Web site: www.danvanzoest.com
Nicaragua Christian Academy web site: www.nca.edu.ni/
Our mailing address: Dan Van Zoest; Nicaragua Christian Academy; Apartado 842; Managua, Nicaragua; Central America
Dear Family and Friends,
This update will include some prayer requests in addition to a personal sharing in regard to something that God has been saying to me again and again these past months and weeks. I believe that this is not only something for me, but that His intention is that I share it with others.
Prayer Requests
1) Lisa's cousin, Matt Wieberdink (age 15), was burned on the bottom half of his leg in addition to most his back. He spent a week in the hospital and is now home recovering. Please pray for continued healing and recovery for Matt.
2) Dan will be teaching a class on "Family Budgeting" at NCA on Nov. 19, 22, 23, and 24. Pray for wisdom for him as he prepares and teaches. Also, pray for the students to be open to considering what he will be teaching. This teaching is not consistent with cultural practice, so it will most likely be new for the students to consider.
3) Please continue to pray for safety and health for our family. It has been amazing how healthy we have been in Nicaragua (healthier than we had been in the States!). We are thankful for God's protection and provision.
4) Please pray for us as the holidays approach. This is a particularly difficult time for me (Lisa) as it is very difficult to be away from family at this time. God is already preparing us and directing us in plans to ease the difficulty and we are so thankful! Please pray too for our families back home who also feel our absence at their gatherings.
5) Please pray for the students of NCA. Pray that they would be young people who surrender, who "Come to Jesus", and have a passion for connecting with Him.
6) Please pray for the country of Nicaragua as it is facing uncertain times politically. There is much concern in regard to next year's election.
Sharing:
A month or so ago during the Bible Study I lead with the teachers, we dissected the verse, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." which is found in Matthew 11:28-30. The part that really impacted me was the part about Him calling Himself "gentle and humble in heart." I reflected on how our Savior and Lord is not a task master driving us with the whip and commanding us to do more and more for Him. He is gentle. He is humble in heart. He invites us to be a part of what He is doing – not because He needs us or because there is no one else in the world who can do what we do – but because He knows that in "the working together", we become closer. It's about relationship.
These verses rolled through my mind from that Wednesday through the next few days. I was still thinking about this on Saturday at which time I received a package from my good friend Andi who is one of my "iron sharpens iron" friends from the States. I opened her card and read these words, "I'm sending you and Dan this book as I hope it helps you live more deeply . . . and rest in our Father's open arms" after which she had written the scripture reference – Matt. 11:28 – 30. Ok, so then there were tears, recognizing how God was speaking to me once again about resting in Him. I opened up the package and found a book called "Come Rest" by Richard F. Speight, Jr. and on the first page of the book was written the verses from Matt 11:28-30. I've been reading the book very slowly and sometimes reading chapters again and again, enjoying it very much. He writes, "Are you all stirred up with the cares of this world? You can begin by spending time looking deeply into His eyes. But you can't look deeply from a distance. He is not pointing a finger at you, He is opening His arms. Let go of what holds you back. Run to Jesus. Stumble, crawl, fall- whatever! As you rest in Him, you will grow more content with Him. Then you will be able to freely give His gifts to others.
Ok, so that was Saturday. The next day was Sunday and we all overslept which is unusual, as I normally find it impossible to sleep past 5 AM. So, we are late for church (this is not unusual, as those of you who know us are smiling right now). However, this time we are very, very late. So, we decided to go instead to a Nicaraguan church that we had never visited before. Their service started at 10 AM, giving us more time to get ready. So, we got to the church and got settled with our Bibles and our Spanish/English dictionaries and began listening to the pastor talk about how God is our Shepherd who leads us beside still waters. He restores our soul. A little later in the service, he then tells us to turn to Mateo (Matthew) 11:28 – 30. I remember thinking, "Did I hear that right?" I turned to Matt. 11 and listened to him read the words in Spanish that I read in English, and realized that once again – within the course of 5 days - God spoke this truth to me from His Word. He used a Bible Study, a friend, a book, and then a Latin American pastor as His vessels.
