How is Teaching a Mission?

As we near the end of the summer and look toward our second year serving in Nicaragua, we have all enjoyed a few weeks of solitude and reflection. As many of you know, our sublease ended in early July and we moved to a new community, Quinta Malu. Here we have a small house with a small strip of land on either side. Although the overall square footage is smaller and the rent is the same, the layout is more user-friendly to us North Americans. On Facebook, we've posted several photos of some ways we made this house our home over the past few weeks. Jeremy has enjoyed the extra space to get outside and plant some flowers and work in the yard. This is something he has missed out on for the past two years! He has also built some tables and a bed out of pallet wood. It’s very economical, yet these items give us a sense of home.  Hannah and Spencer have enjoyed personalizing their bedrooms and creating work space for school work.  We painted Romans 12:1-2 (MSG) on our kitchen wall to remind us daily to continue to be transformed by the Holy Spirit and not to fall into the rut of life.

Our Kitchen Wall

 In light of Paul’s words and God’s call on our lives in a developing nation, I want to focus on explaining our work here. People ask, “How is teaching a mission?” When one thinks of missionary work, certain things come to mind. Are we building churches, training pastors, visiting orphanages, feeding the hungry, and healing the sick? The answer is an emphatic “YES” to each of these things. Here’s how this works. Our student body is 55% Nicaraguan. These are children of important community and political figures in this country. By educating them through a biblical world view, we are training them to make a difference in their country. In addition, there is a whole other layer of what we do here. Thirty-five percent of NCAI’s student body is the children of missionaries. While their parents are out building churches, training pastors, visiting orphanages, feeding the hungry, and healing the sick, we are providing a quality education for their children. We enable other missionaries to do their work here.  

Teresa calls Hannah "Hannita."

Another layer of our ministry and your support provides economic stability for an entire family. Teresa is our empleada. She comes to our home three times per week to clean and do laundry. Now, let me say that we are perfectly capable of cleaning our own home and doing our own laundry. However, culturally, North Americans are expected to employ an empleada. Although this is not a common practice in the United States, if we did not do this, we would be frowned upon. Teresa has three daughters, one of which has special needs. When Teresa is here, we talk with her, and show her Christ’s love. She has been with us now for a year, and she is part of our family. And, we are impacting her entire family economically and spiritually. By employing her for the standard rate of $1.00 per hour, she has money on which to live and take care of her daughter. Just recently, Teresa’s former employer came back to Nicaragua to visit. Teresa shared with her that we are “good people” and she loves our family.

The ladies of the house

I hope this post explains how teaching is a mission. What we are doing today through God will impact this country on multiple levels in the future! Even Spencer has taken on another level of teaching in the mission field. This August, September, and October he will be co-coordinating a basketball camp where he, along with the rest of his basketball team, will be teaching 200 Nicaraguan orphans how to play basketball.

Through your support, you are building churches, training pastors, visiting orphanages, feeding the hungry, and healing the sick. You are empowering the future of Nicaragua and equipping them with God’s word. You are providing for Teresa and her family. You are teaching 200 orphans to enjoy basketball. You are impacting this country. God bless you.