Our week in pictures

March 27, 2008
Dear Family & Friends,

Our week has been a busy and encouraging one. I thought instead of writing a lot about it, I would give you “a week in pictures”.

We are encouraged every week by people who are letting us know that they are praying for us. It is such an incredible comfort to know this and to see God at work. This picture was taken at Prairie Woods and reminds me of what prayer can look like. Thank you to all of you who are coming before Christ on our family’s behalf. You are appreciated very much!

This week we were in need of child care during the small group dinner we had at our house on Tuesday night. Our friend, Michelle, stepped in to take Rebekah to soccer practice, fed the kids supper, and brought them back to our house at bedtime. Those who are serving our family by taking care of and loving our kids are also a key part of our team very much appreciated!


This is a picture of those who attended our small group dinner on Tuesday night. On Tuesday afternoon I realized just how much I appreciated this group as I was putting a lasagna dinner together, trying to tie up loose ends with our presentation, getting kids organized to leave, picking up the house, and getting myself ready. These couples have committed to hosting a dinner in their homes for couples who are interested in hearing more about our call to Nicaragua. This helps our family so much as we can present to several couples at a time and makes the support raising process much easier on our family.


Many of you have asked about whether we have heard from CRC World Missions about an official appointment. Well, today Dan emailed them and received a prompt reply back stating that they are waiting on one more reference letter to get to them and that upon receiving this, the process will be close to completion. They also stated that everything is looking good so far and were very reassuring. Thank you all for your prayers in regard to this. A friend from church who has been on the mission field said to me this week, “Lisa, as Americans we want things to happen yesterday. This process of waiting is very good preparation for the mission field when things very seldom happen when or as we want them to.”

We hope all of you had a great week. Please do let us know how we can pray for you. We desire the privilege of coming before Jesus on your behalf as well!

Where will you draw the line?

March 19, 2008
Dear Family & Friends,

This past week it was Dan's turn to feel stabs of fear. He's been struggling with a sinus infection and has been worn down working and staying up late to work on preparations for raising support. One evening while the kids and I were gone, he walked around the house asking himself, "Why would I want to give this up?" He told me later that he thought of me and the kids and how he wanted to do the best thing for us. Fear gripped his heart as he thought of the risks we are taking. Later that evening, he shared these thoughts with me. As I listened, I was reminded of something I recently read in my Christ-Life book.

I got my book and read these words to Dan, "How far will you dare to follow God's lead? How much can you trust Him? How far does His faithfulness to people like you who are In Christ, go? Where do you draw the line on how much you can trust Him to look after you and keep His promises to you? Satan drew the line right at the beginning. Adam drew the line sometime after he started. Others have waited for a time and then they decide on a time and place to draw the line and stop. "On hearing it, many of His disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are Life . . . From this time, many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him." (John 6:60 - 66) Where will you draw the line? When will you reach that point of not being able to trust God any further? Will there be a line for you? Will there come a time when you say, "Stop. This is it. I dare not go any further. I dare not trust You for this or that. Enough is enough."

I've watched Dan move through the fear this week and arrive once again at the conclusion that God can be trusted with our family's future. We know that this will not be the last time we visit the valley of fear. However, we do see God's faithfulness as He continues to meet us there and reassure us of His love and His presence. This Easter, we are reminded that Jesus didn't draw the line. Lord, help us to follow Jesus's example of submission to and dependence on You!

Praise:

Dan is now on antibiotics and slowly recovering. The rest of us are healthy.

God rearranged our plans for the prayer and potluck time on Sunday. We were down to a mother and her two daughters on Sat. night who had committed to come and Dan was not feeling well. We decided that perhaps God had another plan for the day so we called our friend and cancelled which happened to work well for her day too. Instead, the kids and I went to a spiritual retreat center and spent some time in the prayer room listing concerns and prayer requests that they have and then prayed through them. I praise God for a very sweet time with our children and time for Dan to rest. I have attached their list of prayer requests as well as some more personal ones that Dan and I identified for ourselves.

Petition:

· We are praying that we would hear by the end of this week from World Missions about whether we are officially appointed. We are at a bit of a stand still without an official appointment, and we desire to start the support raising process soon.

· Dan's work schedule in April is very intense - it is quarter end and not unusual for him to get home after 8 pm, sometimes 10 pm and he works long days on Saturdays as well. Please pray for energy and the ability to manage all that he is needing to do right now.

· Next Tues, March 25 we will host couples at our home who are interested in hosting a small group dinner for us. Please pray that Dan and I complete our presentation and are adequately prepared. Pray also for the couples and their availability barring no illnesses or conflicts; pray too that God would give them wisdom to give us feedback about the evening and that they would catch the vision of community that is at the core of the small group dinner.

Rebekah’s Requests:

1) To help us know what to say.
2) To help me and Will make new friends.
3) To help our family be able to live in a house.
4) To help us to get used to the food.
5) To get used to sharing with everyone who sees us.
6) To get used to their ways.
7) To help us to learn Spanish well.
8) That we could help others to live like Jesus.
9) Help us to show love.
10) That we would be safe.

