Pictures are worth WAY more than words:)

Sometimes, pictures say so much more than words. Here is a glimpse into the life of my PreK2 classroom at NCA International this school year during our first few weeks. I think these kids are pretty special! Enjoy!

School Decisions 2.0

In the US, we had many conversations—as a couple and also with friends—about whether to send our kids to a public or private school.  Here in Nicaragua, we are involved in many of the same debates, but instead of Christian vs. public, the two contenders are English-language schools vs. Spanish-language schools.  There are obviously pros and cons to both. Here is a sample debate to give you a feel for some of the issues that make this decision tricky.  Andrew will play the role of the open minded optimist, and Ruth will play the role of the negative pessimist.

Andrew:  I think we should have the kids attend Nejapa (which is Nicaragua Christian Academy’s Spanish language campus in Managua) so that they are fully immersed in Spanish and will eventually become fluent.

Ruth: But what about their English language skills?  Will they learn to read well in English?  Will they learn proper grammar?  Will they receive the same quality of education they would at the international campus? Will this mean that we will end up homeschooling on top of sending them to school? I don’t have the time or patience for that!

Andrew: But think of all the meaningful relationships that they could build with Nicaraguans classmates and teachers…

Ruth:  Can you imagine walking into a classroom where you know no one, and no one speaks your language.  I don't think I’d make any friends… I would just lock myself in a bathroom stall. 

Andrew: Kids learn languages so quickly and have the gift of developing friendships with no words.

Ruth: But what about the fact that the Nicaraguan schools are on a whole different calendar… you wouldn't even have the same summer break.

Andrew:  Yeah, that would be a pain…

This is obviously not a real dialog, but reflects many of the views we have spoken or heard.  What is real is the fact that it is hard to make these decisions that have such significant long term effects on our kids’ lives.  It is hard to know what challenges will push them to eventually being better people and which ones will just simply push them over the edge.  For now, we are trying to find a balance.  Henry and Mae attend NCA International where most of their instruction is in English, but for an hour (Henry) or two (Mae) a day, they are getting excellent Spanish instruction.  They both attend Sunday school at our Spanish speaking church where we hope and pray that they are being challenged to use their Spanish and build some of those meaningful relationships “Andrew” referenced earlier.  Charlotte just began attending a Nicaraguan preschool, where we hope that because of her young age she will learn Spanish quickly and develop a good bilingual base.  As all parents do, we pray that we are making the best decisions for our children, and are so thankful that really all we have to do is place them in God’s hands and have faith that although we don’t always know what’s best, He does.  

PreK2, take 2!

Another year of preschool teaching begins tomorrow. I'm mostly excited: for the songs and stories and routines, the energetic passion for life that is a natural part of being 4, the unconditional love and countless leg hugs from these tiny learners. My room is ready and walls are decorated. Student names are laminated and appear everywhere in my room: on the tables, by the coat hooks, on the cubbies, on the floor where they line up, on the job chart, on the behavior chart, birthday chart, center chart, word wall. . .their names are everywhere! Lesson plans are done (for the year, really). We had Open House on Friday and 15/16 families were represented in my classroom, which is a great indicator of a good year!

But while I feel ready, I have two things that keep my mind busy and my prayers occupied:

1) Language: Last year, I had 19 students, 7 of whom came from English-speaking homes. These kids were dispersed through my learning groups, so that the native Spanish-speakers could hear and learn language from their peers. This year, I have 16 students. Only 1 student is bilingual, and he is extremely shy, unlikely to speak up much during group lessons. It will be a challenge to teach language as the sole "English teacher" in the class. . .but that is one huge objective of the program--to get these kids learning a new language at such a young age. After a week of school I'm sure I'll have a better picture as to what this year will look like from a language learning standpoint.

2) My Afternoons: Last year, my school day was finished at 12:30. I spent 12:30-3:00 eating lunch and then prepping, lesson planning, getting materials ready. This year, I have the added responsibility and joy of working with three NCA elementary students as a Learning Resources teacher. I will spend 90 minutes Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday with a first grader, 4th grader, and 6th grader (30 minutes with each child). Special education is my background, education, and passion. I spent 9 years in the US working with learners with diverse needs. Yet, I'm a little nervous! I've never supported a general education teacher using a "pull-out" model, so this is new. And in the US, I was working with kids with moderate cognitive impairments, whereas this year I will be supporting learners with much "milder" needs, like learning disabilities and dyslexia. I know it'll take one week before I'm loving this new part of my job at NCA, but I'm going into it feeling a bit like a "newbie" for some reason.

