A Day In Pictures

August has come and gone, and we’re back to our school schedule.  We had a restful summer, primarily staying here in Nicaragua but also taking a short trip to Guatemala where we met up with my brother Aaron and his family for some great adventures. 

Instead of writing a text heavy newsletter this month, I thought I’d show you what a day looks like for some of us Starkenburgs.  You might wonder what we actually do on a daily basis here, and so here is a bit of a picture diary of a typical day.

Off to School! Liam is off to school before the kids are even up most days!  I get them up around 5:45 and we are off to school around 6:45 for a 7:15 start time.

House of Hope On Wednesdays, I go to House of Hope to work with a group of women who have never learned to read.  We are going on year two of slowly getting through the alphabet, but I see progress in their reading.  We also just enjoy getting together and I try to be a stable, caring person in their lives.

Art Class After House of Hope, I head to NCA to teach art, which I LOVE.  After taking over the position last year at the last minute, it has become something that I look forward to and enjoy.

Soccer! Asher and Judah have loved getting the opportunity to play soccer with a local team. They have been doing it for about a year. Every season is soccer season in Nicaragua! 

Lessons Caleb is taking drum lessons and music lessons, and stays busy playing music in church and for youth group. Caleb's drum teacher was one of my 6th grade students long ago.

Mangos In the past few weeks we have picked lots of fresh mangoes after school.

Teresa When we get home, I enjoy taking the time to talk to Teresa, who is a HUGE help around our home.  She keeps our home clean and organized and even prepares meals if I ask her to.  She serves us well, and I know she appreciates having a job in this very difficult economy.

Dinner We eat dinner together every night! Everyone is glad when Daddy comes home!

So that’s our typical day...maybe some of it looks similar to yours?

Here are two more pictures from this past summer.

We had a great time exploring Guatemala!

Judah broke his arm on the first of August and had to have surgery and spend two nights in the hospital.  The other kids were happy to visit and enjoy the AC in his hospital room!

Stay tuned for Liam's Day in Pictures in our next newsletter.

Immersion

What does typical life in Nicaragua look like?  We were about to find out.

Caleb, Judah and Liam recently spent 3 days and 2 nights with the family of a school staff member.

The cultural immersion began upon arrival.  We were received by our host, her son, her sister-in-law, and eventually by her husband, mother, brother, nephews and nieces, and extended family, all of whom live in the surrounding houses.  Our accommodations were simple -- a single room with a double bed for Caleb and Judah to share and a mattress for Liam to sleep on the floor.  We met the parakeets and dogs, watched the baseball game in the nearby dirt lot, and played soccer in the dirt street with the neighborhood kids.  We ate lots of delicious gallo pinto, eggs and Nica cheese with the family.  We prayed together as a family each night before bedtime.

Our quest for cultural immersion, Spanish language development, and a better understanding of typical life in Nicaragua had exceeded our expectations!  Our host family had gone out of their way to make space for us.  There were many challenging aspects, like bucket showers (their neighborhood only gets water every 2 days), different food, roosters and noises during the night, and simply living away from the comforts of our own home.

As we prepared to leave, we found it difficult to say goodbye.  But we now have new friends, a deepened relationship with a coworker, and even stronger roots in Nicaragua.  We found mutual encouragement in our common love for God, which bridges all other differences!

Ministry in Challenging Times

The current situation has generated a lot of needs in our school community, and we are surrounded by opportunities to help our students and families turn to God.  Our annual ANCA Conference brought together 270 educators from our three schools (NCA International, NCA Nejapa and NCA Matagalpa) and 3 visiting schools.  Appropriately, the keynote speaker was NCA founder Jim Palmer, who shared words of hope, personal healing and goals for our teachers and staff in 2019.  It was so reassuring to see so many men and women called by God to impact the lives of children in Nicaragua, united in worship, collaboration, encouragement and prayer.  I could not help but think of Colossians 3:15-17 as an accurate description of this amazing community!

During the same week in January, our secondary students participated in our annual Spiritual Emphasis Day, full of guest speakers from our community challenging our students in a variety of areas such as intimacy in dating relationships, dealing with family issues, addictions, social media, and the power and value of the Gospel message.  Sessions were taught in English, Spanish and Korean by missionaries, NCAI graduates, former teachers and staff, and local pastors.  Our keynote speakers, Greg and Sam Elam (NCAI teachers from 2009-2013), talked about trusting in God in the midst of trials and suffering.