Will’s Requests:

1) To find someone who speaks English.
2) I want to make good friends.
3) For a house.
4) I’m concerned about whether I will like anything besides hamburger and rice.
5) I’m thinking about going to the school (instead of being home schooled).
6) That I won’t die of starvation!
7) That we would be missionaries there.
8) For us to get used to their ways.
9) That people would pray for us and that we would feel comfortable doing their ways.
10) That we would be nice to other people.

Dan’s Requests:

1) For a full recovery from sinus infection.
2) For the completion of our presentation for small group dinners.
3) For the upcoming busy time at Aegon in April.
4) God’s guidance for each next step.
5) Praise for Lisa and I working well as a team.

Lisa’s Requests:

1) That I would consistently make time for Spiritual exercise (time with God in prayer and His Word) and Physical exercise.
2) For energy, focus, and time to work on going through our “stuff”.
3) To balance home schooling Will and tasks related to life and support raising with a cheerful and supportive attitude toward Dan and the kids.
4) Praise for supportive and loving family and friends.
5) Praise for my Mom who spent a couple of days with the kids and me helping us go through all of the kids’ toys. (Kids are better at letting go of their stuff than I am!) Praise too, for my Dad who was Will’s substitute teacher for the day!

Nica Trivia:

Nicaragua has a history of political oppression by dictators and instability as a result of corruption. However, in 1990, stability increased when the Sandinista government handed over the reins to a democratically elected president.

Approximately 90% of students graduating from Nicaragua Christian Academy go on to universities in the US, Europe, or in Nicaragua.

No Condemnation

March 12, 2008 - No Condemnation
Dear Family and Friends,

This past week a good friend of mine asked, "Lisa, will you be mad at me if I don't always read your updates?" Later, another person apologized for not reading them. I'm receiving these comments as a prompting to respond to everyone as I wonder if others are feeling that way as well. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Romans 8. This chapter starts out with the assurance that ". . . there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." As I write these long updates, my prayer is not that every person who receives the updates will read them, but that God would use them in the lives of those that He prompts to read them. Several people whom God has placed in my life over the years have taught me that God calls us, His children, to allow our lives/our stories/our mistakes/our weaknesses/our victories to be visible and available for Him to use in the lives of others. I believe that we are then called to trust Him to use these things as He chooses, not as we choose. So, please know that we send these updates out with a commission to "just be available", and do not hold judgment over anyone who does not read them. "There is now no condemnation . . "

You may notice that our emails have a certain structure with this first part being more of a "devotional" or personal sharing; the second part being prayer requests; and the third part is an assortment of things from facts about Nicaragua to pictures of our family to stories about our kids. We do invite you too to give us the privilege of praying for you as well. Our hope is that we grow in relationship with you throughout this process as this, we believe, is really what life is all about - relationship with God and with others.

Change: You can now reach our blog at www.vanzoest.blogspot.com and our web site is still at www.danvanzoest.com
For those of you who are new to these updates, you can visit our blog to read past updates and learn more about the history of this calling.

Praise:

This week, we were contacted by a friend who is on the missions committee at her church. She asked for information to pass on for the committee to review in their March meeting.
We now have 5 people who plan to join us for the potluck and prayer time next Sunday!
Dan talked with his supervisor last Friday about Nicaragua. The meeting was positive and his supervisor even mentioned that if our support raising takes us past August, they will still have plenty of things for Dan to do. We praise God for a supportive employer!

Petition:

· Please pray for the processing of our applications with Christian Reformed World Missions. Our initial email with the applications did not go through. We discovered the problem 4 days later. The problem was due to a difficulty with their system in receiving attachments. We pray that there would be no more delays. Please continue to pray for wisdom for those who review our applications and contact our references.
· Please pray for Dan as he organizes our presentation and for me as I develop the vision for small group dinners.
· Please continue to pray for 10 local couples to be available to do a small group dinner for us. Our prayer is also to do small group dinners in cities throughout the US as we travel to churches this summer. We currently have 4 local couples who have indicated interest in hosting a dinner and another couple in Indianapolis!

Thank you so much for your prayers. Dan and I are very much at peace in the midst of so many unanswered questions. Our sense of calling is strong and we are enjoying the process of pursuing the next steps that God leads us to. We know that we are being lifted in prayer - thank you!

The Kids

Our kids, by their own initiative, have been giving many of their things away to their friends these past couple of weeks (thanks to the Moms of these children for graciously allowing more "stuff" into their homes!). This past Sunday in church, we were reminded that "surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus and living a life of service and sacrifice for the sake of the gospel brings joy." We are watching that principle play out in our kids right now as they are excited about giving many of their things away and seem able to hold possessions with an open hand at this point.

Rebekah has expressed a strong desire to live in a house - not an apartment- in Nicaragua (this has to do with her desire to have a dog which is more likely to happen if we live in a house). She and I are praying for God's provision for us in this. Will is concerned about finding "American friends" who will want to play football with him. Much to Will's relief, we've read that there is a Mc Donalds in Managua and he is now assured that he will not starve. (He is our picky eater).

