some very good months, but then August was lower again, and we were a little discouraged. But we just got the numbers for September, and I was so sad I even doubted God a little bit! Thank you being God's vehicle to supply our needs. There will be rough roads ahead, but we must be faithful to Him that is faithful.

Sincerely,

Randy for Wanda Chris Justin and Noah

Technology as Evangelism?

Dear Friends,

On the weekend of August 23 - 24 we were blessed to go to the small town of Makolondi an hour southwest of Niamey. We went to set up 7 computers for the ministry center there run by the missionary couple and volunteer in Makolondi. We went to serve, but I think we all returned taking something more back than we went with.

Makolondi

Our time in Makolondi was one of the most relaxing computer service weekends I have done. We were able to get the 7 computers working, installed learning software on them, and by late afternoon were ready to welcome (mostly) students to the updated computer room. Many of the kids we worked with that afternoon had none to very limited computer experience. In a town that only recently got electricity down the main drag, computers are pretty scarce! We were pretty encouraged how fast the kids caught on to moving the mouse, picking out the letters on the keyboard.

Some might not see the wisdom of such a ministry. What would kids living in the almost bush need with a ministry that has a computer component? There are a few good reasons for this actually.

First, with educational oportunities, these kids don't have to stay in the almost bush. More and more we are seeing that one of the ways of advancement in this very poor country is education. These kids do not want to be left technologically behind, even though they are starting from a huge deficit. The computers are not the end, they are a means of helping these kids educationally.

Secondly, they are finding that there is a whole differant world where their unique abilities and creativities maybe expressed. Technology can open their eyes to a whole new landscape they would otherwise not see!

Thirdly, and most importantly of these three, the availability of technology as part of the ministry center is a draw to those who will also hear the gospel at that ministry center. Here they will hear bible stories in their own language, and see videos of the life of a man named Jesus, who loved them and their country enough to lay down his life for them. And He rose again, because He is also God, the creator of the universe and all the world around them.

On the personal level

Lastly, and at least important to me, was the personal testimony of one of the women at the church on Sunday. She grew up in a Muslim home, but married a Christian man who patiently witnessed to her. During a grievous sickness, while her husband prayed over her, she accepted Christ. She is now the mother to 5 kids, who frequent the ministry center. After telling us her story, she thanked us for taking the time, and showing enough interest in her town to help her children come to know more about Jesus and to have the opportunity to extend their education. This was a great affirmation for me, because I often do not get feedback from the nationals since much of my ministry is not directly to them, but to the missionaries serving them.

Prayer points

1 - Wanda, while playing pitcher the next weekend got hit on the upper arm, and received a nasty bruise that covers most of her upper right arm. It looks somewhat better this weekend, but is still quite painful. Please pray for quick and complete healing.

2 - Pray for a relatively quiet September. Randy has begun some of the server upgrades, and it would be good to be able to concentrate on some of that with few interruptions.

3 - Continued prayer for family unity. Also how to begin to release Chris to fulfill what the Lord has for him as an adult.

4 - October 11-18 Randy will be attending a SIM IT Conference in Charlotte, NC. Pray for safety in travel and wisdom for what and how to present SIM Niger's technical challenges, oportunities and issues.

5 - Sahel still has a critical need of a secondary math teacher. There are 2 people here covering for the short term, but need to return to their ministries, and the young man slated to come still need support to make the trip. Pray for God's provision for this need!

6 - The SIM Niger field is still in dire need of a accounting person. There is a couple coming next week, for almost a month to help, but we could use multiple people in month long roles, or one person who would be willing to commit a year or two. This is a huge need!

7 - The electricity in our campus has been of very low voltage for the last 2 weeks. In fact I am writing this in darkness since there is not enough voltage to start the fluorescent lights in our house. Sahel has purchased a transformer for the power that they feel will help this problem, but there are still governmental / electrical company papers that need to get signed before it can get hooked up and become functional.

8 - Another great thank you for those who have been helping us get caught up financially with support levels. We have not yet received numbers from August, but we will pass them along as they become available.

Sincerely,

Randy Potratz and family

1 Corinthians 1:4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

August 6th Mission Update

What a busy month!

School will be starting soon (Aug 12th) and the Lord has brought most of the Sahel Academy team together. We could still use some help in the secondary grades, and at youth pastor for the school, but we are continually amazed how the Lord provides.

In about a week we will be starting another school year. Let me recap some our summer vacation. It was filled with a variety of activities. We helped move furniture, bookcases, cupboards, books (many to our new media center), desks, chairs, swam, played too many computer games, mowed some African grass (quack grass) and watched some movies.

In addition to the above activities. Chris took an introduction to aviation course through EAA and Utah Valley University and is looking forward to the more advanced and challenging course. He was able to work some at the SIMAIR hanger too. He also hung out with a couple of his classmates. He will know how to get around Niamey better that me (mom).

Justin has been earning some money by watching the new dorm parents 2 children. A side note: Justin changed his first diaper and it was smelly. The little guy laughed at Justin but behaved and gave no more surprises. Justin also spent some time with a friend in digging a tunnel and swimming.

Noah to spent time with some friends and swimming. He really had a laid back summer! Althought the last part of it was hard trying to keep up with the Brett Favre soap opera.

