Ayudame!

It is amazing how things that would be no big deal in the States have the potential to be moments of panic here in a different country.  Yesterday, I went shopping at PriceSmart, which is the Nicaraguan equivalent of Sam’s Club or Costco.  It really does look exactly like it’s counterpart in the States, complete with the food area where you can buy pizza or a hot dog.  Being in this environment, you could even forget you are in a different country.  I was feeling pretty good about my shopping trip (in large part due to the fact that  I  actually found it, which means I made it through 2 of Managua’s crazy rotundas!), but when I got up to the checkout line, I realized that I had lost my membership card somewhere in the store as I was shopping.   Suddenly, it became VERY apparent to me that I was in a different country.  How was I going to explain this to the check-out person with my limited Spanish? I thought about all the words I would need to know to navigate the problem, proceeded to panic and very seriously considered abandoning my cart and just walking out of the store.  In a wonderful and blessed turn of events, I ran into another missionary that I knew and was able to use her card to check out with my groceries, although I did make myself go to the front desk and ask what to do (it wasn’t until later that I remembered that Andrew and I had just learned the word for “to turn in,” as in “did someone turn in my card? Oh well.  Next time.) As I reflect on this situation, I realize that I am very accustomed to feeling competent and self-reliant.  Being in situations where I feel helpless in a rare thing for me, and let me tell you, it is humbling!  I know that God is using these experiences to challenge me and to grow me into a person who puts my faith not in myself, but it Him, and I am thankful. 

Please continue to pray for our family as we attempt to better our Spanish so that we can more fully take part in the world around us. 

Teaching Preschool!?

Most of you know that teaching preschool wasn't on my bucket list. I've had teaching experiences now with kindergarteners through super-seniors in high school, but I hadn't ever considered working with those not much higher than my knees. When NCA's positions were posted this past spring, I was a little discouraged. My options were basically preschool or K-12 art (yikes!). Was this a sign that it wasn't a good time or place for us to make this move? Was God trying to tell us something?

We decided that God was telling us to go, and to trust that he'll provide me with the skills and energy needed for a "new" job in a new environment. And it has been a great first two weeks! Not only is the preschool thing new, but so is working in an ELL environment (13/17 kids speak almost purely Spanish), as is working in a Christian school. I am not bored! God is stretching me but also allowing me to use prior experiences in my life to help meet the needs of my students.

For the last nine years, I've taught students with moderate cognitive impairments in public schools, and I was a bit worried that teaching preK would be TOTALLY different, and that I would be unqualified. There are actually many similarities between my young language learners, and my former students with disabilities. They thrive on visuals, routines, repetition, structure, hands-on learning, engagement in learning tasks, social skills practice, life skills practice. These are things I've done for 10 years already! I do have a few children with special education needs, and parents have expressed to me how thankful they are that I've followed God's call to NCA to provide a good education for their children. That has been really affirming!

 I'm also able to use my "experience" as a Children's Worship teacher in my classroom. Rather than "Bible" class, we have a daily "worship" time, structured very much like the CW classes I helped teach at First CRC. The kids LOVE the "basket" for the stories, the routine, and they all already know "Be Still and Know" with the motions to get settled down enough to hear the story. And of course, they can sing "God's Not Dead!" at the top of their lungs! What joy it is to worship and sing and pray with the kids--something I've not had the opportunity to do in the classroom. Today, Lorena, a rather withdrawn and shy girl, asked me multiple times when it would be time for "Biblia." I'm glad it is a highlight of her day!

Parenting is probably the best preschool preparation I've had. When you have lived with a few preschoolers, you kind of know how they operate! And I'm thankful I was able to glean some ideas from Henry and Mae's teachers at Grand Rapids Christian School.

I have a lot to learn, and I'm excited to grow as an "early childhood educator," but I'm so glad God has prepared me for the work He's called me to do, even in unexpected ways.

First Days of School!

Church?

We've been here for three Sundays now. Sunday 1 and 3 were spent at International Christian Fellowship (ICF), an English-speaking church that meets in the open-air chapel area at my school. Most of the folks there are American missionaries or expats, working in a variety of fields. Many teachers from NCA attend. Worship is very contemporary (as in we don't know many of the songs, though we felt as if First CRC was fairly contemporary!); lots of great kids programming for our three little ones. It is an elder-led, interdenominational church; there is no pastor on staff, and the four elders rotate through as teachers/preachers. Church is early--8:30--to give some folks the chance to attend Spanish-speaking churches, which generally start later.