As I begin a new school year, take a moment to lift up these 19 boys and girls who will become a huge part of my life and ministry tomorrow: Alejandro, Alvaro, Jessel, Miriam, Mateo, Anthony, Xioli, Benjamin, Josias, Jade, Fernando, Angel, Sebastian, Hanna, Jaiyen, Grace, Slaton, Min Gyu, and Hudson.

Thank you!

Las Semillas: Another year!

Time to dust of this blog and get informing again! After a 7-week summer through Michigan, Tennessee, New Mexico, and Colorado, visiting supporting churches and gracious family and generous friends and clean parks and freezing beaches and relaxing cabins, all while living out of suitcases and only losing one sandal, a teddy bear, and a blanket, we are finally home! And unpacked, too. Dexter was pretty happy to see Henry again.


While last year's initial journey to Nicaragua was filled with the adventure of having NO IDEA what life would look like for our family, this year we had the bizarre feeling as if we were coming "home." (Though that particular word is very confusing, especially to Mae and Charlotte!). Last year, we were picked up from the airport by our school director and deposited into our home with only beds and a table. We knew no one. We had no car. We then spent the next few weeks gathering things,(from couches and trashcans to vegetable peelers and hangers), making acquaintances, buying a vehicle, and learning to navigate the city. And this was just figuring out life here, not to mention work and volunteering and school and church.

What a gift it was to come into a home with already-made beds, internet for which we know the password, plenty of kitchen utensils, and a box of Legos after being picked up from the airport by a friend! What a gift it is to instantly lose our children in our neighborhood for hours at a time while they play with their long lost buddies! What a gift it is to be back at church and give hugs to people with names that we know (and have some Spanish conversation, too)! What a gift to be able to drive to Pricesmart and know how to get there and what to buy to refill our empty cupboards. Things that were stressful, draining, and new are now just part of our lives. So many reasons to be thankful.

We start Year 2 with so many advantages that come with having been in a particular place for a year. Seeds (semillas) were planted and roots have grown. A lot of the groundwork--the figuring-out-life-in-a-brand-new-place stuff--is finished. We are poised to  jump right in to the work we're called to do here in Nicaragua without having to worry so much about the "newbie" stuff. And that feels good. We're not experts, and there remains adventure and unknown. Yet, it is a gift to be here for Year 2, and we thank God for that, and we look forward to another year of sharing with you what God is doing here in Nicaragua.

Bringing nursing to new heights. . .

As a nurse on the mission field, often when people speak to me the conversation begins with them saying, “So, you’re a nurse….” The statements that follow those dots are endless. I get requests for medical advice, medications from the “Ippel pharmacy,” breastfeeding help, boil lancing… really nothing surprises me anymore.  I WAS surprised, though, on Friday morning when I got a voicemail from a woman at the American embassy in here in Managua saying that they were looking for a nurse with a US passport who could transport a patient to Houston the next morning.  My initial response was, ‘No way!  That sounds terrifying’ (in my head, of course).  In all honesty, I delayed returning the phone call in hopes that someone else would respond before me.  And someone had!  When I called back, she thanked me for calling but said they already had found a doctor to do it.  I was mostly relieved, and only a teensy bit disappointed (I always like an adventure, if only to have a story to tell!).  A couple hours later, though, I got a text message saying “I heard you are willing to take Fred to Houston tomorrow.” All the fear and excitement came flooding back to me as I rushed to Andrew to ask his opinion (for the millionth time) about the situation.  After a long exchange of texts, in which I learned more of the specifics of the situation—Fred (not his real name) was an American man who had been working in Managua when he suffered a stroke which left him paralyzed on the left side and now need to get back to the US for more advanced care and rehabilitation—I hit the send button on a text that said “I will do it.” To be completely honest once again, my decision to say yes was based on, yes, my desire to help this man who desperately needed to get back to a good hospital and his family, but also the generous sum of money they were offering me to do it (so don’t think I am a wonderful person and all). As soon as I committed, I went straight to work brushing up on my nursing skills and knowledge of the care of a person who has had a stroke by doing google searches and watching youtube videos (during which Andrew concluded that with enough youtube videos, he could be just as qualified as I am to take on the task). I was pretty nervous that whole day, and got increasingly more nervous as Andrew and the kids drove me to the hospital the next day to meet Fred (it didn’t help my nervousness that by this point there was a conspiracy theory that Fred didn’t exist at all and the whole thing was just a scam—How did I know it was really the American Embassy that had called? I emailed my passport to a total stranger?).  Many people were praying for me, though, and as soon as I met Fred and his friends who had been caring for him, I transitioned immediately back into my familiar role of “nurse,” and everything seemed natural.  As I got to know Fred in the hospital and then as we rode in the back of an ambulance to the airport, my empathy for him grew.  How awful would it be to be in a foreign country, away from all of your family and everything familiar and have a devastating stoke that would change your life forever?  I did my best to make an unpleasant, awkward, and dignity robbing situation the best it possibly could be—as we flew from Managua to Houston we chatted about golf courses across the US (THAT was the youtube video I should have been watching!), airplane food, and the population of cities in Texas, and I did my best to make the situation seem normal.  The whole trip went exceptionally well considering the severity of the situation, but I cannot tell you how relieved I was to deliver Fred to the paramedics waiting for him on the other side of customs in the Houston airport.  I completely recognize God’s faithfulness in the situation because it is something I would have never had the strength and courage to do alone.  I was in Houston for 13 short hours (most of them spent sleeping, the others spent enjoying the luxuries of being in the United States—watching House Hunters in English in an air conditioned room!) before returning home to my family in Managua the next morning.  And now tomorrow, just 3 days later, we head back to the airport to return “home” for the summer.  .  .and then I’ll decide whether it is easier to travel with 3 small children or a man with severe medical needs. . .I am thinking I already know the answer!