I switched 2 classrooms around with Justin and Noah's help. On July 23 I flew out to Maradi to meet Randy and fly back to Niamey, since it was our 20th wedding anniversary. We were able to go out for dinner when we returned to a place we found pretty nice by Niamey standards.

Randy has been busy at the office and home with computers. He made a trip out to Goure to help the missionaries set up a small computer room in a youth center. After an 8 hour taxi ride from Goure, he ended up making a very short side trip to Danja to look at a network problem before flying home with me before dark.

This past week Randy was able to pick up some computer things from customs that came over 2 months ago for the office. He was very happy about that. He can now proceed with some much needed work at the office. Because of the field's need for a treasurer, even Randy has been doing some treasury work filling in while others are away. Yes, you know it is bad when Randy is covering in treasury!

Back to the present and future. The boys and I (Wanda) will be starting school on the 12th of August. Chris will be a Senior (we don't know where time has gone), Justin a Sophomore and Noah an Eighth grader. I ( Wanda) will be in the first and second grade classroom teaching with one of the teachers who helped start Sahel. At 83 she will be returning to Sahel for the school year! I will have 1 Kindergartener who will join the 1st and 2nd graders. I am not sure what subjects I will teach. it promises to be another exciting year here in Niger, Africa.

Praises:

-Randy's stuff our of customs / exoneration

-A good vacation time

-A young man coming to teach some math and science in the secondary classrooms in September

Prayer:

-A good start to school

-Continued good attitudes

-The SIM Niger field needs someone with accounting skills to be treasurer (Yesterday!), even for a short time.

We also wanted to give a special thank you to people who have responded to our continuing monetary need. We had a very good month in June (the last we have records for as of today,) There is still a considerable amount we need to make up, but we look forward to the Lord's provision. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Wanda Potratz for Randy, Chris, Justin and Noah

Ministering in Niger, West Africa with SIM

June Financial Update

Dear Friends,

When it comes to reporting our financial needs, we hesitate. Money can be a touchy subject. We do not want to offend. We never want to come across as not being grateful for all you have allowed us to do in Niger.

Current Financial Needs

However, since many of you have asked to be updated as financial needs arise, we would like to let you know our current support levels. Probably, there is no better way than to jump right in...

At this point, we are well behind where we should be in our projected support. We have been in Niger for 6 months, or 33% of the time of this current term, but we have received, as of our last statement 30% of the support we need, which does not sound so bad, but the 30% includes the support raised when we were home in the last half of 2007! Our monthly levels have always fluctuated quite a bit since most of our partners are individuals and a few churches, but at this point, we still need $55,000 in gifts to cover the next 12 months! We are not in a panic, because we know, in faith that the Lord can raise up those to cover that shortfall, and even do it on one day if He so desires.

We pray that the Lord would indeed provide those needs so that we can continue to minister to missionaries and Nigeriens through technical and educational support, friendship ministries and discipleship.

Could you be part of that answer to prayer? If you prayerfully feel you could help us help those in Niger, through our ministry, please see below. Perhaps you would consider introducing us to your congregation or Missions director? If you can not contribute financially, we would still covet your prayers for us. We thank the Lord for each of you!

Sincerely,

Randy Potratz for Wanda, Chris, Justin and Noah

Did you know you can now help support our ministry online?

Just go to https://apps.easydraft.com/Payment/SIM/

Other information you will need:

Our Name: Randy and Wanda Potratz

Our SIM Account Number: 65825

Potratz Misson Update May 16 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

Randy has asked me to write this update. The last few updates have been more about the ministries he is involved in and he feels bad about it. So, here goes.

About 3 weeks ago Justin and Noah were in the play "Princess Bride". Noah played the Grandfather and did a nice job. One his teachers said he will make a handsome grandpa some day. Noah continues to have his basketball in his hand and plays when he can. It's Noah's turn to catch up to Mom in height. He should be almost as tall or taller than me when we return home. Noah will also be a much better swimmer before he gets home. They are doing a swimming unit in PE and he is improving, even if he is belly breaking the water on his dives yet. He has a good instructor and he has come a long way considering he could hardly swim before coming to back to Niger. He is truly enjoying being in Africa.

Justin played the character Inigo in the play "Princess Bride". The first night he helped by add libbing while thoughts were gathered during a mix up in the scenes. He even gave some blood for the play. He was cut by some duct tape near his eye during one of the sword play scenes. He is fine. He got a lot of compliments on how well he did. Thanks to having watched old Red Skelton skits, he played a great drunk Inigo.

Justin is asking about how he can live for Jesus each day, and taking his walk with the Lord seriously. He is growing physically as well and every night before devotions he does his push ups. Justin has been swimming also. He is in the stronger swimming group. He loves the challenge. He is not as agile or quite as fearless as some of his classmates but he keeps right up with them.

Chris has been busy with his classmates raising money for their class trip. They sponsored a garage sale and provided a snack bar for intermission during the play. His class wants to travel to the beach in Benin for their class trip. There will be 10 students next year so they are getting a good start. Chris took the SAT last Sat, but is not really sure how he did. This past week he and his classmates have been praying for one of the boys in his class who was hit by truck. The young man was given an emergency passport to Paris to have surgery to reset a broken collar bone and dislocated shoulder. Chris is swimming too but not with as much enthusiasm as his little brothers but is enjoying the fellowship the his classmates. Chris has also been busy gathering information from colleges. He has some "big ideas". Oh, my! How time flies! He was a baby in our arms not that long ago and now he's almost out the door.

