May Nattier News

We have reached the first of several milestones during our time here in language school, the end of a level.  At our school, a student without prior French experience starts at the A1 level, followed by A2, B1.1, B1.2 and then B2.  We started in January in A1, and in April we had our first level exams.  As with any exam, we had a good bit of stress preparing for this first experience with French testing.  By God's grace, we have clearly been learning, and we both passed!  At this point, we are into the next level, A2.

The last 2 months have also been eventful with the departure of Courtney, and the arrival of Bryce's mom.  It was very hard to say goodbye to Courtney, as her time here was a great blessing to our family.  Natasha and I were able to spend significantly more time studying as a result of her presence.  Our kids had an absolute blast with "Coco."

Janet has been a huge help with the kids as well.  She had a tough job coming the week before exams, but she jumped right into caring for Ahni despite the inevitable jet lag.  After exams, we were able to take a little break, rest, and travel briefly to an amazing castle in Carcassonne, France.  This gave many chances to practice French!

This month we have also had the arrival of a 3rd helper, Rilie Mangen.  She volunteered to fill a small gap in the middle of May.   She came within a week of graduating college.  

It continues to amaze us, how God has answered our prayers and yours for a childcare helper for our family.  He answered differently than we expected by providing 4 women for our first 7 months here rather than just 1.  They have each been a blessing to us a little differently through their own unique gifts and abilities.  If your doing the math, you may have only counted 3 ladies so far.  Well the 4th is set to arrive this weekend.  Her name is Madisen, and we are looking forward to her arrival! 

Last month we mentioned about how trusting in God and His sovereignty allows us to have peace in challenging times.  This knowledge also leads us to praise Him, when we see the evidence of His working in various ways and situations in our lives.  

When God answers prayer in His own sovereign ways, it's sometimes easy overlook it, chalk it up to chance, or give credit to someone or something else.  This month we have reflected on God's provision of childcare.  We want to praise Him for answering this prayer.  We also want to thank all of you who have been praying for our family.  

Prayer requests:

Our family:  Please pray for us as we continue the daunting task of learning French.  It is a marathon that certainly has it's ups and downs.  Please also pray with us for childcare for our family starting when classes resume this fall.  We have a couple of women who are interested, and we are seeking God's wisdom for us and them.

Our team:  Please continue to pray for the DeKryger family and our team in Togo.  Also, pray with us for the   shortage of nurses and surgeons for the next year.  If you know of any medical professionals that may be interested in helping meet the needs in Togo for any length of time, please have them contact us.