NCA Triathlon

On Saturday, January 21, NCA hosted its second annual mini-triathlon. The race consisted of a 200-meter swim, a 10-kilometer bike ride and a 5-kilometer run. About 70 students, teachers, parents and friends of NCA participated in the race, which was held in two separate heats.

Students and teachers trained together for several weeks before the race. The primary purpose of the event was to build community, and it was a complete success! An estimated 200 parents, siblings and friends of the contenders came out to cheer them on. Liam participated and was proud to still be able to beat all of the students, with a third place finish and a time of 1:05. The winner of the race? Second-time champion Joel Kleinsasser, high school science teacher, with a time of 51 min 48 sec.

Answered Prayers!

The past few months have been full of surprises and changes for us as a family. In December we headed to the United States to spend Christmas with our families, which we had not done in three years. The boys enjoyed the little bit of snow they saw, Belen took advantage of the carpet to learn how to walk, and we all enjoyed spending Christmas with family in the cold weather.

During our Christmas vacation we also shared with our families the biggest surprise that has happened to our family recently, and that was finding out in October that we are expecting another baby! He or she will be born near the end of June. Although it was a surprise to us, we know that God has planned our family from the beginning, and it was not a surprise to Him. We were thankful for that as we began looking at both our finances and our current vehicle, realizing that although we were not going to fit a family of six in our car, we also were not going to be able to buy a new vehicle without His provision. It has been amazing to see Him work!

First, we quickly found out that a family from NCA was selling their 12 passenger van, only 3 years old, at a very good price. Although we still didn’t have the money, we started thinking about it as a possibility. In the second week of January, Liam talked to the family about giving them a down payment and continuing to make payments over a few months, and they generously agreed. The very next day, we got our statement from Christian Reformed World Missions that informed us how much support had been received from the previous month. As we are partner missionaries with CRWM, our support varies monthly based on how much comes in for us. We were blown away by God’s provision and the generosity of so many of you, as we saw that our support for the month of December was easily three times that of an average month. The majority of the people who gave had no idea we would need to buy this van, but God knew, and that was enough! We are so thankful for His control and sovereignty in our lives.

So, today we drove home our new van, and in four and a half short months, we will welcome home our fourth child. We are excited and thankful for answered prayers.

Busy Busy Busy

Liam is feeling the pressures of many demands on his time this semester. In addition to normal responsibilities, this semester is full of retreats, field trips and a week-long trip to Panama for HACIA Democracy. And as of two weeks ago, our elementary principal is now on maternity leave and Liam has assumed her supervision duties and meeting schedule. To add to the fun, Liam has resumed his studies toward his Master’s of Education degree and is taking an online course through Dordt College. Please pray for him as he balances work at NCA, studies and family time -- that God would provide discernment, efficiency, and most of all, time!

Check out NCA's new promotional video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU8TnKCXGHo

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!

Belen Rae

It's a little overdue for us to be introducing our new daughter today, but exactly one month ago we welcomed Belen Rae to our family. She was born by c-section on January 20th, here in Nicaragua, and was welcomed home by two very excited little boys, as well as Grandma Jonker, who we were blessed to have with us for three weeks. We are so thankful for good doctors and a beautiful, clean hospital here in Managua. Belen means Bethlehem in Spanish, and our Nicaraguan friends are so excited that they are familiar with the name and can pronounce it. Our North American friends and family, on the other hand, continue to say "Congratulations! (pause)...How do you pronounce that?" The best way we can describe it is that it is pronounced as Bay-len, with the accent on the second syllable.

She may not look Nicaraguan, but she is! Having a baby abroad means that first she needs to get a Nicaraguan Birth Certificate, then go to the U.S. embassy to get a Certificate of Birth Abroad, and then she gets two passports! We will be busy doing these things in anticipation of a visit to Michigan and New York this summer. We are also excited for Belen to meet her Starkenburg Grandparents next month in March.

Spiritual Emphasis Day

At Nicaragua Christian Academy, January 28 was our annual Spiritual Emphasis Day in high school. Spiritual Emphasis Day is a day full of guest speakers, praise and worship, special interest seminars, games and prayer, designed to allow students in grades 7 to 12 to take time away from their regular academic routine and focus on their spiritual walk with the Lord.

Our theme this year was "I Believe in You", and focused on how God believes in us (our identity in Christ), our parents, teachers and families believe in us, and how we can believe in others (make a difference). Our students enjoyed attending four special-interest seminars that they selected from among 18 guest speakers. One highlight of the day for many of the 140 middle school and high school students who attended was opening personal letters their parents had written to them (as a surprise) along the theme of, "I Believe in You."

Our main speaker this year was Jeremy Havlin, founder and director of One By One Missions. Jeremy was born in Cochabamba, Bolivia. He spent his subsequent years living in various countries throughout South America- where he developed a love and compassion for Latin American people. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Intercultural Studies and Spanish from Taylor University, and spent five years as the start-up youth pastor and missions director of Discover Church in Greenville, South Carolina. He and his wife Jessica have been serving as missionaries in Nicaragua since 2008.