What happens when the music teacher isn't around. . .

Last Friday, I walked my wriggly line of preschool students to their weekly music class, only to find the door to the music room shut and locked. We quickly found out that the music teacher was sick and hadn't come into work, and the message hadn't been passed along. . .the thought of bringing the group back to the room for unplanned craziness didn't exactly appeal to me, so I thought I'd play music teacher. We entered the room and I had the kids pull their chairs to surround the piano (a lovely, slightly out-of-tune upright with real keys! The only one I've seen in Nicaragua that isn't digital!). And we did "request time":--kids could pick any favorite worship song they'd learned this year, and Mr. Ippel would try to figure it out without music (a good challenge). The students hadn't seen me play piano before, so that was a fun surprise for them. My kiddos have a HUGE song vocabulary from our daily worship time (always a capella), so our 30 minutes were quickly filled with favorites from the year. . .Bless the Lord (10,000 Reasons), God's Not Dead, Pharoah Pharoah, From East to West, Thy Word is a Lamp Unto My Feet, Awesome God, Lord I Lift Your Name on High. . .a few of the songs my students chose. I wish the time had been recorded on video or audio, at least. . .these kids can sing. And they sing not "like" the mean it--they MEAN it. . .some shut their eyes tight or raise hands during the slow songs (not something I teach them) and they absolutely dance to the fast songs (I have to settle Mae down every once in a while!). My Spanish-speaking kiddos have learned these songs just as well as their English-speaking friends; it is so fun to hear them all singing together at the top of their lungs, praising God in a common language. We sing together daily in my classroom, but I think it was hearing their sweet voices worship while I worshiped through playing piano that made this particular time special to me. It was one of those moments that kept me smiling all day, thinking "I have the best job EVER." (Don't worry; there are plenty of moments during my teaching day that remind me otherwise!) So, yeah, Mr. Ippel LOVED being the music teacher last Friday. It might have been one of my top 3 moments of PreK2 for the whole year, and I'm thankful to have that memory with this unique group of 4-5 year-olds as we end our school year next week. God is good.

School "Underground"

When school was called off for a third consecutive week last weekend due to the "red alert" status of Managua following our April seismic activity, a new approach to "home school" was implemented at Nicaragua Christian Academy. For the first two weeks of school closure, students had completed thick work packets provided by their teachers at home or completed online assignments. Things were more creative this week as various parents in each grade level offered up their homes to host an off-site classroom. This allowed government protocol to be respected (NO students were to be on campus of schools for organized activities and parents organized the activity, not the teachers) while allowing optional opportunities for kids to have some much-needed face time with their teachers.

PreK2 was hosted at the Ippel household on Wednesday and Friday AM; we had about half the class show up for our time of singing, playing, exploring, reading, and learning together. We had a great time--all the better due to the fact that we are all set to reopen "real school" on Monday, May 12! We can't wait! We just need to get through these next hours without the earth shaking!

We will have to add about 8 hours of instructional time to our calendar before June, which isn't as bad as it could have been if we hadn't taken the home schooling approach this last month. We will either lengthen the school day or add a few Saturday sessions. .  .

Here are a few pictures of PreK2 this last week: