Ministry and Life during COVID-19

What are we up to right now? Great question! Here's a bit about our lives these days--we know your lives have changed a lot, too, over these last few months.

Like much of the world, we're. . .you guessed it. . .at HOME! While no quarantine is officially mandated in Nicaragua, since school at NCA went online at the end of March, our family has been staying home in our neighborhood in La Veranera (empty again, except for one other family). We go out for necessary things such as weekly shopping trips and Andrew makes occasional trips to school or Tesoros de Dios. Once a week or so we attempt to "get out" as a family--maybe a hike in the woods or McDonald's drive-thru.

Biking down an under-construction road on a recent Saturday morning

Lego Master Ippel Family Edition, Episodes 1 and 2, were a huge success:)

Our kids have a regular morning routine of school, practicing piano, and doing chores. MOST mornings run smoothly, thanks to Ruth; I'm thankful they are motivated to get school work finished quickly so that they have more free time during the day. Short burst of obsession over forts, Legos, stuffed animals, drawing, camp-outs, and puzzles have all filled afternoon free-time. They swim every day in the neighborhood pool. This is the hottest time of the year, so we are VERY thankful for this option. We have another family next door, also in quarantine, so our kids (and us adults!) are able to have some playmates during this time, which is also a gift. We have weekly dinners together each Tuesday.

PE Class

I (Andrew) find a lot of my self-worth in work (I know that isn't necessarily a good thing), so this has been a difficult time in some ways as work has changed so much. "Going to work" just isn't a thing; I do most work in our bed (strange, I know!) as we don't have a home office. I have about 10 phone calls and 7 Zoom calls with students each week. My high school "Study Skills" class is on Google Classroom, which take some effort and maintenance. I help modify and adapt online assignments for a few different students on a daily basis, and have created a Youtube channel for my 2nd grade reading group.  I translate a Spanish teacher's communication into English for parents on a weekly basis. With two school weeks left, our staff is beginning to think about the 2020-2021 school year, and this week I'll be a part of 9 Zoom meetings with each grade level teacher to think about needed student supports for the future. Honestly, the joy in my work generally comes from face-to-face interactions with students, so this online stuff isn't really doing it for me as a teacher. Praying for patience and that we'll be able to have "in person" classes next fall si Dios quiere. 

NCA Elementary Staff Meeting on Zoom

Tesoros de Dios meetings continue to occur regularly, especially as we've recently seen a transition in our director role. Complex changes in the day-to-day ministry, closed for "in-person" services, have required some additional meetings as well. I continue to help manage the bank account, payroll, and bill paying during the transition time. I'm proud of the way this ministry continues to support students and families through relief provision of food/medicines, faithful prayer updates, and regular contact by staff with each and every family.

Ruth's ministries (House of Hope and AMOS) have not been meeting, though she has some responsibilities through her work at NCA as Expat Staff Care Coordinator and as a member of the Health Committee. She acts as the main "home-schooling" parent to our kids, ensures that we are stocked and well-fed, and keeps us informed about the news from both Nicaragua and the US. She works her tail off to keep out house clean, which is NOT easy when we're all home all of the time, even if the kids are "helping." I don't love talking on the phone, so I'm thankful to be married to Ruth who does a much better job of keeping social relationships and connections a priority during this time of social distancing.

We also have more leisure time now; honestly, this year has been full and busy, and having this forced rest is a gift from God. We read books. I am trying to become a birder (as of today I have 22 species on my life list after one week and not leaving home except for some morning runs!) We have a daily rest time (yes, we get tired, even just from being home!) Most things that needed "going through" have been gone through. We play games and cook and our dog Toby hasn't ever been happier with the extra attention he's getting.

Toby. . .is it any wonder we can't resist his begging at the table?

Can you name this board game?

We continue to support Hector Ariel, the college student that lived with us for a few months beginning this year. Because of COVID-19, and the continued need for him to attend medical school classes in person, we decided that he'd have to live elsewhere temporarily, and he is in a nearby apartment. Many of his classmates have dropped out of school due to the recent challenges, but he continues to attend classes and do well, though living alone is an adjustment for him.

We've enjoyed as a family worshiping each Sunday via YouTube with First CRC, our home church in Grand Rapids. Charlotte can leave for the sermon to our bedroom, where she does "Children's Worship" with a pre-recorded video from the church. Andrew was able to play piano for a "virtual band" a few weeks ago as part of a service.