Our Children's Pastor asked us to put together a presentation for the kids to share with Children's Church. A few days later, Rebekah's teacher at school asked if we would consider doing a chapel at Isaac Newton Christian Academy. We see both of these as opportunities for the kids to learn how to communicate mission and vision to their peers. We also look forward to how God will work in the hearts of children to be more aware of God's heart for the nations!

The Roller Coaster Calling

March 4, 2008
Dear family and friends,

I first want to thank you for reading these updates. We are very honored when we hear that people are reading these. I was thinking today about how my two greatest passions in life are relationships and writing. These updates have been so much fun for me as I write them and then get to engage in relationship when I receive and respond to your encouraging emails or talk with you about them! Thank you! Thank you too for sharing with us your prayer requests – I do keep track of these in a prayer journal and also pray as God brings you to mind.

We would like to announce to you that CRC World Missions responded to us last week. They said that they would like to pursue a partner relationship with us! We are so thrilled about this because our hope was to be involved with a missions board that had a strong relationship with Nicaragua Christian Academy as CRWM does. God’s hand is also seen in how we are more of an exception than the rule as CRWM usually works with those who are members of the Christian Reformed Church and we currently are not members. We have experienced God’s grace and His love through this positive response from CRWM. Logistically, we are not yet “official” as we need to send in a completed application and go through the process of being approved. Dan and I spent this past weekend working on the application and have completed it. We will keep you posted on the progress with that.

Finally, I’ve had this analogy rolling around in my head as it relates to those of you who are praying for us and making yourselves available to assist us in this process. I was thinking about how I’ve ridden a roller coaster that had very few passengers and have also ridden a roller coaster that had a person in every seat. I’ve found it to be a far more exhilarating experience to ride a roller coaster with lots of people than it is to ride with only a few. We are recognizing that the more people we invite to ride this “roller coaster calling” with us, the more joy we experience in riding the ride. It is fun to celebrate what God is doing in this process with those who are right there on the ride with us – praying, encouraging, and celebrating with us through the ups and downs. This is what we believe “community” looks like. It has been fun to celebrate this week with several people and enjoy their excitement as we shared with them about CRWM. A friend who has been one of our prayer warriors burst into a huge smile and had tears in her eyes when I told her about CRWM’s response. She said, “Lisa, I feel like I’m going with you!” And in a very real sense, you all are. We are thankful for each of you and for how God is using you in our lives! We pray too that God would use us in your lives as well! We also invite you to forward these updates to others as you feel led. There are several more people joining us on the roller coaster this week and we want to welcome you and invite you to visit our blog to catch up on this story and past updates at http://www.vanzoest.blogspot.com/

Praise:

For God’s perfect timing. Rebekah had two days off from school this past week and we used a half a day to get all four of our passports in process. The rest of the time Rebekah and Will enjoyed time at Grandpa and Grandma’s while Dan and I worked on the World Mission Applications. (We emailed them to CRWM last night.)

Will’s cold never developed into a respiratory illness which is unheard of in his history of getting colds! Rebekah is back to full health as well.

I’ve been thinking lately about how I have now enjoyed so many wonderful pain free days in a row as of the beginning of the year. I’ve done some things to change my diet and have felt good enough to get back into an exercise routine. Chiropractic care is helping as well. When the pain began, Rebekah came home from Sunday School with an assignment for her parents to memorize Psalm 103:1-5. Dan and I did memorize it and as I now look back on these past two years, I see the miracle of how He kept His promise as this verse would be my testimony - in a nutshell - of how He’s worked in our lives these past 2 years! He is so amazing, so faithful.

Petition:

Please pray for wisdom for those who will review our application at CRC World Missions and for God to continue to clearly show us “the next step”.

We know that prayer is a critical part of this process and would like to start our support raising journey with corporate prayer on Sunday, March 16. We plan to have a potluck at 12:00 pm and following this, a time of prayer. Would you please RSVP in regard to your interest/availability to join us? (It would help this detailed-challenged person if you would email me your RSVP or call – it is more difficult for me to keep track of these kind of things when they are communicated in passing - Thank you!) I am thinking through child care, etc. right now if this is a need/concern.

Please pray for 10 local couples to commit to doing a small group dinner for us. Our time is short (goal of getting to Nicaragua in August) and we cannot meet with people individually as we did with FamilyLife. Please also pray for families who know and love our children to commit to watching our children during the dinners. We are so blessed with a great community of people who care for our kids. I will send an idea of what this need looks like later this week.

Please pray for Dan as he plans to let his employer know sometime this week or next about our passion to pursue this call to Nicaragua.


I will be getting the “job descriptions” for childcare and small group dinners out later this week. The CRWM application was comprehensive and I needed to complete this first.

Nica Trivia

The name Nicaragua is a combination of Nicarao, which was the largest tribe in the region when the Spanish arrived, and the Spanish word agua (water) which referred to the two large lakes along the country’s Pacific coast.

Nicaragua Christian Academy began in 1991 with 2 teachers and 7 students. There are now 260 students on the English speaking campus grades K - 12 (60% Nicaraguans with other students being from 9 other countries). At the recently developed Spanish speaking campus (4 years old), there are now 220 students grades K – 12.