He is Not Here

In this season of Easter we often reflect on the great demonstration of God's love for us through the sacrifice of His only Son on the cross.   It is only because of that sacrifice that you and I today and can experience a glimpse of the grace and love He lavishes on us.  As I look on this great demonstration of His power and saving grace I sometimes limit my view to the "big" demonstrations of His presence and miss the day to day manifestations of this same great power and love.   Dare I listen to the message of the angel to the women at Christ's empty tomb,  "He is not here, He has risen!"  I'm in no way saying that what took place on the cross is any less important simply that it is not only there that we find reflections of His sovereignty and love.

Where is His presence in the day to day?   With eyes wide open I can see His hand at work all around me.   Wanting to give Him all the glory here are reflections of His hand moving among us here in Matagalpa.

High Schoolers using recently donated microscopes

Second Graders doing an experiment with dancing raisins

NCA is growing by leaps and bounds.    More students means more parents and more lives to invest in.  Some of our student's  stories  are heartbreaking, filled with hurt, distrust, shame, anger and brokenness.  This month I have had the privilege of seeing divorced parents come alongside their teenage son to support him in becoming a responsible young man.   My first encounter with the parents was an icy one as neither of them wanted to accept their part in the character formation of their son but instead heaped insults and blame on the other parent.   When asked if all of us could meet together to formulate a support plan for their son both parents said NO.   Through nothing other than the hand of God in the hearts of both of these parents they agreed the following week to meet and we were able to talk openly and honestly about the steps each one of us needed to take in order to support and hold their son accountable.   Fearful of the explosive potential of this meeting I asked many to be in prayer for God's peace to reign during the meeting and God's peace and wisdom was revealed in the hearts of all present.

Sara chatting (right) with a parent

Providing learning opportunities for the teachers and staff at my school is a strong desire of mine.   It is a personal struggle for me as I am so busy doing much of the admin stuff for the school that I don't get to prepare for and lead as many training sessions as I'd like.  However, God in is goodness continues to bring amazing people to us that are eager to share their ideas and help our staff grow.  This year he brought us Sara. She is an amazingly gifted teacher with experience as an instructional coach at a school in the Dominican Republic.  She has been a GIFT to NCA in so many ways.  Encouraging us all to grow in new and challenging ways.   In addition to Sara others like Brianna have come to spend a week sharing creative science experiments with our staff and students.   I can not help but be overcome with gratitude at the countless ways that our Father makes His presence known in our lives and reminds us that He knows the desires of our hearts.

Brianna doing an experiment with the 5th graders

In the past week Nicaragua has experienced several earthquakes measuring 6+ on the richter scale followed by hundreds of aftershocks.    God's hand has been over the country as there has been relatively little loss of life and damage compared to similar earthquakes in the past.    We praise God for his protection and continue to pray for peace and provision for those who have been affected.  There is still fear of more quakes especially in Managua.



It is my prayer that this song from I Chronicles 16:8-14 would always be on my lips.
"Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.  Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.  Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.  Look to the Lord and his strengths; seek his face always.  Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgements he pronounced, you his servants, the descendants of Israel, his chosen ones, the children of Israel, the children of Jacob.  He is the Lord our God; his judgements are in all the earth." 

Parents and students building a flower nursery for NCA

Animals in Your Backyard

Some would say there are many differences between life in Nicaragua and life in the USA, others would say there are a few differences but generally life is the same.   I tend to say that there are many differences, some are good, fun, frustrating and funny.    

In first grade at NCA we were recently learning about wild and tame animals.   We spent 6 weeks talking about all different aspects of animals.   One activity in particular struck me as I thought about a typical response for a class in the US vs. Nicaragua.    

Here are the responses to the question:   What animals do you find in your backyard?

Do you see any differences??  Angie, the aid who is new to Nicaragua laughed as she looked at our list.  :-)  Not many of you would say that you have pigs and bats in your backyard.   The things that didn't make the list because we ran out or room were: snakes, lizards, beetles, possums, and frogs.

The same week I shot this photo in my living room at home.

Wibbly Wobbly Teeth

Adventures in first grade are always looked upon with the innocence of childhood. Last week we had quite the day. Six and seven year olds are known for wibbly, wobbly teeth. Omar came up to me and showed me his loose tooth at the beginning of the day. He was excited because it was going to come out soon. After snack He was twisting it all around and it was ready to come out. Being a first grade teacher I have had a great deal of experience pulling teeth so naturally I offered my services. POP! It came right out. He was beaming a bright toothless smile.

