Exciting Happenigs

This past week has been full of lots of added adventures, blessings and progress on the school.

I had 3 friends Mary, Jared and Nick visit from Greenville, SC.   It was great to have our camping crew together and then to be together in Nicaragua made it even sweeter.  The week was full of laughter, hard work, lots of paint and good coffee.    What a blessing it was to be encouraged by good friends and fellowship after a couple of really tough weeks.

 


We have also been making steady progress on getting things ready for our open house  at the school.   There are now flyers and banners all over the city and a few radio ads playing too.   Two of the radio stations are interviewing me tomorrow as we gear up for Open House.   If anyone ever told me that one day I would be on the radio in Nicaragua I think I would have laughed.    So, here I sit laughing!  

Mike letting the creative juices go as he designs the tree

Also a group of guys that work at NCA Nejapa's vocational program through ESVO ministries have been designing some iron bars for the window of the front entrance at NCA Matagalpa.   Nick and Jared had the opportunity to work with them forging the leaves for the amazing tree that now sits in front of our school.    The ESVO guys made it up this week to install the tree in preparation for our open house.

The guys with their finished product

The tree evokes so much in me it is hard to put it all into words.   First it reminds me of Scripture.

Psalm 1

¹ Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
² but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
³ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.

That is our prayer that all of our students would be like trees planted by streams of water that will yield their fruit in season.  

On Your Mark Get Set.......GO!

On Friday I shared two urgent prayer requests.   Thank you all for praying for NCA Matagalpa and all that is taking place both on and off campus.  

I wanted to share with you the results of your prayers.    God alone deserves all the glory.   Friday afternoon around 3:00pm Mountain Standard Time we received our provisional approval letter.   YEAH!!!!!  

What does this mean now?   It means that for the next two  weeks we will be on the campaign trail to spread the word about NCA around the city of Matagalpa.   We want everyone to know about the new school and to come to our Open House on October 20th.    Two weeks is not much time to print brochures, make signs,  and record our radio ad.   We are confident that God is with us as He continues to show Himself as the author of this project.

Thank you!

Prayer Request

I would like to share 2 urgent prayer requests with you and ask that you join me in praying for God's provision and revelation.

• First, we continue to wait for our approval with the Ministry of Education.   It is a slow process here.  I have been told that we will be given a provisional letter on Friday.   They have already told me this several times so it is hard to believe that it will actually be ready which is why we need to pray for God's revelation for the people responsible to move forward with our process.  Until we have this letter we can not print promotional material, make a sign for the school or begin accepting enrollment for the school.     We have scheduled an Open House for October 20th pending our approval.   The date is quickly approaching.   Pray for movement in the right direction and a completed, signed, stamped letter on Friday (October 5th).

• The second prayer request is for a car.   God provided a buyer for my truck that was in need of an overhaul on the engine.   I had another vehicle lined up  to purchase upon the sale of my truck and  well let's just say that the vehicle broke down and is now a vehicle that I do not want to buy any longer.    In the mean time I'm in need of a vehicle to complete my job here.   Please join me in praying that God would direct me to the right   vehicle and that the funds needed will be there as well.   

Thank you!

Brew with Caution

I'm an avid coffee drinker. Virtually the first thing I do when I wake up every morning is head for the kitchen and start the coffee.    When I really have things together I already have the coffee pot ready to go and all I have to do is hit the start button.  The other day I was not quite so put together so I had to prepare the filter, grounds and coffee.  It was a good thing I did because as I pulled the carafe out of the machine I found a gecko inside!

He was trapped in the coffee carafe and couldn't get out.   I let him free and he jumped across the kitchen happy to be free.   I'm now going to add one more little step to my coffee making process in the morning.   Check for geckos in the carafe. :-)

The next thing I wanted to share is something that just makes my heart smile.   One of my former students is now in 4th grade at NCA in Managua and is running for student council.   I was on campus last week for a meeting and I happened to see this  poster hanging on the wall.  

What a sweet kid with a cool personality and an amazing opportunity to see him growing up and learning and eager to take on more responsibility.  I talked with Kaleb  later on that afternoon after he gave his student council speech.  He said it went well but he is nervous as he waits for the vote on Monday.    

As I sit here writing this I am filled with joy at the growth of this student.   I can't help but think that God often looks at us the same way.  I know He's been teaching me a lot lately and as change starts to become a reality in my life I can imagine God with the heart of a Teacher and Father grinning from ear to ear.   

What is God teaching you?   Can you see the areas of growth in your own life?  Are you sharing it with others?

Library Pictures Needed

We are in the development stages for the library at NCA Matagalpa.   There is a clean, empty room that needs some creative inspiration.     Everything from book display ideas, shelving, seating, cozy spaces to read etc.  

Can you help?   Why yes you can!    Go to your local public library or even the local bookstore and take pictures of creative spaces and furniture that you think would be great in a library.   Send your pictures to me at   carey@dlzip.com

Let's see how many different ideas we can collect in 1 week.   I can't wait to see what great ideas fill my inbox.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Viva Nicaragua

Christopher Columbus and the discovery of Nicaragua

The signing of the Declaration of Independence

Nicaranguan Independence Day

The 14th and 15th of September in Nicaragua are filled with "Fiestas Patrias" festive celebrations of Nicaraguan history and independence from Spain 191 years ago.

Living in a small town it was fun to feel closer to the celebrations than in Managua.   Colegio Bautista had a festive celebration and school assembly yesterday with a reenactment of the historic battle of San Jacinto and the signing of the equivalent of the Declaration of Independence here.   

Pre-schooler wearing her Folklore Dress

San Jacinto Battle

Virtually every school in Matagalpa has  marching band with drums and Bataan twirlers.   Wherever you go in the city you can hear the bands practicing.    Here is what I have heard sitting on my front porch for the last month.  The little microphone on my camera doesn't do it justice but you get the idea.

My New Home

From Blogger Pictures

This week will make one month since I moved North to Matagalpa.   I realized I haven't shown you pictures of my new place of residence.   After more than a year of living out of suitcases and moving around from place to place all of my things are unpacked and are under one roof.   

From Blogger Pictures

I'm living with a missionary couple, Jeff and Marilyn, serving here with Young Life.  They have graciously opened their home to me and offered me one of the extra rooms in their house.  It has been a huge blessing to have a great place to stay.   As you can tell from the pictures the house has a great porch that is awesome for that morning cup of coffee and the Word.   The green space around the house is terrific as well.    I am so thankful for God's great provision in my life.    

Another terrific thing about Matagalpa is that it is small enough that I can walk all over town.   It is wonderful to be able to walk to just about anywhere I need to go. :-)  The only bummer is a killer hill on the way home.  I try to only have to climb the big hill twice in a day but sometimes it is not avoidable.