The Lord has something very special planned for each our/His boys. I get the privilege for praying for them and watching them grow up both physically and spiritually.

As for me, Wanda, the Lord has blessed me with a part-time position so that I can enjoy what a Mom likes to do, be a Mom. I have been busy with teaching and taking kids to the pool here in Niamey. For the next 4 Mondays the student body has swimming class. I am helping the swimming instructor in the morning and am just a driver for the secondary students in the afternoon. I am glad that I can help with the secondary students because this gives me a chance to get to know them better. I have truly enjoyed teaching half days.

Hadiza, our house help, has been able to help me with some French as we discuss things. I don't know if I remember everything I try to repeat, but it's been good. Between staff and curriculum meetings I have been able to do some gardening. Carol D., I need your green thumb! This weekend for Mother's Day, Randy and I are going to venture out to a plant nursery to buy some more plants. The boys won't like this because they are the ones who will have to water them. Randy said I should make this my home while we are here so that's what I am trying to do.

Last weekend, Randy and I were able to participate in the "Family Life Weekend to Remember". We stayed at one of the many guest houses in Niamey. It wasn't the Hilton but we couldn't afford that anyway. The facilitators were from Kansas. They lived had lived in Burkina for a number of years and pray that they will be able to return to minister to the college aged students in Burkina. He has farming background and hers was Mennonite. A nice couple and a very good weekend.

At school our summer will be filled with moving our old school media center to the new one and moving some classrooms around. I will try to keep you up dated on how the moves go. The boys are hoping mom doesn't keep them to busy because they will want to swim and be with those friends who won't be traveling out of country.

Thank You so much for your prayers because I know I wouldn't be in Africa without them. Also, because of those faithful givers, we wouldn't be here either. I miss you and would love for you to come and visit, especially for Chris' graduation next year. God Bless you all!

Wanda for the boys,

Praises

* 3 and half weeks of school left

* A/C in living area making it bearable in the heat

* good family and friends (that's you)

Prayer

* endurance to make it through the heat

* attitudes to be good at school and home

* for exams coming up

Update May 7 2008

Hello to Everyone,

Thank you for praying Hello to Everyone,

Thank you for praying for the trip we took to Galmi.   Things went pretty well, and the travel was safe for Jean and I.   On the way out to Galmi we took SIMAIR.   This was Jean's first time in an airplane, and one of his reactions was that pilots do not have an easy job!   The picture this time is Jean in the right side of the cockpit just before take off.   The flight to Galmi from Niamey takes about 1hr and 30 minutes and costs about 10 times as much as the bus, but the bus comes with a variety of drawbacks that we can talk about later.

We were able to cover most of our objectives, plus a few others we found after arriving in Galmi.   On the downside, there are a couple of things I am still working on as time permits in Niamey.   We could use prayer for two things in particular.   One is an Access databasethe pharmacy at the hospital uses and second is to codify and get screen shots of the restore procedure for the server at Galmi.  

The database issue I could use prayer that the Lord gives me wisdom on how to repair it.   There are some parts of the database that do not seem to be getting data from the proper tables.   The prayer for the restore procedure would be that we can recreate the SME server environment using virtual machinesin the office in Niamey to be able to test that the data and user information are being restored properly using the procedure we have mapped out.

Jean learned quite a bit while we were there, and together we asked questions about the problems we saw and how best to fix them.   Such practices will help him to think critically about issues as we face them this next year.   It was also interesting to see Jean in a place where he knew many of the people.   He grew up east of Galmi in Maradi,   but many of his family members live in Galmi, as does his fiancée.   So when we were not working, we were greeting many people!   On Sunday we were also able to go to the Hausa church in Galmi.

The bus rideback was 7 hot, non-air-conditioned, mouth drying, grueling hours.   We joked that the bus ride had at least one similarity to the SIMAIR flight.   We found ourselves in the air much of the time as we hurtled through bumps and holes in the road alternating from road construction, to road deterioration!   I for one, was very happy to see the final bus terminal in Niamey, and finally home.   Thank you for your prayers for this trip.  

The next trip we have out of Niamey, will likely not be for at least a month, but we continue to tackle computer issues in Niamey, at the office, at the Esprit bible school, and the FEU ministry to university students.   As an example, Monday the 28th of April we arrived at the office and were greeted to a toasted server.   Power surgesover the weekend had fried one but spared another (Yes, they are on UPS's, so you can imagine the level of the power surges).   The last time we had a major server loss in 2005, I spent 3 days rebuilding the system.   Because of redundancy, and a good backup cycle, we were able to be up and fully running in 3 hours.   God is good!

