I’ve decided to use “fall colors” to write our update. We do what we can here to celebrate the changing of the seasons back home, as it is one of the things we all miss. I was talking with some American and Canadian teachers the other night who said that during October, they carve watermelons and put candles in them! I think we will be trying that this year.
For this update, Dan and I will be sharing some specifics in regard to what we are up to these days.
This past week, we got together with the families who are a part of our missions organization – Christian Reformed World Missions. Also present at our gathering was a prayer team that is connected with CRWM, whose mission focus is to pray for missionaries on-site. One of the team members was sharing with Dan that while their team was praying at NCA, the question that came to mind for him was, “Who is pouring into these teachers?” Dan smiled as he listened and then said, “I know who!” It was so confirming for me to hear this, as God’s call to me 2 years ago included these same words, “As they (the teachers) pour out, who pours in?”
I mentioned in our last update that we currently have 4 separate Bible Studies with 22 women participating. We are receiving requests for more Bible Studies as well and will meet together as a leadership team of 4 to seek God in this. We have grown in number, however, my primary interest is related to the depth to which we are growing in our walk with the Lord. I think stories best illustrate such things, so I will share three stories with you about a few of the women who attend my Bible Study :
- One lady recently shared that she was initially not sure if the Bible Study we were doing would really be something that would help her to grow in her walk with the Lord. However, after attending for a few weeks, she said that she has been amazed at the impact in her life. She mentioned how our time together is a time of refreshment, that she has become more disciplined in her time with the Lord, and that it is something she looks forward to each week.
- One of the teachers in our Bible Study would come to our group expressing how she was feeling very stressed. A few weeks ago, I noticed how her countenance had completely changed and she shared that she has begun looking at her Bible and no longer feeling a sense of guilt for not reading it. She shared that she now experiences a sense of “invitation”. This week, she reported that she is now getting up at 5 AM to read her Bible and is incorporating more of God’s Word into her teaching.
- A teacher from our Spanish Campus shared that she has felt God leading her to begin a Bible Study for girls at school. She shared that there has never been a Bible Study at the school before and that most of these girls have never attended a Bible Study. This week she shared that she handed out sign-up sheets and already has 11 girls who have expressed interest.
One other area of passion and ministry for me is in sharing a half hour devotion with the 4th and 5th Grades every Tuesday. I am using the same curriculum with them as I am with the Women’s Study – it is called “God Sightings”. The focus of this study is to help people to develop the habits of reading the Bible devotionally and journaling in addition to inspiring them to see God in what is going on around them. Each week with the kids, I will focus on one verse/truth. We usually do some kind of activity, and then I will give them an assignment such as, “Look for Jesus in Disguise this week” (When you do it unto the least of these, you do it unto me) or “Share one way that you have loved God with your mind this past week” (Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, . . .) . Then, we will come back the next week and share our stories. Last week I was challenged and inspired by a 5th grade Nicaraguan boy who said that his father wakes up at 3 AM each day to pray. This boy said that he “loved God with his mind” (which involves obedience and not necessarily “feeling” like doing something) by asking his Dad to wake him at 3 AM so that he could pray with him.
I’m also finding that this time with them also draws out things that they are thinking or believing that are not true. This past week, I was focusing on how Jesus told the disciples to be like little children. I asked the class what Jesus saw in kids that he wanted the adults to learn from. I was looking for things like “laughter/joy, trusting hearts, carefree spirit, etc. But, what several kids shared was that children are more pure and less sinful than adults. I thought about how destructive this line of thinking can be in terms of their not seeing their desperate need for Christ. We will be talking more next week about this and I look forward to how God will continue to teach each one of us as we learn together.
On a personal note, it has been a joy for me to share with the classes that our kids attend. I get to see them in their context and get to know their classmates and the culture of their class. God is challenging me too in the area of loving the kids in these classes who have and sometimes do hurt the hearts of my own. This has been difficult at times, but I do see how God is teaching both me and the kids more about His grace as we learn to love others without expecting anything back. One more thing that I enjoy is how our kids are able to see me in a role among their peers. The other night as Rebekah and I were talking, she looked at me and said, “Mom, have you ever thought about becoming a teacher? I think you would be good at it.” People have suggested this to me before, but never has this suggestion had the same kind of impact as hearing it from my daughter. I told her how much I appreciated that, but that my passion really is to be a Mom. She smiled.
Dan wrote the following update in regard to his work at NCA -
Each quarter the NCA departmental chairs from Pre-K, Elementary, High School, and Spanish meet together with the administrative team. This past Thursday we all enjoyed lunch together as we met for a few hours on Thursday. Meeting with these teachers and school leaders reminded me once again how God has placed a very special group of people together here at NCA.
We talked about a number of administrative things like establishing next year’s school calendar, NCA’s admissions process, translating parent communications to Spanish, staff recognitions and documentation needed for the changing legal environment in Nicaragua. We also talked about the following two upcoming events at NCA:
About 80 of our high school students will be participating in a 30 hour fast at NCA this weekend to raise awareness about world hunger. After the fast is done the parents of many of the students will be serving a large meal to the students at NCA. During the fast some of the students will be painting Bible verses on various buildings on our campus and we all gave feedback on what verses to use and where to place them.
Each year the high school student council hosts a talent show for all of the students at NCA. Students from elementary through high school participate in singing, dancing, playing instruments, and showing off various other talents. We were able to work on finalizing the date and time for this year’s event.
In addition to working with the administrative team at NCA I will be doing the following coming up…
- · teaching a high school class for a few days on how to create a family budget
- · joining the high school students for their upcoming field trip
- · advising a couple of students on their video production class project
- · working on connecting a Christian school in California with our Spanish school (NCA Nejapa) - we will probably have their Spanish language classes interact with our English language classes
- · helping someone in the US who is interested in enrolling a Nicaraguan student at NCA
- · sending an email out to all of the sponsors in our NCA Nejapa child sponsorship program
- · working with ACSI and Worldwide Christian Schools in the US and Canada to make sure the donations received have been distributed to NCA
Thank you so much for your care and support of our family. It amazes me each day to see the many different ways God is impacting the lives of the students, parents, and staff at Nicaragua Christian Academy.
I will soon write a more “devotional” update that will also include our prayer requests. Thanks so much for reading this, for your interest, and for your prayers. We are thankful for you!
Peace to you,
Dan, Lisa, Rebekah, and Will Van Zoest