Fedra saw all of this happen as she too was playing with her loose tooth. She was a little worried. "Miss Franklin, it is easier for Omar because he is a boy and it doesn't hurt to lose a tooth. But I am a girl and it hurts me." she said. I told her that if she changed her mind I'd be happy to pull it out for her. Twenty minutes later she was ready and POP! Out came another one.

Two teeth in one day makes the headlines in a small class of 20 first graders. :-) The next day Oscar came to school and told me that his tooth had fallen out the night before. That makes 3 teeth in one day. What a record!

Life

Life is full!! It is full of highs and lows, challenges and accomplishments, yet through it all the Lord Most High, El Elyon is with us. I have been doing a study during my devotions on the names of God and El Elyon has left me pensive this week as I attempt to grasp God's sovereignty over all and in all things.

As I have returned to teaching full time here in Nicaragua I have had opportunities to see the Lord Most High visibly at work in my life. While I have spent two years outside of the classroom I have learned and experienced many things. God has shown me the importance and value in stopping and spending time in relationship with others. Sometimes the "work" is not the most important thing. Now with the weight of lesson plans, learning objectives, grading and everything else that comes along with teaching I see El Elyon placing people in my path to remind me of the importance He places on people and relationship. My prayer is that I see each encounter as God taking an active role in my learning process as well as that of my students.

Now on to some specifics of the new school year! I have 16 soon to be 17 first graders. Ten active boys and 7 talkative girls. Some things you can always count on. :0)
We are starting our fourth week of school. It has been fun. I've sure been tired at the end of every day though!! Shoooo those 6 and 7 year olds have a lot more energy than I do.

I wish I had pictures to share with you of my class and school but my camera was stolen from my desk last week. Therefore I'm in the market if anyone is upgrading and wants to get rid of their old camera. Praise the Lord I left my computer at home that day and that it didn't grow legs and walk away too. Once again I can see the Lord Most High's protection over even my stuff.

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth....at least not yet!

School has started. Grading papers, reminding students to turn in homework, tying shoes, buttoning pants, lesson plans, early mornings and late nights are what the last three weeks have been filled with. It is fun, rewarding, fulfilling and exhausting all at the same time.

I've got plans to tell you some stories with a future update, perhaps this weekend of the first few weeks of adventure and laughter in first grade. For now I wanted to ask for your prayers for energy, patience and consistency with my class. One by one we are remembering the rules and learning new things. It is 10 o'clock on Wednesday night and I am feeling ready for the weekend already. Lord please grant me the patience I need to love my students like you do.

Everything in life I learned in First Grade

Yep, that's right I learned it all in First Grade!! Well no not really but I sure have learned a lot by being around 6 and 7 year olds. :-)

Tuesday is the official start of the new school year. As you all know I am transitioning out of the Short Term Team Coordinator position and back into the classroom at NCA. These past few weeks have been busy with finishing up the last teams, sorting, organizing and planning for a new group of 15 first graders.

Nicaraguan dust can do amazing tricks when left untamed for a few weeks over the summer. I have managed to wrestle it down to a minimum in my classroom. As I cleaned I made several interesting discoveries. One- geckos must be mating and reproducing in first grade based on the unknown quantity of gecko eggs I've found. Two- rain is nice when you are hot and are looking for a nice cool off but it is not nice when it leaks all over the books you've stored for the summer. Three- I have so many resources available to me in English that my colleagues can only dream of in Spanish.

Please pray for my new class as we start class tomorrow. Pray that we would mesh well, learn lots, laugh often and share our hearts with each other. My desire this year is to open up the Bible to my students in new ways as they become more proficient readers. My prayer is that they would be hungry for God's Word and would eat it up. I also pray for wisdom in meeting my students needs. There are many different backgrounds and difficulties that my students come from and I want to be able to help them in the best way I possibly can.

Perspective

Perspectives. We all have them and they are all different.

Last weekend I went with some friends to some islands on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. As many of you may have heard me say before the Atlantic coast is like a different country. There are a lot more darker skinned Nicaraguans and Spanish is not the primary language. The east coasters speak a Creole English. The English they use is sometimes hard to understand but very fun to listen to. While many of them speak English I also learned through making friends with Jenny at the corner store that they had Spanish classes too while they were in school. Although not everyone speaks both. I often found myself confused as to what language I should speak. I would start a sentence in Spanish because that is what I am accustomed to and then end in English because I wasn't sure they were understanding me.