A few days after that Sunday at the Nicaraguan church, God then used my good friend Oswald Chambers to speak this truth to me again. On October 8, I read . . .
Come to me. Matt. 11:28
Is it not humiliating to be told that we must come to Jesus! Think of the things we will not come to Jesus Christ about. If you want to know how real you are, test yourself by these words, "Come to me." In every degree in which you are not real, you will dispute rather than come, you will quibble rather than come, you will go through sorrow rather than come, you will do anything rather than come the last lap of unutterable foolishness "Just as I am." As long as you have the tiniest bit of spiritual impertinence, it will always reveal itself in the fact that you are expecting God to tell you to do a big thing, and all He is telling you to do is to "come".
"Come to me." When you hear those words you will know that something must happen in you before you can come. The Holy Spirit will show you what you have to do, anything at all that will put the axe at the root of the thing which is preventing you from getting through. You will never get further until you are willing to do that one thing. The Holy Spirit will locate the one impregnable thing in you, but He cannot budge it unless you are willing to let Him.
How often have you come to God with your requests and gone away with the feeling – Oh, well, I have done it this time! And yet you go away with nothing, whilst all the time God has stood with outstretched hands not only to take you, but for you to take Him. Think of the invincible, unconquerable, unwearying patience of Jesus – "Come to me."
His words are clear. "Lisa, come to me." He has not only spoken to me about this, but He has also provided a place where I can "come" and "rest" in Him. Ten minutes from our home is a horse farm that is rented by a couple who both teach at NCA. At the beginning of this year, I asked the couple if I could spend one day a month on their property with the purpose of just being with God. They said that they would love it if I would use their farm as a meeting place with God.
On their property is a hill with a small bench on top. The first time I walked up to the top of this hill and looked around, all I could say was, "glory" as my eyes filled with tears. The view is beautiful – the gray silhouette of a volcano in the distance, different shades of green, rolling hills, purple and white flowers speckling the landscape, ocean blue sky with puffy white clouds, and the warm touch sunshine on my back. For the past few months, I've been spending the first Friday of each month here with God – praying, fasting, reading, journaling, listening, thinking, crying, laughing, and just soaking in more and more of who He is. There have been weeks when I've felt that I didn't have time to spend this day with Him because my plate is full of family commitments, ministry tasks, and people to meet with. However, I'm finding that when I meet with Him, even in the midst – especially in the midst – of this business, He frees up time on other days that I did not know that I had. I'm finding that the things He has called me to are getting done, and I am enjoying a much deeper level of joy and peace than I have in the past several years.
The last time that I enjoyed this kind of joy and peace was during other seasons in my life when I regularly had this kind of appointment with God. In MI, I would drive to the lake and sit on the beach all day - reading, journaling, listening to the waves, and talking with God. There was also a time when we lived in Grand Rapids that I needed to drive an hour to work which also served as an amazing time of connecting with the Lord. In IA, I would go to a retreat center for the day and walk through a wooded area and spend time connecting with my Creator. God also provided me the opportunity to have a key to a church we were attending, and I would spend an hour in the sanctuary each week - sitting in front of the cross, talking to Him, listening to Him, singing, and just being with Him. As I reflect on those times in my life, I also recognize that it was during these seasons that I got to experience God's power through me in ways that often surprised and always amazed me. I watched people come to know Christ as Savior and others learn how to walk in surrender for the first time. I got to see lives transformed and it was exciting for me to be a "player", to join God in what He was already doing in the lives of those around me.
As I remember these seasons of "Coming to Jesus" in my own life, I am that much more convinced that this is how He calls us to live. It seems that when we are focused on just that one thing – coming to Him – it is possible to experience His lighter load and easy yoke and rest for our souls. And then, He does far more through us than we can do by working harder and putting in more time. He says, "Be still. Rest in me. And . . .
"Come to me." Will you?
Peace to you,
Dan, Lisa (the writer), Rebekah, and Will