Charlotte engaged in "Response Time" after Children's Worship

Normally at this point in the year, we'd be gearing up for our summer trip to the US. Flights in and out of Nicaragua have been suspended (one Facebook video showed the airport wrapped in plastic!) and are supposed to resume just before our planned trip in early June. We do not know if flights will actually happen or not, and if it would be wise to travel to the US at this point. It is hard to get accurate information and things are changing daily. So we wait and see what the next few weeks hold--if decisions will be made for us or if we need to make our own decision. Maybe we'll see ya; maybe we won't. We're trying to have peace either way, but it is hard and we do wish that things could be "normal."

Thank you for your support and prayers during this strange time; we ask for prayers for Nicaragua, and for the health and safety of our ministry partners, community members, and friends. Please also pray for our family as the uncertainty of the situation is wearing, as I'm sure it is for all of you.

Spring Update from the Ippels (in photos, mostly)

Here are some of the things we've been up to these last few months. Lots to be thankful for. 

The SOAAR Program was blessed to have Meindert Prins volunteer for January and February. He was loved by students and staff, and we hope he'll return in the future!

NCA Color Run--the one chance a year our kids can go to school with dyed hair, so you can imagine they really rub it in!

Wacky Tacky Special Color Day for Elementary

Ruth continues to coordinate NCA MERT (Medical Emergency Response Team) drills every so often; she loves to scare the team members by creating surprise disasters!

In February, Hector Ariel came to live with our family. He is enrolled in medical school at UCN, or Central University of Nicaragua. 

Henry, Ruth, and Andrew were able to volunteer at Night to Shine in partnership with Tesoros de Dios and Vida Abundante, the church where we've been attending. 

Jose Angel, a carpenter from our school, made an incredible loft bed for Mae! She loves her new room!

Henry joined the NCA Eagles basketball team! Thankfully he's inherited more of his mother's athletic abilities than those of his father. 

NCA high schoolers were able to participate in Spiritual Emphasis Day, an annual event. Andrew gave a small group talk about Christianity and disability. 

Annie! This took over the lives of Henry and Andrew from January through early March , with multiple practices each week.

Nicaragua rose to the spotlight as Nik Wallenda walked across Volcan Masaya on live TV across the US. We would've loved to see it live but the volcano, only 45 minutes from home, was closed to visitor

Grandpa and Grandma came to visit! They watched Annie three nights in a row, ending our time together with a night at the beach. We're thankful they made it out of Nicaragua right as things began to get crazy in the US. 

They were able to meet Cristofer, their sponsor child through Tesoros de Dios. 

Mae has been part of a team called "Club Chiquilistagua," a soccer club made up of NCA and local community kids. She's the goalie! Her "dirt line" is quite epic at the end of each practice. 

Andrew is staying  busy coordinating the SOAAR program at NCA, working alongside of some awesome students and staff.

God provided a volunteer for the SOAAR program just as Mr. Prins was leaving to head back to Canada. Genesis is a recent grad from NCA Nejapa and has jumped right in, serving kids in many classrooms as a SOAAR volunteer. She's a natural, and I'm so thankful for her!

This last week of school was supposed to be "Kindness Week," sponsored by the Elementary Student Council, which Andrew co-leads. With low attendance and eventual cancellation, the week didn't pan out as we had hoped, but it was still neat to see kindness encouraged around NCA, even amidst uncertain times. 

While not teaching a daily class, Ruth continues to help at NCA in a variety of ways. She helps Andrew with his high school Study Skills course, is working on health curriculum and policy, and recently designed a sink near the cafeteria that was quickly installed due to eminent arrival of coronavirus in Nicaragua!

Immanuel

"The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us"). (Isaiah 7:14)

What can we learn today from a Jesus known as Immanuel? What can be said of a God who wants to be with us, and chooses to be with us in the form of a baby?

As Immanuel, God models an upside-down kingdom. We’ve heard the Christmas story so many times, we forget how crazy it is. So absolutely crazy. Our most powerful, almighty God had the ability to come to us as an earthly king, a celebrity, a learned scholar, a rich ruler--that would make sense to us in our human notion of power and leadership. Yet God chooses to reveal himself to us as a baby. And in the human form of Jesus, God wasn’t just a baby. He was a baby refugee. A baby refugee born into poverty. A racial minority refugee baby born into poverty. Completely defenseless, helpless, vulnerable. And this is what God chose. 