This was a neat experience. Aimee, Kate and I went on a walk up to a look out one morning and we passed by a school. I was amazed by the things I saw on the walls in the classrooms. It appeared that learning was really taking place. After seeing so many Nicaraguan classrooms that are sterile environments filled with caos and lots of confusion it was encouraging to see. While learning is a definite positive thing not all learning is correct. Here is the sign that was on the door to one of the classrooms. What do you think it says?

Can you read it? Welcome to Second Grade! I am pretty sure that this teacher has taught her class that this is the correct spelling. There were several other things on the wall in the classroom that indicated that this was the case. Now, while one could get hung up on the fact that these students are learning how to write and read English incorrectly I have to say that I am happy that they are actually learning to read and write at all. There are many others who will not have the same opportunities as these kids. While it may not be the best at least it is something.

Seeing this sign further motivates me to help Nicaraguan teachers learn more and be more effective in their classrooms. They have such limited time to impact the lives of their students not only academically but spiritually and emotionally too.

Here are some other pictures from the beautiful Atlantic coast as well.

Nicaragua the Melting Pot of Central America?

What do 3 cultures, 3 language and 7 people have in common? Keep reading to find out!

When I was teaching at NCA I had the privilage of getting to know many of the parents of my students. Even as I am now not at NCA regularly parents still stop me and we chat and catch up on their child's progress or to just chat about life. I cherish these friendships and look forward to the times that I get to spend with them.

One friendship in particular has grown deeper through the years. Eun Oak's son was in my second class here in Nicaragua. He is now in 4th grade. Their family is from South Korea and have lived in Nicaragua for 11 years. We meet together for coffee every so often and share what God is doing in our lives. Eun Oak's sister, Kim, is a missionary here serving with the presbyterian church.

Kim is starting up a school in Tipitapa an area about an hour from where I live. She is excited about the project and has asked me to come out as often as I can to help them develop their curiculum and to help her teachers get ready for the new school year. Yesterday, Julie one of our interns and I went out with Kim and Eun Oak to see the school and help out in whatever way we could.

Eun Oak, Kim, Joann, Mary Guiselle, Gladys and me in front of the classrooms

We spent a great bit of time talking with the teachers helping them plan out the schedule for their school day. The school will be starting out with Pre-school level I an II and a Kinder class. The building is built and ready all that is lacking are the doors and the furniture. The teachers were hoping to decorate their classrooms with our help but with no doors yet they'll have to wait.

As we talked with the teachers it was amazing to see their heart to make a difference in the lives of their students and the community. They are eager to do their very best. God has bought this group of ladies together to serve Him. As we shared time together Kim made this comment, "Isn't this amazing to see a group of ladies from 3 different countries, speaking 3 different languages working together to serve one purpose." I agree with her it is amazing. I think it is a little glimpse of what heaven will be like.

All of the gals and Julie our CFCI Intern

Pray for Christian Mission Academy

• The doors and furniture would be completed before school begins on Feb 3, 2009
• Passion, creativity and energy for each day
  
• Direction in how to develop a program that will leave a lasting impact in the community for Christ
• The school is still looking for 1 teacher and 1 director who is bilingual

Dreams Becoming Reality

6 years ago when I first started coming to Nicaragua my dream was to someday do teacher training for Nicaraguan teachers. This last week part of that dream became a reality. For the past week I have been with Mosaic church from Charlotte, NC in San Rafael del Sur making my dream a reality. A team of teachers and a construction crew stepped onto the campus of New Jerusalem Christian School and did some amazing things. Each afternoon teachers from 4 different schools took part in workshops that were designed to be as interactive and engaging as possible. Nicaraguan teachers learned how to use some new math manipulatives that many of them had never seen before. They also saw some creative ideas for teaching map skills and even read some Big Books in Spanish during the Literacy class. All in all the teachers were delighted to see some new things and share ideas among themselves. This team has opened the door for many more BIG things to happen. I look forward to seeing God at work in teachers in various ways in the near future. Here is a link to some pictures from the week.
http://picasaweb.google.com/careyinnicaragua/MosaicChurchTeam