Dear Family and Friends,
I would like to begin our letter today just thanking you once again for so faithfully walking with us in so many ways. We continue to be amazed at your consistent support of and love for our family. I’ve thought so many times that I am so thankful for the fact that we needed to build a team of supporters to do the work that we do because this experience would be not be nearly as rich had we done it alone. The journey is much deeper and much more meaningful when shared with others. So, thank you once again for journeying with us.
My plan for this update is to share short stories once again to give you an idea about the things that are happening here. Each of the captions below will complete the sentence “We are . . . .”
So, we are Sweating: April and May are hot months. Hot to the point where we feel like our level of productivity is significantly impacted – in part because we are drinking lots of water and visiting the bathroom much of the day! There are times when Dan or I collapse on the bed at 7:00 PM and sleep until the next morning because the heat drains our energy. Rebekah had a 102 temp the other day which quickly went down when we had her drink and drink and put lots of ice on her head. So, we were thinking that this too was related to the heat. We have had two good rains and once this begins to happen regularly, it will begin to cool down. The first rain here is like the first snow back home – all the kids run outside and run around and splash in puddles and get completely soaked. It is also fun to experience clouds again, as we have had 6 months with no weather change!
We are . . . Celebrating: Two exciting bits of news about what God is doing in terms of expanding the borders of NCA. First, there has been a piece of property that has been owned by a Baptist mission on the school grounds of NCA. This piece of property went up for sale recently and NCA was able to purchase that land which will provide opportunities for further expansion in the future. Second, we recently found out that NCA will begin building a third school soon! An individual is funding the purchase of the land and the construction of the initial buildings. This school will be located in the city of Matagalpa, which is about 2 hours north of Managua. Our hope is that the new school will be ready to open by February 2012 which is the beginning of the Nicaraguan school year. The new school will most likely start with a focus on secondary students in grades 7 through 11. Both of these developments continue to encourage us as we see God moving in other parts of Nicaragua through Nicaragua Christian – a school that started out as a few missionary families who were home schooling their kids. They responded to the request of Nicaraguan families to include their children in what they were doing with their own. Today, 30% of the NCA English student body are missionary kids, 60% are Nicaraguan students, and 10% are South Korean; and most of the students at NCA Nejapa are Nicaraguan students.
We are . . . Mentoring. This year, Dan has begun working with a teacher in the area of raising financial support. This role is so important as the process of raising support is a difficult one, but can also be an amazing opportunity to come to know God as “Provider”. For weeks, Dan and this teacher have been listening to seminars, talking, praying, and creating a brochure to give to potential supporters. This past week, the teacher began making calls to people they had sent the brochure to. Dan and the teacher have been amazed and encouraged by God’s provision through only a few individuals. It has been such a joy for Dan to watch, reminding him so much of our own experience – when God did and continues to provide in such incredible ways.
We are . . . Discipling and Being Discipled. This past month, I was scheduled to speak to the Upper Elementary students about the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Chapel usually begins at 8:30, then we sing for 10 minutes, celebrate birthdays for another 5 or so, and then the speaker speaks. High School chapel does not start until 9:15, so I always count on having 5 – 10 minutes after 9 to complete the chapel message. Every minute counts. I should mention too that I love preparing for the chapel message – I spend hours researching, thinking, praying, and writing it out. And the day I get to deliver the message is like Christmas Day for me. Well, an hour before I am to speak for this particular chapel, a teacher asks me if I got "the email message". I said that I had not. She said that I had to be done that day at exactly 9:00 because the High School needed to set up their band. I told her that I would try, but I felt frustrated because I would need to pare down what I had planned to say.
I went to the bathroom and started to complain to God about how hard I had worked on this and how I really wanted to share what I had prepared. Then, I started to strategize as I thought about how I could ask the band director to sing fewer songs and talk with the other teacher about just making the birthday part go quicker. It was at this point that God spoke to my heart saying, “Lisa, I desire more for you to live this message than to give it.” The heart of the message that I had prepared was to point out how Jesus said to His Father in the Garden, “Not my way, but your way” just prior to His crucifixion. I planned to share with them how I believed that this was not the only time that Jesus said this to His Father – I believe He lived His life saying this with every situation/problem He encountered. He lived His life in continual surrender. After receiving what God spoke so gently to my heart, my mood and my perspective completely changed and I worshiped God in the bathroom, thanking Him that He cares far more about my relationship with Him than what I “do “ in His name.