Sunday 2 was spent at a Spanish-speaking Baptist church, planted by neighbors of ours a few years ago. Sunday school was at 9:00 until 10:00 for the kids, and then church was at 10:30-12:00. Worship was dynamic--we actually knew a few of the songs from Spanish chapel in college and mission trips. There was nursery for Charlotte. The church is mission-minded, in that many kids and some families are actually "bussed" there for worship from one of the poorer sections of Managua, so Sunday School was busy and full of life!

We're not yet to the point of making a definite decision about a church home yet, but it a big decision. I could play piano for ICF and teach Sunday School; Ruth could lead worship singing and help out with kid's programming, too. We can speak freely to those around us in a shared language. But at the same time, it is a bit "inside the bubble" for us, and that is something we'd struggle with if we attended there. A Spanish-speaking church would allow us to become closer with Nicaraguans, expose us and our kids to "real" life in Nicaragua, and help us develop our Spanish language. We wouldn't have much to offer the church except our presence, and that would be frustrating to me as someone who sees church not only as a place of worship but as something you "do" actively throughout the week. Our kids would have a harder time as well in Spanish church; Henry was disappointed that he didn't win any candy at Spanish-speaking Sunday School because he couldn't understand any of the questions! Ruth still harbors some resentment about her MK experience in that her family was committed to attending churches with other nationals in the Hausa or Amharic languages. . .while most of her friends got to have Sunday School and youth group and worship all in English at the English-speaking church.

We know that. God delights in worship in the English AND Spanish languages; we just have to figure out where we fit in here in terms of church. Your prayers are coveted in this area!

There is wonderful joy ahead...

Ok, so I have to be honest and admit that I have had moments where I ask myself “What in the world were we thinking coming here?” Last night, as I lay in bed exhausted from a week of interacting with people I don’t know, from a week of being barely able to communicate with the majority of the people around me because we don’t speak the same language, from a week of having no idea how to get from place to place, from a week of being hot, from a week of being “alone” (Andrew started orientation at the school this past Monday) with my children in a different country for the first time, I started to think of all we have left behind.  I miss my family, I miss our church that is our family, I miss our friends, I miss being able to hop in the car and go where I want to without even thinking about it, I miss being in a place where I know people and people know me, I miss feeling confident and comfortable.  I take comfort, though in a passage that Joel Huyser, our CRWM “boss” preached on and encouraged us to read this past Sunday, 1 Peter 1:

“(1)This is a letter from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.  I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. (2) God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy…. (6) So be truly glad.  There is joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.  (7) These trials will show that your faith is genuine.  It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is more precious than mere gold.  So when your faith remains strong through many trials. It will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”

PS—I wanted to be sure to add that there are wonderful things happening in our lives here too—I’m sure Andrew will tell you all about themJ.

The Cow Trail

So to get from our house to Nicaragua Christian Academy, it takes about 15 minutes of driving down a hill on what is known amongst Americans, at least, as the "Cow Trail." It would be a GREAT bike ride. . .I bet one would only have to pedal a few times to get from the top of the Cow Trail to the front gates of the school. I might invest in a mountain bike at some point depending on how our school day transportation plan looks like.

Driving the Cow Trail is a GREAT way to begin your day; you are thrown into Nicaragua like nowhere else! The road is made of cobblestones, which are actually in decent repair except for one pretty treacherous spot. Along the road are rows and rows of walls, gates, houses, front yards, a few churches, a dentist's office, a few tiny stores, a school. . .Henry's noted that everyone lives behind walls and fences here, even the poor.

As you drive down the road, you have more than a few things to compete with. . .there are MANY pedestrians. There are horse-drawn carts. There are "moto-taxis"--these cute three-wheeled taxis that are everywhere. They drive fast and look as if they might tip at any moment without warning. I've heard it would only take about 20-30 cordoba to go in one from home to school (about $1.00), but I honestly don't know if I could fit in one. There are other cars. And there are the busses--retro-fitted school busses that now act as public transit. These busses take up the entire road, so meeting one coming the other way is terrifying as you have to quickly problem solve how to make your Honda mini-van disappear! The busses are often extremely crowded--standing-room only is typical from what I can see. And of course there are the cows. My kids play the "animal game" as we head to school. . . counting dogs (probably about 10), chickens (20), cows (0-10), horses (0-5), pigs (2?), and a random assortment of other farm animals. Charlotte keeps shouting "monkey", but we've not seen one yet here (in the wild, at least). On the road, you'll pass piles of garbage and dirty wastewater flowing on the cobblestone one moment, and nice landscaping and well-kept, tidy yards the next. Always lots of contrast here between the poor and those with more money.

I'm pretty good at avoiding the potholes, but there are a few non-painted speed bumps that get me every time! There is so much action and beauty and life around. . .hard to remember to look at the road in front of you!