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Big Dream Becoming Reality for Nicaragua Christian Academy
At Christmas 2008, we wrote
in our Christmas letter the
following, “Dan has participated
in a meeting with the Board of
Directors which involved planning
for the future building and develop-
ment of more Christian schools in
Nicaragua. Dan says the dream is
a very big dream.” Now in 2011,
we are beginning to witness
how this big dream is becom-
ing a reality. We will share
with you in this update about
the options for education in
Nicaragua, about how God is
growing NCA to now include
a 3rd school, and will share
some words from an NCA
graduate who now attends
Calvin College. Currently,
NCA is the only evangelical
Christian school of it’s size
and quality in Nicaragua.
Common Nicaraguan House
Four hundred thousand of
Nicaragua’s 2 million school
aged children do not attend
school. These children work
to help their families finan-
cially. These families earn $1
to $2 dollars a day and the
children of these families typi-
cally do not attend college.
Poor families can send their
children to public schools.
However, these schools typi-
cally have 50 to 60 students in
a class. The teacher teaches
one group this size in the AM
and another group the same
size in the PM – typically 10
hours of classroom time.
These children have little
chance of attending college.
Public School
NCA – Nejapa is a school
which has grown from 55
students it’s first year to now
over 315 students in it’s sev-
enth year. Each class is lim-
ited to 25 students and is
taught by a trained teacher.
Twenty – five percent of the
students are sponsored finan-
cially by US and Canadian
donors. Graduates are well
prepared to attend college in
Nicaragua.
NCA Nejapa
NCA – English is a school
that was originally founded to
teach children of missionaries.
Today, 60% of students are
December 2011
Nicaraguan, 30% are mission-
ary children, and 10% are Ko-
rean and are taught in the
English language. Nicara-
guan families who have chil-
dren attending this school are
generally middle to upper
class. These students will
likely be the future leaders of
this country given their social
connections through their
families. The classes are lim-
ited to 25 students and offer a
U.S. curriculum making it
possible for students to attend
college in the U.S.
NCA English High School
NCA – Matagalpa will begin
construction next year. This
community is located 2 hours
North of Managua. Dan is
currently traveling monthly to
Matagalpa to meet with an
advisory committee to plan
for the building and develop-
ment of this school. The
school will be similar to NCA-
Nejapa offering sponsorship
to students.
We are also excited to hear of
how God is working in the
hearts of our graduates. The
following statements were
written by a Nicaraguan NCA
graduate who attends Calvin
College: More and more I have
been realizing that God takes my
career and calling seriously. Being
in college is not a "side thing" and
doing ministry is not the "real
thing". Both are one! Realizing
this has been revolutionary to
me. Someday, I'll be a dad, a
husband, a business man, and will
share the Gospel, but none of those
areas of life must be neglected!
We are excited about what we
have seen and continue to see
God doing through the minis-
try of Nicaragua Christian
Academy. We thank you for
how you too have been in-
volved in the lives of students
through your prayer and fi-
nancial support, making it
possible for us to serve with
NCA.
Merry Christmas!
The Van Zoest Family
Financial Support
A significant portion of our
annual support is received at the
end of the year. Please consider
financially supporting our minis-
try in Nicaragua. Details can be
found in the enclosed brochure
or visit our website at:
www.vanzoest.blogspot.com
Thank You!