Back Again

Thank you for your patience with me. I was very relieved to recover the old website last weekend and get the site back up again!

Usually, the rainy season begins in Nicaragua sometime mid-late May. We had three days in a row last week that were very cloudy, and we woke up to drizzly weather two of those days. I thought the season had finally turned. Yet the heavy rain still hasn’t arrived. It’s been dry and hot instead. I always enjoy the change of the (two) seasons here. Even though we had a blessedly temperate dry season (late November-late May), it’s still nice to see rain. This year we’ll pay even more attention to the rainfall, especially watching the rain come down on our property to see where we need to mitigate any water accumulation.

The wall project is finally finished! We now have functioning gates and are able to use our driveway. Jessenia has been beautifying the property for a few weeks, planting and putting her special touch on the land. I’m so thankful she has a vision and a gift for gardening. As for the layout, we are working on nailing down the details for the master plan. It’s been discussed over and over, but now it needs measured precision. Once we define exactly where everything goes, we can begin construction. We will begin with an enclosed tool shed made out of cinder blocks, which will be at the back of the car port (open air garage). This will allow us to lock up tools and have a covered area under which to work in the rain while keeping materials dry. We will also build a water tower to ensure there is a constant water supply for construction, and eventually for the houses. (The water goes out during the day fairly frequently.) Once we have the dimensions defined, we can come up with a more accurate estimate of costs. For now, we probably have enough money to build the two structures mentioned above, but nothing else. We will definitely need to raise more funds to even begin building the ministry house. If you would like to participate by sending in a donation, please do so here.

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It’s hard to believe that we are nearly halfway done with the year. The children will be preparing for their first semester exams this week–starting them next week–and then they’ll go with their families for the break. The between semesters break is long this year, nearly 4 weeks, with June 16 being the last day and July 13 being the first day of the 2nd semester. It will be good for everyone to get away with their immediate families for a time. Victoria and Angela, the full-time caregivers, will really enjoy the time off as they’ve been working non-stop since January, with only a week off for Easter.

The children are doing well for the most part. Jeremy turned 12 at the beginning of May, so we now officially have 3 adolescents struggling to learn life lessons in the midst of a pandemic. He is a good guy and does well despite being the only boy in the ministry. He is very patient and kind, and even when he gets mad he doesn’t hold onto his anger. Give him a few minutes and he’ll be back to his smiling self. Similarly, Bianca has a good handle on her emotions. She is self-confident enough to no longer get caught up in the constant bickering of the other two girls, and she does not easily lose patience or her temper. She holds her place as the oldest (14) well, relating peacefully to the other three, even if they sometimes get on her nerves. Margine just turned 13 last Friday. She is trying to grow and mature, fighting against that part of her that longs for the innocence and lack of responsibility she sees Vanessa and Jeruahel enjoy. She has many childlike habits that need to be left behind so she can flourish into an intelligent, responsible and trustworthy teenager. Vanessa is 8 years old and often finds herself caught in a funny spot. On the one hand, she’s the smallest and the youngest, with older siblings Bianca and Jeremy accustomed to putting up with her childish ways. Yet she and Margine fight all the time, as part of Margine is jealous of the attention Vanessa gets as the youngest, and Vanessa likes

to flaunt it in Margine’s face. They both truly love each other and play together often, but then something sparks the insecurity from one or the other and the bickering begins. On the other side, Vanessa feels the exact same way when Jeruahel is around. Her patience all of a sudden gets tested as she plays with Jeruahel, and her self-confidence also gets challenged watching Jeruahel get the attention of the youngest. Again, the two of them love each other tremendously, but both can get a little jealous of the other and begin to bicker. We try to see it as good training ground for life, and we try to point them to dealing with their issues themselves. We try to remember to ask them if they’ve spoken to each other before coming to tell us what the other one did. “Try”, though sometimes we too are impatient.

The big news in our lives is that I am going to teach two classes starting in August. There is an international Christian school here where Jeruahel will begin to attend in January 2022. Currently Jeruahel is in kindergarten at the Spanish speaking version of NCA (Nicaragua Christian Academy), where the children in the ministry have attended for years. NCA-International is an accredited ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) English speaking school using the US school system and calendar. It will be a change for Jeruahel, but one that we believe will greatly benefit her. Teaching is something that has always interested me, and I had thought about trying it part-time in the past, but timing never seemed right. I believe the LORD has led me to start now. The principal at NCA is a friend, so I emailed him to ask about possibly teaching a Bible or math class. They didn’t have any openings in their Bible classes, but they were excited about me filling a need in their math department. I will be teaching two sections of Algebra 1, one to 8th graders and the other to 9th graders. The school has plenty of resources available to help me succeed, and I can’t think of a better situation to walk into as a first-time teacher. The staff is excited to help me become a great teacher, and they have a solid curriculum and well-established framework from which to teach. The actual classroom time will be 7:28-9:11am Monday through Friday, so even with class prep and grading, I’ll still have time to carry on all the needed ministry functions with EdificaSion. One big factor in the decision process was how encouraging and supportive Jesssenia was/is as I venture into this new arena. I’m also really excited to have a professional outlet and join the staff at NCA. I’m an extrovert, so having peers to interact with is a welcome change from 11 years of interaction with only children and people we employ 🙂

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I’ll end with a few prayer requests. We seem to have hit a few weeks in a row of different health issues. Most of it seems normal/explainable due to the environment and adjustment to puppy life (Jeruahel has had stomach issues and currently a seemingly allergic reaction to dog hair touching her eye), but having one thing after another makes me look to the spiritual reality behind what we see. So here are the prayer requests:

• The Holy Spirit restoring holiness and wholeness to our spirits, souls and bodies by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of our Testimony, since by Jesus’ stripes we were healed
• Jeruahel’s eye infection to clear up and her body to learn to deal with whatever caused it, that it wouldn’t happen again
• Jessenia’s digestive system being restored to full function as designed by her Maker in her DNA in Christ Jesus
• Victoria’s knee being strengthened and restored in the realm of the spirit and in the realm of the flesh, in her muscles, ligaments, bones, joints, tendons, cartilage, fluids, veins and arteries
• Jeremy’s full recovery from a fall that bruised a few of his ribs
• We continually place the Blood of the Lamb on the door frames of our homes and our hearts, that sickness, disease and death have no place in us nor in our homes

May the God of Peace soon crush Satan underneath our feet! Romans 16:20