Items for prayer:
1- Praise that the A/C issue has been resolved and it is finally working in our living room.   There are a few other electrical issues to be worked out in the house, but we are so thankful that the Lord has been working things out.
2 - The car still remains in limbo.   The paper work for it and some other things going through exoneration have been lost, and we are restarting the process.   Hopefully we will see a speedier resolution this next time around.
3 - As we do get the car licensed, we might be looking to resell it as soon as we can.   The support levels we are receiving thus far are not where we need them to be, so we will be tightening our belts.   Pray that those who thought they would be able to partner with us at past levels will be able to do so, and that others may be led to partner with the ministry the Lord has given to us here.
4 - Chris had a softball hit him in the eye.   He did have his glasses on, and they took the brunt of the blow.   Those of you who know the past experience we had with Chris and a blow to the head he received in 2006, know this could have not been good news to us!   He appears to be ok, with no blurriness of eyesight, or headaches, which is another praise!
5 - The kids (and Wanda) have 3 and a half weeks of school yet.   But it is also moving into one of the hottest parts of the year.   Pray that they finish strong.
6 - Continue to pray for my work with Jean, that I am able to teach him, disciple him, and that we have a good working and personal relationship.
7 - Pray that the Lord guards our attitudes when things do not go well, or we thinkthey are not going well.   Help us to see our ways are not always His ways.   Mold us to His ways.

April 16, 2008 Update

It's getting hot now!

We are well into the hot season, with average high temperatures since March in the triple digits.  I know some of you back home are struggling with a cool spring.  If we could help you out we would in a heartbeat!

I (Randy) will be going to Galmi this Friday, April 18th via SIMAIR, and returning by bus to Niamey on the 21st.   Jean, the young Nigerien man learning the computer systems will be going along as well.   Galmi is the location of Galmi Hospital, a SIM related hospital with a long history in Niger, and one of the better facilities in the country.  Galmi Hospital is one of the ministries in Niger that cries out for a technical support person to be stationed there.  There are 2 servers, 7 or 8 administrative computers there, a few more scattered about in different areas of the hospital, and many personal machines of the missionary staff.  In addition, a portion of that missionary staff is transient as doctors come and go as they can give of their time and expertise at Galmi.  Someone that would be able to help with day to day computer issues and have a vision of where computer technology could help in that setting, and be able to implement that vision would be a great addition to that team.

We hope to accomplish 4 main things. 

1. Upgrade the servers (SME Serverand IPCOP).   Put together an easy to understand data recovery plan in case of a server crash at the hospital that could be implemented by the hospital administration.
2. Discuss longer range plans for computer technology at the hospital so we have a better understanding about upgrade paths and long term needs.
3. Look for options as we transition away from sim.ne email addresses and to either sim.org addresses or galmi.org addresses.   What will work for Galmi?   What will need to be done for that transition period?
4. Familiarize Jean to how this system works as opposed to the system at the office.   While the IPCOP firewall / gateway will be familiar, the SME server based system is different than the system in Niamey.

We will also, Lord and time willing, be looking as other computer related issues that are being compiled by the people at Galmi in anticipation of our arrival.

If you would like to pray a verse for us please pray that we strive to be the embodiment of Luke 10:27.   And he answered, €œYou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. €   Also Matt 22:37, Deut 6:5, and Mark 12:31   May God be glorified by allowing us to show our love to Him and to others here.

Would you pray for the following?
1 - That the trip to and from Galmi would be safe and be a helpful learning experience for Jean.
2 - That as we look at problems that the Lord would provide us with the best answers and insight on how to repair those problems
3 - That Wanda and the boys are able to handle any issues that may come their way while Randy is gone.
4 - Pray for the staffing needs at Sahel Academy for next School year.   We still need at least one elementary teacher, and secondary English, Math, Science and French.
5 - That we would be a good witness to others, and an encouragement, that God may be glorified
6 - Praise that the boys are working hard at school.
7 - Help them to finish the last quarter strong, and with good attitudes.

There are a couple of other things that we would really like intercession for, that the Lord would provide resolution in some way.   They are logistical things, and things that we can function around, but they are distracting and patience stretching ... like really stretching!

1 - The A/C split we had purchased for the main part of the house 8 months ago is still not installed.   Some of the interior work has been started, but it has stalled at that point.   We praise the Lord that we do have a unit in one of the bedrooms!  
2 - The car that we purchased shortly after we arrived still is without plates, and useless until it has them.   We still are using the car we had last year, but it is in dire need of repair.  We had hoped by this time to be using the newer car, and have the original repaired, and allow to someone else to use it.

We appreciate your prayers for resolution of these items.

Blue Like Jazz Book Reveiw

The subtitle may give away the tone of this book. "Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality". I read this book quite by accident. It was in my office when I returned to Niger, and while I was intrigued by the title, I still did not tackle it until the Director asked if I were reading it. I said no, and he explained that is was quite a popular book in many circles in the US. Never one to worry much about hipness and trends, I still wondered what the buzz was about, so I figured I'd read it and see.

Don, the author, from what I read in the book is a freelance Christian writer and speaker from Portland, Oregon.

There are many great things in the book, and I have used parts of it in our family devotions. Much of it focuses on how Christianity can become a series of rules and regulations, devoid of much love or compassion. I agree that can happen. One gets the impression from Don that those issues are the rule rather than the exception in the majority of churches in the US. I would tend to disagree with that conclusion. Nevertheless, I found parts of the book where I was agreeing with the author more than disagreeing.

From the book on belief (pp 106-107): "The thing I have to work on in myself is this issue of belief. ... Here is the trick, here is my point. Satan, who I believe exists as much as I believe Jesus exists, wants us to believe meaningless things for meaningless reasons. Can you imagine if Christians actually believed that God was trying to rescue us from the pit of our own self addiction? Can you imagine? Can you imagine what Americans would do if they understood over half the world was living in poverty? Do you think they would change the way they live, the products they purchase, and the politicians they elect? If we believed the right things, the true things, there wouldn't be very many problems on earth.

