Faces of Faith – Bonnie

Twenty-eight years. That’s how long Bonnie Lewis has been teaching! Bonnie is an Apache woman living with her husband, Francis, in Whiteriver, Ariz. She started teaching pre-school in the late ‘80s, and in 2001 she started teaching at the WELS Lutheran elementary school in East Fork. She’s been there ever since.

The love of young children has kept Bonnie coming back year after year. She says, “I’m privileged to teach the kids Bible stories at our school, and they absolutely love them!” Bonnie chuckled as she reflected on how former students have asked to come back to kindergarten. Even though they obviously can’t return to her beloved classroom, they can, like the Apostle Paul said, “continue in what they have learned.” By the power of the Holy Spirit working in their hearts through the Word and sacraments, they will do so. Bonnie finds encouragement in the passage: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

This school year (2023-2024) marks a milestone for Bonnie and East Fork Lutheran School as she has announced her retirement. Though retirement is around the corner, Bonnie isn’t one to simply do nothing. She has been an active, faithful member of her home congregation, Open Bible Lutheran Church in Whiteriver, and God-willing she hopes to be able to continue doing so.

From John Holtz, Native Christians Network missionary