2/25/08
Dear family and friends,
This past week, I thought through a moment I had with God last February that profoundly influenced my life. I was in Wal-Mart shopping for groceries. At one point I stopped in the middle of an aisle and began weeping. I was going through a season of questioning my trust in God after experiencing several losses in a short period of time. I had stopped reading the Bible and lost passion for seeking God. But, that day in the aisle at Wal-Mart, I said to God, "I can't do this. Would you speak to me? Would you encourage me? I feel stuck. Would you please help me!" The words that He brought to mind a minute later were, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Then came the words, "Lisa, keep walking." That night I read my lesson for a Christ-Life group I am a part of and a key verse in that lesson was "Trust in the Lord with all your heart . . ." Prov. 3:6. A few weeks later, a friend gave me a picture for my birthday and on it were the words, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart . . ." (I had not shared with her the significance of this verse). He does make sure we get it, doesn't He? And throughout last year He continued to say in so many different ways, "Lisa, keep walking." It didn't matter if I stumbled or lagged behind or completely wiped out. His gentle words continued to ring in my ears, "Keep walking." His words have come to mind this week as we have waited for a response from CRC World Missions and have not yet received word of whether they will partner with us. It would be easy to get discouraged, to question. However, Dan and I have ended this week with renewed trust and vision that the process of pursuing this call, as it was with FamilyLife, is designed to grow us in our relationship with the One who has called us. We do not walk this path with the sole goal of reaching a destination - we walk it out of obedience (one step at a time) and out of a desire to grow in our love for and knowledge of Him. And it is out of the overflow of His love for us that He will touch the lives of others through us - whether that be here in the United States as we pursue the calling or in Nicaragua. We will keep walking. Thank you so much for walking with us!
Praise:
* We are overwhelmed this week with the love that we are receiving from others as people let us know that they are excited for us, are keeping up with our updates, are praying for us, and are interested in walking this road with us.
* Dan and I are working well together - he is setting up a blog that you can reach at www.vanzoest.blogspot.com which includes these email updates. He is working on our website, outlining a presentation, communicating with our missions pastor, and thinking through some of the next steps. I am writing these updates, keeping track of email addresses, and thinking through organizing small group dinners/child care/prayer group. We really are enjoying this process and enjoy this time of working with each other.
* I have had a good week of carving out time to be with God - thank you for your prayers!
* After 7 days of fever and respiratory symptoms, Rebekah is on the mend. Dan and I are still healthy. Will started a fever this afternoon so now we pray for him!
Petition:
* Please continue to pray that CRC World Missions would let us know of their decision this week. We are at peace with whatever answer they give us.
* Health, safety, and peace for our family and extended families.
* Pray that our family would develop a passionate love for the people of Nicaragua. We are reading books about Nicaragua and watching videos to help us better understand the country and culture.
Requests For Help:
1) On March 16, we are planning a “potluck and prayer” gathering at our home for the noon meal on this particular Sunday. More details later, but you are officially invited to attend.
2) We would like to develop a list of people who are available to care for our children and the children of those who attend small group dinners. We will work with your schedule and preference regarding the number of children you can care for.
3) We are also praying for at least 10 couples to commit to doing a small group dinner which involves dinner and –not a movie- but a presentation. I am putting together a specific job description for this and will send it with next week’s update. Would just like to ask you now to pray through these needs this week and let us know how/if you feel led to be a part of filling these needs. Thank you!
Nicaragua Facts:
* Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Latin America - which includes Mexico, Central America, and South America (Haiti is #1).
* One of Nicaragua Christian Academy's goals is to raise up strong Christian Nicaraguan leaders to impact the future of this country.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Fear
2/17/08
Dear family and friends,
A couple of nights ago, Will came downstairs after we put him to bed and he said that he was scared. I hugged him and prayed through the verse about how God takes care of the birds and clothes the lilies. He looked up at me with wide eyes and said, "That is the same story Daddy told me tonight! I think God is talking to me about this." That night I had nightmares and woke up with fear plaguing me, as I thought about the direction our life is going. I got Rebekah up, made breakfast, and sat down with her and started to read through her devotion while she ate. The devotion for that day just happened to be about fear and I read several verses about what God says about fear - basically, that it is a lack of trust in Him. Following her devotion, my heart was restored to peace once more. Two times in 12 hours, He spoke either through me or to me about fear. I am always so amazed at how He meets us right where we are. He is such an incredibly personal God.
It is interesting though, how the majority of the time we are very much at peace individually and as a family. We continue to talk and process, but we really are enjoying the ride so far. We will give you a few things to pray for this week and some ways to praise Him. Please let us know how we can be praying for you as well. We consider that a privilege!
Praise:
Three families in the past week have committed to financially supporting us without us even asking them!
Three families have also stepped forward to host small group dinners for us!
A good conversation with CRC World Missions.
God's personal touch through His word to calm fear and restore peace.
Petition:
For CRC World Missions to make a decision this week about whether they will serve as our board.