I pared down both my message and the power point I had planned to use and arrived at the chapel area minutes before chapel began. It was then that the teacher who had told me earlier that I needed to be finished at 9:00 came up to me and said that she had been looking all over for me. She told me that the band director told her that he was not planning to sing that day as he was not prepared to do so that day. This would give me back the 10 minutes I thought that I had lost! I stood there smiling – it is just like God to give us back what we give up when we surrender. Dan recovered my power point and I quickly readjusted the message. There has never been a time that I’ve spoken in chapel with such passion and conviction. For the next few days, I heard from teachers and students and our kids in regard to the power of that message. Through this experience, I am reminded again that powerful living comes through surrender (giving up my way and going along with His way) - such an amazing paradox.
We are . . . Relating. As I look back on this past year, I see how God answered a very specific prayer for community. He has been teaching us a lot about how to make and maintain friendships here. It can be difficult here to make friends as people come and go so frequently. In addition, many people host mission teams which is a 24 hour job. So, when our friends have a team, we know that they are unavailable for the duration of the time the mission team is here which can sometimes be weeks. We learn to enjoy the moment we have with people today, and we are learning to be very intentional about those relationships. This year, I organized a “dinner group” with 3 other missionary families that meets once a month. We have really enjoyed getting to know these families and find great joy in sharing our lives with them. God has also provided me with a weekly walking partner and an accountability partner – both of these women are 10 years older than me and sharpen me in so many ways. Dan too is enjoying new relationships with some guys that he is getting to know better. And the kids have had a great year with lots of friends inviting them to do things and lots of friends hanging out at our home. We praise God for these relationships, recognizing them as gifts from Him.
We are . . . Trusting. Last week a friend of mine came home to find that her house was being robbed. The burglars took off in a car and started heading out of the neighborhood. My friend followed them as her neighborhood has a guard at the exit who lets people both in and out of the neighborhood. My friend started honking and honking to alert the guard that he should not let the car in front of her out. And that was when one of the men pointed a gun at my friend and another man pointed a gun at the guard. She stopped honking and the guard let them go. A few months ago, another friend honked at her own gate to let her husband know that she was home at which time a man came up to her car and pointed a gun at her head gesturing for her to get out of her car. She did and they took the car. Over our 2 ½ years here, we have heard many stories like these from week to week – things like this that have happened to friends and people that we know personally. Those who live and serve in rural areas in Nicaragua endure the challenges of primitive living. Our challenge in the city of Managua is safe living. Your prayers for the recovery of those who have experienced such trauma would be appreciated as well as your continued prayers for our and their safety. We do live our lives here so much more aware of our daily need for God’s protection and care.
We are . . . Preparing. We will be traveling back to the States this summer with the purpose of meeting with churches, individual supporters, and seeing our families. We will be sending you information in regard to some desserts that we are planning for the Cedar Rapids area where we plan to meet with individual supporters. We will also be visiting with supporters as we travel between Iowa and Michigan. We plan this year to meet with four churches this summer and then will meet with four next summer which means that we would see all of our churches every other year. Dan will continue to work through the summer, keeping office hours at libraries around the area we will be staying. We will stay with my (Lisa's) parents again this summer which is and hour and 15 minutes away from Cedar Rapids.
In addition, we are hoping to rest, carving out time to be with our families as well. Dan and I have been very intentional in thinking about and practicing the activities that will “increase our shelf life” on the mission field. Our goal is to maintain our health physically, emotionally, and mentally which will impact our endurance on the field. Our visits home once a year have been a part of that plan and are something that is supported and encouraged by our mission. We are so thankful for that. Thank you too for your prayers for us as we transition from one “world” to the next which always involves grief as we let go of what has now become “normal” for us and embrace what is less familiar.
I’ve not listed prayer requests thinking that as you read about our lives, God will direct you how to pray as you think through what we have shared.
We look forward to seeing many of you very soon. Thank you once again for your support and for your prayers.
Peace to you,
Dan, Lisa (the writer), Rebekah, and Will Van Zoest