When I was at the Tesoros de Dios party last week, looking around, I saw a number of children being held by parents. Kids--some babies, some teenagers--that cannot walk, talk, and do much of anything alone. Some that never will. They are defenseless, helpless, and vulnerable. And that, essentially, is how God chose to be when He came to us as a baby. That is how God chose to be.

Photo credit: Paola Rivas

Photo credit: Paola Rivas

I think one of the reasons I love working with kids with disabilities at NCA and at Tesoros de Dios is that I get glimpses of God as I serve those whom God chose to be like. When we think of becoming “Christlike,” are we picturing our brothers and sisters in Christ with significant disabilities? Yes, God is powerful and Jesus is King, but we’re also called to meet and love and know Jesus in his “Christmas form” as well.  We meet God when we serve the vulnerable, the defenseless, the needy, the humble--the truly Christlike.

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’” (Matthew 25: 35-36)

As Immanuel, God models humility. God chose the humblest form in baby Jesus. In this act of “coming down,” I really can’t think of a better model of humility.  And as Christ-followers, we’re called to be humble, too.

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. (1 Peter 3:8)

The work at Tesoros de Dios for our staff can be humbling. Laying on the floor with kids. Wiping noses. Getting hit or bit by a child with little impulse control. Shoveling literal tons of horse poop.  Spending hours making 300 shish kabobs for the family Christmas party that will disappear in a matter of minutes once served. Dressing like a clown and dancing on a stage in front of hundreds of people laughing at you. But in baby Jesus, God shows us that life isn’t all about climbing up the ladder. God moved ALL the way down the ladder.  Why? Love. Meeting us where we are, God’s beloved, broken people.

As Immanuel, God models the power of presence.  In Spanish, the word “incarnation” is “encarnación,” with “carne” (which means flesh/meat) as the obvious root word.  In Spanish, then, it is easy to see how this weighty term signifies God putting on flesh. God loved us so much that he sent part of himself to be WITH us as a human. God’s greatest gift in this act is truly his presence, and I believe that God is modeling something to us here.  Our gift to others in our work and in our daily lives is our presence. 

What does this look like? Doña Angela, the counselor at Tesoros de Dios, sitting with the moms for countless hours, hearing difficult story after story. Physical therapists spending time with those students in palliative care, kids bound by lifelong physical disabilities preventing what we’d note as “progress.” The Director, Michelle’s nightly devotions with the security guards. The staff of Tesoros de Dios are all in a ministry of presence. 

I think so much about DOING. That is a problem I have as a gringo (according to my extensive cultural research:)). I’m seen at Tesoros de Dios most weeks driving up in my trusty Honda Odyssey and running around to meet with folks and paying payroll and checking things off my to-do list.  No time for hanging out and relating beyond the “¿Cómo estás?” and “Bien, gracias.” Sometimes, it is easier for me to do than be. Through Immanuel, though, I’m reminded that God is in the business of BEING. What can a baby do? What can a baby offer? Only presence. Being with us.

As Immanuel, God brings people together. Both in the US and in Nicaragua, nothing brings people together like a baby. You can tell in any church when a new baby arrives for the first time; everyone huddles around to meet the new child. Baby Jesus brought people together, too. Think about the unlikely scene around the bed of Jesus, the baby bringing in shepherds from the fields, and much later wisemen from the East. And more people joined in the greeting of the newborn King as the years continued.

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” (Luke 2:10)  

Jesus came for all people, that all people would be brought together around him in his life and death and resurrection. And Jesus is still bringing people together today.  As I think about the ministry of Tesoros de Dios, I see a living example of Jesus bringing people together. It doesn’t make sense that hundreds of people in the United States and Canada would donate money each year to sustain this small, important ministry. It doesn’t make sense that the gringo volunteers at Tesoros de Dios have chosen a life so far from the comforts of home and blood family.  It doesn’t make sense that 32 diverse Nicaraguan staff members come together each day to do difficult work at Tesoros de Dios. They could be searching for a higher paying job. They could let conflict rule, as they might have political differences or a difficult work history.  And yet, they/we show up, together.  Because besides the common work at Tesoros de Dios, they/we also share a common love for a baby born in Bethlehem. We’re all gathered as one diverse group around this baby Jesus even today.

Photo credit: Paola Rivas

Immanuel--God with us. As we celebrate baby Jesus--God taking on flesh--remember the the upside-down kingdom, our call to humility and presence, and the gift of togetherness. 

(This reflection is based on a devotional shared with the Tesoros de Dios staff at their end-of-the-year Christmas gathering)