NCA Celebrates 20 Years

It's the beginning of a new school year at Nicaragua Christian Academy.  But this beginning is a very special one.  Twenty years ago in 1991, NCA was founded by three missionary families seeking an English-language Christian education for their own children.  The school began as a cooperative homeschool program with two teachers and seven students meeting in a house.  In 1995, NCA purchased its own land and began the construction of a school through the labor and donations of hundreds of volunteers and school supporters.  It has grown to its current size of 289 students, and is now the only school in Nicaragua with dual accreditation in the United States.  All of its 29 teachers and 46 staff members profess a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and are together seeking to provide an education of Academic Excellence with a Christian Foundation.

Liam continues to serve as the General Director of Nicaragua Christian Academy, the original campus.  Five years ago the school gave birth to a sister school, NCA Nejapa, which provides the same philosophy of Christian education in the Spanish language.  NCA Nejapa now has 316 students.  And we are pleased to announce that the planning organization of a third school has begun.  NCA Matagalpa will most likely open its doors in February 2013 in one of the northern cities of Nicaragua.  Land has been purchased and the leadership board is being organized at this time.  We are excited to see how Christian education will continue to prepare tomorrow's leaders in this country!

Success Story

In 2006, NCA Nejapa was just about to begin its second school year.  Word had not yet spread, and Liam was searching to increase enrollment in any way that he could.  He spent one day walking around the neighborhood near Nejapa, talking to families and finding out if they were Christians, and if so, if they were interested in attending NCA Nejapa.

Most of these families were quite poor, and really did not have the means to afford the school’s tuition.  But with the possibility of a sponsorship opportunity, a number of neighborhood kids took the entrance exams, hoping that their public school education would have prepared them to enter and begin learning at a whole new level.  Junior Rodriguez was one of these students.  In 2006, Junior was about to enter 7th grade.  His sister, Francis was also about to enter the 7th grade.  They both took the test, but while Francis passed the entrance exam, Junior did not.  Junior remembers that when he heard this news, he cried, having hoped that he would have this opportunity to learn English and get a better education.  He also remembers what came next:  If he worked really hard, they would give him the chance to prove himself.

In November of 2010, Junior graduated from NCA Nejapa as the Valedictorian of his class.  He is currently studying Engineering at a local university.  His English is very impressive; NCA Nejapa students have English class for one hour a day, but Junior studied hard and practiced whenever he had the opportunity, and he now speaks with hardly any accent.  In fact, just a few weeks ago he had his first translating job with a Canadian work team, and he hopes to continue doing this, both for practice and to develop relationships.

Junior continues to visit us, play with the boys, and help us out around the house and the yard.  He attends his university classes during the week and studies English on Saturdays.  It is very likely that without the sponsorship program (in which many of you are involved!) and his very diligent hard work, Junior would not be where he is today.  We hope that this one story can give you a picture of the lives being impacted by Nicaragua Christian Academy, thanks to your support!