Bumpy Beginnings

The first two months of 2022 have come and gone. We hope it was a good beginning for you and yours. As anticipated, it has been a bumpy beginning for us in the midst of so many changes.

Jeruahel started school in January at NCAI, where I teach. She has always loved school, so it was no surprise how quickly she jumped into the classroom and felt right at home. Her only complaint about school continues to be having to wake up so early. Even kindergarten starts at 7:15am here in Nicaragua! Her classroom is much more diverse at NCA International than it was last year. In addition to Americans and Nicaraguans, she has Korean, French, Dutch, Middle Eastern and other Latin American classmates. They have lots of fun learning and playing together in multiple languages!

The children started their school year at NCA Nejapa on February 1. We had a meeting with the families two weekends prior to continue talking about expectations and preparing everyone for the changes this year brings. We reviewed what they can expect from us as EdificaSion as well as what we expect from them, both parents and children. We covered a lot of logistics with bus routes, pick up times, daily routine and overall schedule. The weekend before school started we took the families to Open House. The children were excited to begin a new year and we were glad to have their moms there with us.

One month in, I have to say that things have gone smoother than I expected, praise God. I thought there would be two good weeks of the honeymoon period at the beginning, and then I was prepared for big bumps. Thankfully, Alba and Francisca (moms) have continued to get the children to the bus stop on time most days, and there haven’t been any major incidents at school of which to speak. The real test seems to be hitting now, as homework picks up and quizzes and tests begin. Elisa and Iris are our two tutors, and they have been working hard with the children. It’s a daily chore to help Ezequiel learn to read fluidly, and Noel seems to feel lost in a different subject everyday. We continue to be encouraged by their work ethic, though I know that Noel in particular has waivered in the face of so much change. All of us try to encourage him daily.

I plan to give a more in depth update on each child in the next post, but I wanted to paint a picture for you of what a ministry day looks like for us as a whole. Here’s a typical chronological order of events.

4:30am Children wake up to get ready for school
5:55- Eduardo starts his bus route in the big blue van
6:15- Noel, Margine & Ezequiel are picked up from their bus stop, a 5 minute walk from their house
6:30- Bianca, Jeremy & Vanessa get picked up at their stop, an 8 minute moto-taxi ride, or a 30 minute walk
6:35- Daniel & Jeruahel depart for school, arriving 7 minutes later
7:00- With everyone on time and no traffic, the children arrive at school
7:20-2:20- School day
7:30- Jessenia arrives at the construction site and proceeds to make sure the workers are on task and following the plans
12:15pm- Jessenia picks Jeruahel up from school and takes her home
2:20- Eduardo picks the children up and takes them to tutoring in an apartment we’re renting until construction is finished
2:45- Daniel leaves NCAI to go to the apartment and help with tutoring/check in with the children
4:30- Children pack up any unfinished homework and start loading up in the van for the ride home
5:00- Noel, Margine & Ezequiel are dropped off at their bus stop
5:20- Bianca, Jeremy & Vanessa are dropped off at their bus stop
6:00- Eduardo returns from his bus route

As you can see, we have long days. This is a constant prayer request for us all. As the year grinds on, we pray that we find our rest in the LORD in the midst of the daily challenges. The other prayer request is where we have seen the most bumps–working relationships. The schedule and added pressures have brought more strain on working relationships, so prayers for peace, grace and understanding would be much appreciated.

While we’re all at school, Jessenia is busy with construction! We are happy with where we are now, but we had to make some drastic changes in our construction process in late January. The very long story cut short is that we had to get out of our turnkey contract with the contractors we had hired, and agree on how much money they were going to give back to us. We cancelled the contract because they did a terrible job laying foundations. They started on the ministry center, and by the time we terminated the contract they had already knocked a wall down to fix a curve, laid several layers of cinder blocks without filling them with adequate cement and rebar, and the house was out of plumb and not square. We tested the quality of the cement foundation they had poured at the Bain house, and it didn’t even reach the minimum reading, much less the base standard that is 200% higher. The cinder blocks they purchased for both projects were also tested and found to be well below certified standards, even as low as 33% of the required PSI resistance.

It took about a week to fix the problems with the ministry house, removing most of the blocks they had placed, squaring the house and strengthening the whole structure as we rebuilt up. Now we are expecting to have the walls finished this week. At the Bain house, we had to make drastic changes not only to fix the foundations, but also to fix the measurements. The first contractors didn’t even measure the house correctly in their layout. So we had to start over, getting all the levels adjusted and then cut a bunch of rebar and dig some new foundation trenches. We ended up adding eight concrete columns just to be sure the house wouldn’t fall on us when earthquakes hit. It was an expensive lesson in learning who not to trust, but we are confident in the quality of what we are building now. Jessenia has put her Civil Engineering degree to use as she has taken over the project, getting counsel from experienced friends with whom she graduated. She is enjoying the process 🙂

I am also enjoying teaching full-time. There was not a need for me to teach more high school classes, though I am still teaching two sections of Algebra 1. Instead, I am assisting in one Study Skills class for students who need help with their study skills. I am also teaching an ELD (English Language Development) class to two 4th graders who are behind the rest of their class. I aid the 5th grade teacher during in-class reading and writing times (about 25 minutes per day) and do occupational therapy exercises with a preschool boy who was born without his right forearm and hand. Lots of learning for me! I have enjoyed the different age groups, as well as the new challenges and subject materials, though it does make for a lot of running around during the day.

Overall, we are making it through. As anticipated, it is tiring and a little bumpy, but the change has been good for our family. And the change seems to be going well for the children and their families. We are blessed in this season of busyness, and we look forward to the day the construction is finished. It will be wonderful to settle into our permanent home and ministry center. Thank you to all of you who have supported us and given financially over the years and in this project. We thank God for His Goodness and Provision through so many of you.