For Dan and I as we meet tomorrow night to discern the next steps we need to take in the next few months. We will be talking about when we should sell the house and what needs to be done to prepare it to sell; and about building 3 teams - a small group dinner team, prayer team, and child care team (more details about that later).
For health - Rebekah has a 102 temp and cold symptoms. We are a little concerned about dehydration tonight. We also pray that the rest of us can stay healthy, as Will has great difficulty getting through respiratory illnesses.
The Kids:
Will told some of his friends we would be moving and I can tell that was difficult for him and for his friends. He keeps reminding them that we will be back to visit.
Rebekah started a document the other day on WORD with more questions for us. She's also been telling friends at school and feeling the impact of the news. She made a map that we will use to track the support raising process as we did with FamilyLife. It is different going through this with them now than it was when they were 3 and 4. They can be even more involved in the process, and are working through it with much more awareness.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Missions Board
2/13/08
Dear friends and family,
Wanted to pass along an urgent prayer request. I was talking with God about this support raising process today and how it is so humbling because it involves us asking for help in so many ways. He said, "Lisa, you give people an opportunity to see me at work when you include them in on this process." Thank you all again for standing with us and being willing to ride this wild ride.
Our request is that God would show us His will in terms of a mission board. Dan had a great conversation with our contact from World Missions yesterday. She will need to talk with a couple of additional people at World Missions about our situation. We pray that we do not get caught in a time of waiting for decisions to be made, but that we can keep moving with the process given our time is short. So, our prayer is that God would show us His will for a mission board and that He would be glorified in this process! Thank you so much!
Peace to you,
Lisa Van Zoest
Dear friends and family,
Wanted to pass along an urgent prayer request. I was talking with God about this support raising process today and how it is so humbling because it involves us asking for help in so many ways. He said, "Lisa, you give people an opportunity to see me at work when you include them in on this process." Thank you all again for standing with us and being willing to ride this wild ride.
Our request is that God would show us His will in terms of a mission board. Dan had a great conversation with our contact from World Missions yesterday. She will need to talk with a couple of additional people at World Missions about our situation. We pray that we do not get caught in a time of waiting for decisions to be made, but that we can keep moving with the process given our time is short. So, our prayer is that God would show us His will for a mission board and that He would be glorified in this process! Thank you so much!
Peace to you,
Lisa Van Zoest
Nicaragua
Dan writes:
For a number of years I have felt God nudging our family toward missions. On March 17, 2004, I “wrestled” with God all day as He impressed on me to begin pursuing fulltime mission work. Through 2004 and 2005 our family worked toward joining the staff of FamilyLife. FamilyLife is the organization that brings the Weekend to Remember Marriage conferences and FamilyLife Today radio program to Cedar Rapids and throughout the world. In September of 2005 we believe God was directing us to stop our pursuit of joining FamilyLife and to work as a part of the Cedar Rapids volunteer team. In October of 2006 a pastor at our church and his good friend talked about their friendship that began at a Christian school in Venezuela, the possibility of serving at a Christian school struck both Lisa and I as a great fit for our family. Later in October I was looking at the Christian Reformed World Missions calendar and I noticed a number of missionaries working at Nicaragua Christian Academy (NCA). After learning more about the school from their website, I contacted them and found out that they were only in need of teachers at that time. A year went by and I again felt God asking me to pursue possible places to serve. I decided to start by contacting NCA again and was surprised to find out that due to school growth they were in need of help with the administration of the school. After emailing back and fourth with the director of NCA and a lot of prayer I submitted my application to become a part of the school. The director reviewed my application and recommendations with the school board president and in January of 2008 they invited our family to join them at Nicaragua Christian Academy.
For a number of years I have felt God nudging our family toward missions. On March 17, 2004, I “wrestled” with God all day as He impressed on me to begin pursuing fulltime mission work. Through 2004 and 2005 our family worked toward joining the staff of FamilyLife. FamilyLife is the organization that brings the Weekend to Remember Marriage conferences and FamilyLife Today radio program to Cedar Rapids and throughout the world. In September of 2005 we believe God was directing us to stop our pursuit of joining FamilyLife and to work as a part of the Cedar Rapids volunteer team. In October of 2006 a pastor at our church and his good friend talked about their friendship that began at a Christian school in Venezuela, the possibility of serving at a Christian school struck both Lisa and I as a great fit for our family. Later in October I was looking at the Christian Reformed World Missions calendar and I noticed a number of missionaries working at Nicaragua Christian Academy (NCA). After learning more about the school from their website, I contacted them and found out that they were only in need of teachers at that time. A year went by and I again felt God asking me to pursue possible places to serve. I decided to start by contacting NCA again and was surprised to find out that due to school growth they were in need of help with the administration of the school. After emailing back and fourth with the director of NCA and a lot of prayer I submitted my application to become a part of the school. The director reviewed my application and recommendations with the school board president and in January of 2008 they invited our family to join them at Nicaragua Christian Academy.
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