But the trouble with deep belief is that it costs something. And there is something inside me, some selfish beast of a subtle thing that doesn't like the truth at all because it carries responsibility, ...

The problem with Christian belief - I mean real Christian belief, the belief that there is a God and a devil and a heaven and a hell - is that it is not a fashionable thing to believe." So one has the tension between real belief and "cool" belief.

From the book concerning how we view ourselves. Here Don talks about what he found out about himself after sharing a house with a group of guys which he calls "living in community". "Living in community made me realize one of my faults: I was addicted to myself. All I thought about was myself. The only thing I really cared about was myself. I had very little concept of love, altruism, or sacrifice. I discovered that my mind is like a radio that picks up only one station, the one that plays me: K-DON, all Don, all the time.

... Having had my way for so long, I became defensive about what I perceived as encroachments on my rights. My personal bubble was huge. I could not have conversations that lasted more than ten minutes. I wanted efficiency in personal interaction ...

The most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this: Life is a story about me.

... God brought me to Graceland to rid me of this deception ... It was a frustrating and painful experience.

I hear addicts talk about the shakes and the panic attacks and the highs and lows of resisting their habit ... but no drug is as powerful as the drug of self. No rut in the mind is so deep as the one that says I and the world, the world belongs to me, all people are characters in my play. there is no addiction so powerful as self-addiction."

This is great stuff! We as Christians can so easily be overcome by “me” “we” “us” and our little “Christian” world around us that we become so “spiritual” that we are no earthly good. On the other hand, to be reminded that belief, real belief, costs something (or should), and cost our Savior everything, is a truth that is glossed over in many “You'll like it here” churches.

Don also laments the fact that “conservative” politics have invaded the Christian church. And in someways he maybe right, however, I would argue that there is plenty of “liberal” politics to go around as well, as evidenced by the Obama and his pastor fracas.

In many ways I liked the book an awful lot, but there were three things in particular that just made it hard for me to get through, and ultimately I struggled to finish it.

1 – Christianity is not, and does not have to be cool. I agree, but the book is strewn with names and places from Don's experience that to this reader at least, are meant to show how cool he is and how is brand of Christianity must be cooler than someone else's. He mentions Al Green, hippies, Ray Swarez, pipes, protesting, C.S Lewis, Wilco, Katie Couric, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Reed College, Loren Pope, cusswords, racism, Dr. King, France, Mt Hood, the high desert, Romeo and Juliet, Taming of the Shrew, Susan Faludi ... I could go on. Obviously I am not as hip as Don. But is that how we are to measure our worth? By who we know? Where we have been? How trendy we are?

2 – While Don goes out of his way to deplore the church being in lock step with conservative politics, his perceived notion that liberal politics have some sort of high road in this regard is evident throughout the book. If you want to say that there is conservative political climate in American churches, just saying that if they were liberal it would be better because they care more, doesn't cut it. Unfortunately, he comes off as someone who is discriminatory against parts of the church in America because it is not hip enough, and somehow stands in the way of his political view, or his views on “better” Christianity.

Our home church is probably largely Republican, but we have never taken a poll, and the issue rarely comes up. Until fairly recently, during the course of conversation while teaching a Sunday school class, I found out that a former elder, and someone I have great respect for in the church, votes Democrat. Did that color my picture of him as a spiritual leader in the church? No, I still find him to be a very level headed person, worthy of respect. I find that attitude more compelling of Christian brotherhood than merely trying to redivide people.

3 – The biggest problem with the book is that while there are these great nuggets of truth about how we view people, and how our world can be infinitely greater than the immediate, most of the book has to to with “K-DON, all Don, all the time.” It is about Don and his friends and Don and his pastor and Don and his potential girl friends and Don's outlook on life the church and everything. I get the point. Don is saying that people's perception of the church and Christianity is more relational based than biblical based. I love the ideas in the book and they have challenged me to be more relational in my ministry, we do have to grow, and being stuck in how we feel about God, Jesus and the church, will lead to a church that is only a social club to affect social change. Affecting social change can be part of it, but the Christian life is so much more.

Don wants no one to judge him, and his Christian spirituality, but seems to stand ready to judge others if he feels they are opposed to his take on life issues. And I guess there is the rub of the whole thing. Don feels. And he feels strongly. But is that all to the Christian life? There are points throughout the book that allude to the fact the it is beyond only feeling, and also about surrender and learning and discipline and sacrifice and worship. These are things you don't necessarily feel, but are a significant part of the Christian walk.

Read the book. Read it with an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out ;-) . There are challenging things here to consider as we relate to people from different walks of life. But I would filter these things with a good study asking what the bible (and by extension Jesus) says about the subjects presented.

RRP

Potratz Easter Update 2008 - Wanda and the boys

Hello,
I hope you had some fun looking up some of the links in the first email.  We tried to do some more of  that for the second installment of what in the world are we doing in Niger!

Wanda has always considered her first calling as being a Mom, and considers the boys her first ministry. 