Something New--Teaching Art!

Since last April when the civil unrest began here in Nicaragua, we have had numerous challenges.  One of these challenges was the number of teachers who decided not to continue at NCA for the 2018-2019 school year.  In June, we learned that the art teacher would not be continuing. I (Jessica) had thought for the past few years that if I were going to start teaching again at NCA, Elementary Art classes would be an interesting option.  And so, here I find myself!  I teach part time, fitting all 9 elementary classes into two days of teaching.  Those two days are busy, but I am LOVING the job!  It challenges me to be constantly finding new art ideas and to ensure that all of the grades have challenging and rewarding projects that teach them different forms of media, techniques, and art theory.  Another thing I have loved is getting to know ALL of the kids from preschool to 6th grade.  I think that at the end of October I had just about learned all 185 names!

I am amazed to see God’s perfect timing.  Although we were sad to see so many of our teachers go, and we have been so saddened by what is happening in Nicaragua, He is in control and has provided me with this opportunity to teach again, right at the time when our youngest entered first grade.  In times of such uncertainty it is reassuring to see the Lord working in our own stories to perfectly place us where we can give glory to Him.

Here are a few pictures of what we’ve been up to.  If you’re interested, you can follow me on Instagram (ncaiart) and get a taste of what we’re doing in the art room.

Different Start at NCA International

As most of you know, we are back in Nicaragua after a busy yet relaxing summer in Michigan, New York and New Jersey.  We have just finished the first week of school, which is an amazing testimony to God’s faithfulness!

Roll back the timeline 3 weeks to our first day back with all of our teachers and staff.  I led devotions for this week each year, and during the singing of Do It Again (Elevation Worship) in Spanish with all our staff present, I found myself overcome with emotion, crying uncontrollably with tears of mixed joy, relief and trust in God.  In the midst of a summer marked with incredible uncertainty, the words, “Tu promesa sigue en pié, tú eres fiel” (“Your promise still stands, great is Your faithfulness”), took on new life and meaning!  Sung by our staff from 7 different countries (Nicaragua, United States, Canada, Australia, France, South Korea and the Netherlands), united in our love for God and calling to serve Him at NCA International, the song was an anthem of hope that seemed to be written exactly for our group at this time and this place.  “I know the night won't last, Your Word will come to pass.”

It is incredible to me that even in the midst of our present situation, God has fully provided for our school in terms of staffing.  On the first day of school, we had every essential staff position filled.  Our enrollment is down significantly, and although some students may return next semester, our school’s budget is still a big question mark this year.  On the other hand, our teachers are enjoying smaller class sizes.

We started the school year with a modified schedule but will soon be returning to a normal class schedule and adding some extracurricular activities.

Starkenburg Family Plans

We will be flying out tomorrow morning (June 11) ​si Dios quiere!  Since we don't want to risk missing our flight, we will be spending the night in a hotel next to the airport tonight.

We will be spending time with family in Michigan and then travel to New York and New Jersey to visit family, friends and supporting churches.  We'll return to Michigan for the rest of our time this summer.  We hope to see many of you during this time in the States, and we also hope to have time to rest and relax after some very intense situations in Nicaragua.  Liam will be traveling back to Nicaragua on July 23, and the rest of the family will follow on August 2.

Change to our Financial Support

Several months ago our sending organization, Resonate Global Mission (formerly Christian Reformed World Missions), announced that due to long-term trends in church giving, they are no longer able to cover their administrative operating expenses through ministry shares (expected church denominational cuotas).  In order to ensure a sustainable model, Resonate will now be retaining part of the money given to its missionaries, including us (see attached letter for details).  We have appreciated that for a long time, 100% of your donations toward our work in Nicaragua have gone directly to support our family and ministry.  Effective July 1, 2018, a flat percentage of 6.25% of all of our support raising income will be retained as a "support services fee".  This new policy directly impacts our family income.  Resonate has encouraged us to ask donors to increase their giving proportionally to this new fee so that our family's income will not be greatly reduced.  In reality, our family support needs are growing due to increased living expenses in Nicaragua, and so it is unfortunate that this change increases the gap between our needs and current income level.

If you are currently supporting our work in Nicaragua, please prayerfully consider whether or not you have the ability to add 6.25% to your current level of giving.  Please also pray that God will provide the additional supporters we need to meet our budget next year.