Dear Family and Friends,
It is March Madness! This is something we get to enjoy here since the games are broadcasted on the internet. We are having such a great time watching the games, as we all love basketball. There have been times, however, when the internet has been in and out and I’ve experienced a new “definition” of “March Madness”. And our kids were a little confused at first too because our school here is called Nicaragua Christian Academy or NCA. And so they were wondering a bit about the connection between our school and the NCAA tournament. Just a good example of how confusing it can be to grow up cross culturally. But, it has been our joy to share this tradition with them and to enjoy it together.
This update will focus on one thing that we see God doing through a ministry that is developing with the kids in 4th – 6th grade at NCA. It is something that I did not even see until recently and am excited about how God is unfolding a vision for ministry with the upper elementary kids one step at a time. Following the update are some pictures that "tell the story" of some of our family's and NCA's most recent events.
Shortly after arriving at NCA a couple years ago, one of the teachers asked me to speak at an elementary chapel. From that time on, I have been speaking in chapel – usually once a semester. I've really enjoyed this opportunity as it gives me a chance to connect with kids as I speak and I love preparing for these messages as I learn so much in the process. Then, last summer, I began to sense “a nudge” to engage a bit more closely with Rebekah and Will’s class through more direct discipleship. I prayed through this quite a bit as this is something I had never really done before, but it just seemed that I was being led in this direction. God also gave me a plan over the summer for how to engage with them and so I arrived back at school last fall prepared to take steps forward. However, I had talked with no one about this and did not really know when I would do this. My idea was to meet with students during the 10 to 20 minutes many of them normally spend in before school or after school care. However, God had something different and better in mind.
He led me to talk with the 4th grade teacher (Will’s teacher) about this vision and I asked her about whether she thought before school or after school would work better. She responded by saying that she would like to offer me 25 minutes of her class time once a week to share a devotion with the kids. I then talked with Rebekah’s 5th grade teacher and he also invited me to spend the same amount of time in his class! So now, once a week, I spend 25 – 30 minutes with each of these classes sharing with them about what it means to be a disciple of Christ. It has been my joy and pleasure to be involved with these classes and I find myself more and more passionate about pouring truth into kids between the ages of 9 and 12 – they are really thinking through things and asking amazing questions.
It was through a conversation with Will one day that God deepened and grew my passion for this ministry. Will shared with me something that I had never known about him. He shared that while he was attending his 4 year old preschool class back in Cedar Rapids, IA, there was an elderly couple who came to talk with their class once a week about Jesus. Will said that it was during one of their visits when they shared about the gospel that he truly understood what Jesus did for him. It was later, while he was laying in his bed one night that he would receive Christ as his Savior. I had never heard this story before – I knew about the couple who would come to his class. I knew about how he had received Christ as a small child while he was laying in his bed. But, I never knew about the connection between receiving the gospel message from them and God using it to quicken his heart. So, what I believe is that God saved that story to be told for this specific time and place – for a time when I am that lady coming into an elementary classroom once a week sharing with kids about who Jesus is. Hearing Will’s story was, for me, like pouring gasoline on a fire – my passion for this ministry has deepened and widened as I recognize the opportunity that God has given me to join Him in what He is doing.
Then, a few months into the school year last fall, Rebekah and I had a conversation that God used to develop His plan even further. Rebekah was talking about her friend Emma who was on furlough in the States at the time. She talked about how she missed her and what a good friend she is. She talked about how she and Emma were keeping each other accountable last year for certain things – ways that they wanted to live that were more honorable to God. I was impressed with their desire to be accountable to each other and I pondered that for awhile. Accountability partnerships have been a part of my walk with Christ for the past 10 years, but I was not sure about when to encourage this with our kids. Rebekah and my conversation sparked the idea to support the girls in what they were already doing in addition to providing them with some guidance and encouragement. I asked Rebekah if she would be interested in this and she said that she would, as did Emma.
Our meeting time is before school once a week during the 20 minutes that Dan is in devotions with the teachers. After a few weeks of meeting, the group developed into a group of 3 – Rebekah, Emma, and Lorenzy. Will is also now meeting with a group – it is him and 2 friends named Isaac. Both of these groups actually started with 2 kids. Lorenzy became a part of the group after Rebekah and Emma started talking about their desire to spend more time with Lorenzy. I also watched how Lorenzy handled a conflict and through this felt a sense of leading to invite her to be a part of the group. The way that we got two Isaacs is that one day the Isaac who was not initially invited just showed up at the door where we meet and asked if he could join us. Will and the other Isaac said “sure”. God, once again, seemed to have planned these groups to be groups of 3, not 2. “Accountability groups” is another area that I am not real familiar with when it comes to how to do this with kids – but once again, we are just asking God to show us the next step. For now, we are reading the biography of George Muller (missionary) and talking a bit about him and his walk with God.
So, I was just thinking this all through the other day – thanking God for the opportunity to be a part of this and just marveling about how He put it all together. And then I had kind of like an “ah ha” moment. I thought about Jesus and how He spoke to the multitudes – kind of like how I have the opportunity to speak to a large group at chapel. But, then out of that multitude, he chose 12 – like the 2 classes of little disciples that I get to relate to in a more up close and personal way. But, then out of the 12, He chose 3 to whom He would reveal more and relate to more intimately – the 3 girls and 3 boys I meet with once a week. And then I reflected on how this all happened – not through my planning or strategizing or “making it happen”. He did it. And I get to be a part of it.
If there is one thing that I desire to communicate to kids about God, it is that life with Him is an adventure. That we can wake up each morning and look forward to how it is that He will communicate with us that day – will it be through nature, the smile of someone else, through something someone says, through something that we read, through convicting us of a way that is not right for us, through an insight that He brings to mind as we think or pray, or will it be through something difficult or challenging or heart breaking? And when we see it, when we hear it, and when we recognize His voice in it – we grow in intimacy with Him and our desire to respond to Him with gratitude (through the form of service) grows and deepens. My passion is fueled by the fact that this is a way that I’ve needed to intentionally learn to live as my natural tendency is to look through a lens of worry and fear as I interpret the things going on around me or to burden myself with how I should do better/be better/do more/be more. And my hope and passion is to help kids to learn to wear the lens of “expectation” now – to look for God throughout their day and to see opportunities to join Him in what He is doing, to pause and look for how He is directing them. And to live the adventure of following Christ regardless of where He leads them and how they might feel about it - because on the other side of that is a life, an abundant life, that we can in no way manufacture for ourselves.
It may seem that those who live on the mission field are really living this adventure with God. I can tell you that this is not necessarily true. We too try to do things with our own resources instead of going to God and asking for His help, we get discouraged, we struggle with anxiety, we hang on to bitterness, we operate within our comfort zones, and we resist taking the next step God is nudging us toward. Living the adventure with God is not a “place” that you go to live the adventure, it is a realm within which we all can live in the place God has planted us. It is about waking up in the morning and looking forward to finding His fingerprints throughout the day, knowing that He is an engaging and intimate God who is pursuing us – not just for eternity – but for today, for this very moment.
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.” Jeremiah 29:12,13
Thank you so very much for your faithfulness. You are among the obvious “God fingerprints” in our lives as you encourage us, support us financially and in prayer, and just love us. We are so grateful, so thankful, so aware of our engaging and intimate God through you.
Peace to you,
Dan, Lisa (the writer), Rebekah, and Will Van Zoest