At Sahel Academy, Wanda is teaching second grade language, second grade reading and third grade math. Her students this year are from the US, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Canada.  Their parents are church planters, evangelists, Christian relief workers, teachers, accountants, embassy personnel, and doctors. Through her ministry, Wanda is helping those people concentrate on the work the Lord has given them. A couple of years ago, Sahel raised the percentage of non-mission students they would accept.  While the school continues to have a Christian perspective in learning, including mandatory bible classes and chapel, the quality of education at Sahel attracts some families who are not Christian. Sahel has become more of a mission field in its own right, and Wanda has tried to plant seeds in the classes she teaches.

With Sahel Academy in the midst of the accreditation process, Wanda has also been given the responsibility of writing up the curriculum for kindergarten.  Curriculum writing has proved to be very time consuming and quite a learning experience.  She is striving to do it well.

Chris has been on the music team at school, either playing guitar or running the sound system.  The music team helps to lead school chapels, and occasionally helps to lead the church services for the English language evening church that meets at Sahel.

He has also been part of the outreach team that went to Tera and helped to build "hangars" for the public girls school there.  Tera is a town of about 22000 people 190 km to the west of Niamey, not far from the Burkina Faso border. Part of that trip was to also support the long time missionaries who have been serving in Tera for the last 16 years.  They are in the midst of moving to Niamey to begin new ministry opportunities there. Chris will also be part of a group of missionaries that will be returning to Tera to help them move the rest of the household items from Tera to Niamey.

Chris was also excited to be able to go to the SIMAIR hanger to perform some general maintenance on the one of the airplanes and help put finishing touches on a new paint job for that plane.

Christopher's classmates this year are from the US, Canada, Ghana, and Korea.  Their parents include church planters, evangelists, a pilot, teachers, administrators, and counselors. When his class graduates in 2009 it will be the largest graduating class that Sahel has had. 


Justin feels he has been growing mentally and spiritually.  Through Justin's service time at an orphanage in town, he has been learning to serve others and has been learning to use his French more effectively.  Also during the orphanage time, he is learning to be a good role model to the kids by playing and interacting with them.  Justin was able to go to Tera this year as well, marking the third time he has made the trip.  For the first time on a Tera service opportunity Justin was surprised and happy to see the Nigerien students also working along side to improve their school.

He feels Sahel Academy is preparing him for life situations as a believer and as a person.  He particularly finds bible and history classes helpful in his growth.  In a small group bible study on Wednesday's, he is learning how to be a youth that honors god in his everyday life.  Justin is amazed to see how God works in different people's lives and his own, sometimes in ways you would not expect.

He is very happy to have good relationships with his classmates who come from all parts of the world. Justin's class is composed of kids from the US, Canada, Italy, and Nigeria.  Their parents are aviators, administrators, evangelists, church planters and embassy personnel.

Noah has not had many service opportunities.  However, he has been able to help moving somethings for the missionaries moving to Niamey from Tera. 

Noah has had a couple of opportunities to have fun in Niger though!  In softball his team came in second in the social league of the Ougadougu softball tournament.  This was the first trophy in many years to come back with at team from Sahel Academy.  In basketball, Noah and his team won the 8-12 year old division of the three on three basketball tournament in Niamey. He did find that there is some surprisingly good competition here!

Noah's classmates are from the US, Canada, Korea, Belgium, Niger, and Australia.  Their parents are administrators, a pilot, teachers, translator, church planter, doctor and a Christian radio station director.
RRP

Potratz Mission Update Easter 2008

Happy Easter!

What a great time of year as we remember the resurrection of Christ.  As we remember that the tomb did not stay occupied, and that because of that we have a advocate in heaven.  A spotless high priest who intercedes on our behalf before an all powerful God!

I was toying with the idea of outlining what we do in Niger, to help you understand better the part we play in the larger ministry of SIM here in Niger, and to help you to pray more effectively for us.  I was not sure if that was to be my subject until we received an email from one of our supporting churches asking for exactly such a review in anticipation of an event they hold each year to raise funds for the missionaries they support as a church body.  If this is not a sign, it certainly kills two birds with one stone.   ;-)

When we are home visiting churches, giving updates and I tell you I am doing "computer tech support" people's eyes sometime glaze over and they nod (off   :-) ).  But what does that entail?  How am I helping anyone come to know the Lord Jesus Christ in Niger by playing with computers?

First it is not play!  It is a lot of work.  Nonetheless, it is work I enjoy, and the Lord has given us the opportunity to do something I enjoy, and at the same time serve Him in a place I have grown to really like.  My main responsibility is for close to 20 computers at the office that form the SIM Niger office network.  These computers are used every week, by missionary and national staff, many of whom are not computer savvy, in an environment that is not air conditioned, hot, dusty, has sporadic internet access, and suffers daily power surges and outages.  These are all conditions that are perfect for computer system failure! However, through the grace of God we have been able to build a system that is pretty robust, redundant at the server level, and is to some extent self restarting if there are long power outages.  All this from off-the-shelf, inexpensive hardware.  As other stations and ministries have needs, I offer assistance and support, sometimes by phone or email, other times by going to the site directly.  I also directly support individual missionaries as they have computer issues.

So what have I been doing for the last two and a half months since our return?  The following are beyond the everyday monitoring and tweaking of the system at the office. There are also Easter Eggs throughout the rest of the email with links to more information about people, people groups and places.  Have fun!  Ready?  Here we go!

• For translators working with the Fulani, I set up a couple of older machines as school work machines for their kids, did troubleshooting work on one of their national language helper's computers, and am currently trying to find parts to install a new monitor screen in one of their personal machines.
• For church planters also working with the Fulani, backed up and restored data from both of their identical machines when the machines both decided to die within one week of each other!  (Compaq laptops)
• For a missionary from Switzerland working to educate Christian teachers all over Niger (public and private), ran full antivirus and hardware diagnostic to speed up her sluggish computer.
• For a missionary from Romania working with Christian media in Niger, helped unblock Romanian websites that were being blocked by our filter.  Also introduced him to portable applications that will run from a USB key to help him work more effectively
• We have had continuing classes at the office for office staff dealing with efficient use of the system, excel, and we will go on to other subjects.
• At the office we have also moved data back to the server that had been moved to treasury during my absence due to a server glitch.
• For one of the missionaries helping to fill the treasurer position, find a way to get internet from her home here through a wireless phone that ended up taking five trips to various phone offices in Niamey!
  
• For an evangelist working with the Tamajeq, diagnose, research and finally repair a windows misconfiguration that was causing the computer access the hard disk very slowly, making the whole computer sluggish and almost unusable.
• For church planters working with the Gourmantche, backup as much data as possible and replace the hard drive in their laptop and optimize the system.
• For a Canadian family doing evangelism and church planting from another mission agency, recover their computer from an internet based attack and make sure it was working correctly.
• For a British missionary church planting and doing evangelism among the Hausa, sorting out email problems he has been having, and changing his mail address from an AOL address to a sim.org address.
• For the agricultural mission in Maradi, purchase a new computer, configure it and send it east to replace their ailing email computer.
• For the FEU, an evangelical ministry to students at the university here in Niamey, purchase and setup of 6 machines for their computer room which attracts many students to the center.
• Troubleshoot and get internet service restored for Galmi Hospital when they suddenly found they had no connection.
• For a SIMAIR pilot, troubleshooting cooling fan issues and determining whether or not they need a replacement sent from the US.
• For a missionary church planter from another organization, total disassembly of his laptop and a thorough internal cleaning to stop a chronic overheating problem.
• For Maza Tsaye the SIM agricultural mission center farm near Maradi, research and sharing information about possible internet connection options.

There are other instances through the last couple of months, but you get the idea.  Through the computer tech support ministry, we feel the Lord has given us an opportunity to be part of many ministries throughout Niger, and the list will continue to grow.  What we do directly impacts evangelism, church planting, and translation, relief and Christian education work throughout Niger. There are trips in the planning stages to Galmi Hospital for systems work, to Goure and Makalondi to set up youth club computers (computers are big draws to attract kids to evangelical programs since there are few computers in homes and fewer still in schools), and there will always be the unexpected issues that arise daily.

This email has grown quite large, but i wanted you to get a better idea of what we do here.  The next installment in a few dayswill focus on what is going on with Wanda and the boys.

Randy for all

Potratz Mission Update March 14, 2008

Hello to all,
The Tera service trip went very well.  There were 19 kids and 7 adults that took part in different kinds of outreaches over the weekend of Feb 29 - March 2 (I know, I'm a little late on this one!)

The first excitement on the trip had to do with getting to Tera along an "under construction" road.  An oncoming land rover spit some rocks up at the van I was driving and broke the side window directly behind me, and the window just shattered into the laps of the 2 girls in that seat.  Praise the Lord that the rock was diverted away from them, and there were no more serious injury than fright and a couple of minor scratches

The time at Tera was most interesting.  I was mainly with the team that were building "hangars" for the public girls school in Tera.  Hangars are carefully selected tree branch vertical beams and then straight branches horizontally over them, and then the sides and roof covered with grass or stalk matting.  The total size was about 20 feet by 12 feet for each one and we built 2.

We were met at the site by the director of the school and maybe 40 of his students.  They brought tools to use, and the director made a bit of a ceremony of it.  It was great to see the girls working along side our kids to improve their school.  The hangars will be used to house half of 2 different classes that have 50-60 students in each of them.  So each hangar may end up with 25+ students!

Because I was the one with white hair, soon after the opening ceremonies, the director gave me a tour of the school which housed the class rooms for the girls in one building, the boys in another and another small kindergarten building.  I was impressed with his passion for the education of his students, and his desire for the children of Niger to be educated.

During this time another team was having a kids program across town.  Later in the day there was a soccer game with the two teams having both Teraeans and Sahel academy students.  Again, like the last time we were in Tera, the cattle cantered slowly through the sand field early on in the game!

Sunday was church at a nearby village, in a mud brick building about the same dimensions as the hangars.  We sang songs of worship in English, French and Gormanchi, shared testimonies and worshiped through the hearing of the word of God. Pictures from the trip are here. 

The trip back was pretty anticlimactic after all that, but we thank you for holding us up in prayer for safety and the good example of Christian love we hope that we showed to the people of Tera.  We did not go there to just do something for the few Christians in Tera, but also to show the love of God to the larger community through our service.  In his closing remarks after the hangars were built, the director was clear in telling his students that.

The last few weeks have been very busy ones at the office. I will fill you in next time, but suffice it to say that as the weather gets hotter, the computers get crankier, and I get busier.

The next trip on the horizon will be to Galmi hospital to do systems work there sometime in the next month.

Please pray with us:
1 - Thanks for the safe travel, and the witness the team was to Tera, and the witness that God was to us as we worked there.
2 - For Wanda.  As Sahel Academy has been striving for accreditation, she has been working on creating the curriculum structure for kindergarten there.  Ask that God would give her patience and grace as she does that and teaches some elementary classes.
3 - For the boys that they would finish this quarter strong.  They have been working hard.
4 - For Randy that he would be able to prioritize tasks well, and that he is able to continue to share his knowledge with Jean (John).
5 - For the planning of the Galmi trip, that all things come together.
6 - For our perseverance as the weather is now in the triple digits again.  :-\
7 - Thanks for your prayer for our colleague with the suspected cancer.  The biopsy came back benign!

From Ouaga to Niamey to Tera - Potratz Mission Update Feb 29, 2008

Good Morning Everyone!

None of the cities above are household names, especially in North America, but since our last update a couple of weeks ago, we have been to one, are in the second and will be going to the last one today.

The boy's Sahel team came back with a second place trophy from the Ouaga softball tournament.  It was the the first Social team trophy brought back to Sahel Academy from there since something like 1998!  The boys did very well, respectably holding down the infield.  Noah was 3rd base, Justin shortstop and Chris at 1st.  For a younger Sahel team they did well, only losing the deciding game to a mid-twenties something Japanese volunteers team.  Everyone had a great time.

One of the moments of "excitement" during the tournament is that one of the men on the Sahel competitive team pretty severely pulled something, and I volunteered to take him to the hospital (clinic) for evaluation.  There was some concern that he may have torn a previous surgery.  The clinic was a contrast in African medicine.  It was one of the only places in the city where a sonagram could be taken, but while it was quite modern looking, there were almost no patients!  In Africa, sometimes there is just not enough people with enough money to sustain such an institution.

Today, Chris, Justin and I leave for a service trip to Tera which is about an hour and a half to the west of Niamey.  About 20 kids from Sahel Academy will be building some "hangers" (small outbuildings) for a church there, conducting a kids program over the weekend, and other things.  I will be doing shuttle duty moving people and material between ministry locations and taking as many pics as possible.  Wanda and Noah will be home, so please keep them in your prayer in our absence.

Prayer Items:
1 - Thanks for the safety and the great time at the Ouaga tournament.
2 - Pray for the Sahel service team as they minister to the people of Tera.  Pray that the outreach builds bridges between Christians and the overwhelmingly Muslim population.
3 - Please pray for health for a couple of people suffering from cancer or suspected cancer.  One a colleague here that will be seeking evaluation and one for a supporter back home who is praying by faith for a miracle of God demonstrating His power in her body.
4 - Please pray for the SIMAIR guys as the new airplane sustained prop damage while in Mali.  Pray that repairs and parts can be done quickly.
5 - Pray for the building of relationships with nationals as we have opportunity.
6 - Please pray for continued prayer, communication and financial partnerships with you!

Mission Update, Thursday February 14, 2008

Happy Valentines Day,  :-)

Every year there is a softball tournament in the neighboring country of Burkina Faso.  This year, all three boys are part of a team that is representing Sahel Academy.  This will be Justin and Chris's third time to Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, and Noah's first time.  Wanda and I have never gone for the tournament, but this year we will be going.  We leave early tomorrow and will arrive back, Lord willing, on Monday.  The boys are going with the group from Sahel, and Wanda and I are going with another group from Niamey.  Pray that everyone has safe travel, and pray for safety for the games over the weekend.

We shared with many of you the need of a different vehicle when we returned to Niger.  When we returned, the vehicle we had been driving was in the shop and through many snafus we did not get it back for 3 weeks.  In the interim, because it was getting very hard to get around, we did purchase a small 4 wheel drive car for about $5000.  Not the 4 WD small truck we had hoped for, but it should be usable and more reliable than what we have.  I say have, because we are still waiting, 3 plus weeks after the purchase of that for the paperwork to come through on the license!

I have made some progress on the web site so that there will be extra information there for you to peruse.  Obviously, there will not be much added this weekend, but be assured that we will be adding content as soon as we can.

Thank you for your prayers for us and for your financial partnership.  While we know without the prayers we can do nothing (and don't you dare stop :-)  !!), the financial partnership is really needed as we have found prices here have gone up, the dollar has gone down.  For example, when we were here in 2001, the exchange rate was about 750 CFA to a dollar.  In 2005 it was about 525.  Today it is 432!  A dollar has 57% less buying power.  At the same time gas is $6.20 a gallon!  So this time, let me say a special thank you for those who do support us financially.

Please pray with us:
For safety in travel and in games over the weekend.
For expediting of the paper work for the car license.
For time to update the website with information the will be interesting for all of you.
For strengthening of financial and prayer partnerships

Thanks and we love you all.
Randy, Wanda and the boys

The picture included today is of the English word "love" inscribed in the wall of a rice factory about a mile away from the school.

-- 
Potratz Family: Ministering in Niger, West Africa with SIM
Mission Address: SIM USA, P.O. Box 7900, Charlotte, NC 28241, 
Account #65825
Niger Address: Potratz, c/o SIM, B.P. 10065, Niamey, Niger