December 2022 0 0

Dear Family and Friends,

There is an important conversation that our son Daniel and I regularly engage in. He asks me if we will be safe when we
ride in the car, whether we travel to a location far or near. I want to assure him that “God will protect us”. However, both
Daniel and I know that there are times in life when we will endure suffering. There are times when we will even be
harmed.

We know and believe that God is our Protector. And, we have also learned, through our life experiences, that our God
does not always choose to protect us from all harm, all of the time. He does not always protect us in the ways that we
would like Him to.

At some point, as Daniel and I revisited this conversation over and over again, there were eight words that eventually
surfaced in my mind. Eight words I believe God gave me to offer Daniel as an assurance of how He responds to us ALL
of the time. Those words are . . . “God is with us. He will help us.”

As I now weave these words into our conversations, we talk about how God has created each of us with a brain that we
can use to figure out how to respond if we were in a car accident. We consider the practical steps we would take, like
calling Dan or 911. And then, I invite Daniel to imagine how close God would be to us in that situation and how He would
help us to know what to do.

I am noticing, as Daniel and I continue this conversation, how my heart settles more easily into the rest of remembering
that God is with me. And, that He helps me. It is an important conversation . . . not only for Daniel, but for me too.

Reflecting on how God has been “with us” and how He continues to “help us” throughout the course of this past year has
led me to see the following:

I see how God empowers Dan in his efforts to reach out to

potential NCAI teachers through email; in-person visits to college
campuses; and through his presence at on-line and in-person job
fairs. Each year, we wonder whether all of the positions that are
open at NCAI will be filled. And, each year, God surprises us. He
sometimes surprises us with U.S. trained teachers who hear a call
to teach at NCAI. We see God using Dan’s visits to Dordt
University to call education majors to NCAI as student teachers
who then commit to full-time teaching positions.

This year, God also surprised us with the provision of a Nicaraguan NCAI graduate who has been working at NCAI for
years as a teacher assistant. Her teaching gifts were noticed by the administration and she was asked to teach 5th grade
with the support of a mentor teacher this school year. We hear that she is doing very well in this new role! Finding
qualified teachers is still a struggle. And yet, we see how God is with us and with Nicaragua Christian. We see how He is

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leading us to U.S. trained teachers who sense a call to teach internationally, while inspiring the NCAI administration to
empower Nicaraguan NCAI graduates to step into the role of “NCAI teacher”.

I see how God is leading the current teachers to reach out to Dan for support. Dan is technologically gifted and is able to
offer support and practical help to the teachers in many different ways. Recently, a teacher asked him to digitize a training
she was preparing to give to students. Another teacher heard from her mission organization that she would need to leave
the mission field in order to raise more financial support as she was moving in the direction of struggling financially. Dan
met with her online to help her develop a plan for raising the additional funding. Within weeks, God provided the needed
financial support, making it possible for her to continue teaching at NCAI. We see how God has equipped Dan with the
technological skills and the wisdom that he needs to support the teachers. We see how God helps him to help others.

I see how the work Dan is doing to develop a 501c3 for Nicaragua Christian Academy has become even more critical at
this time. As the shortage of teachers in the U.S. continues, the NCAI administration is beginning to develop strategies for
training Nicaraguan teacher assistants to become qualified NCAI teachers. There is also a hope that NCAI graduates
would sense a call to education; receive their education at an accredited university in the U.S.; and then return to NCAI to
teach. The 501c3 would empower these graduates financially, making it possible for them to receive their education in the
U.S. We see how God is with us, leading us to the idea of developing the 501c3 years ago, not even realizing how
important it will be to the ongoing functioning of NCAI in the future. He helps us to take steps in specific directions even
before we understand why we are taking those steps.

I see how NCAI’s ability to continue to function in the country of Nicaragua is a gift. Over the course of the past year, the
Nicaraguan government has asked over 1,000 non-profit organizations to leave Nicaragua. Bank accounts are being
closed, making it difficult for other non-profit organizations to function. Since the civil unrest in 2018, there has developed
a growing distrust among the leaders of Nicaragua toward organizations that they do not control. The fact that NCAI has
been allowed to continue to function seems somewhat miraculous. We see how God is with NCAI. We see how He is
helping the administration and the teachers as they adjust to new government regulations that can be burdensome and
expensive to comply with.

I see how God was at work in the life of NCAI’s High School principal, Matt, and his family this past year. Matt and his
wife, Missy, arrived in Nicaragua only a couple of years ago. They sensed God leading them to raise their six children in a
location that offered opportunities to become more
aware of the great expanse between global wealth
and poverty. We hear how Matt is relationally gifted,
and how God is using him in the lives of students at
Nicaragua Christian.

This past year, Matt needed to return to the U.S. to

determine whether he had thyroid cancer. His wife,
Missy, and the kids stayed in Nicaragua while he
traveled back to the U.S. for surgery. We and the
community in Nicaragua were so grateful to hear that
the tumor on Matt’s thyroid was benign. Missy later
shared about how she was able to find joy and that
Matt experienced peace prior to the surgery. It seems
they were aware of how God was with them. And, how He was helping them through those weeks of waiting.

I see how God has been leading my family and myself to heal. Each member of our family has walked an individual
journey as we work through seasons of suffering that occurred during our years serving in Nicaragua and since returning
to the U.S. For Daniel and me, the transition to the U.S. has offered healing and stability. He and I have had the
opportunity to heal from trauma we experienced while living in Nicaragua. I have, however, missed our community of

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friends in Nicaragua - friends who intimately know our family’s story because they lived it with us. I am grateful to still be
able to regularly connect with my close friends by phone and via zoom video calls.

For Dan, Rebekah, and Will, relocating to the U.S. has been a transition that has, at times, been challenging. Dan
absolutely loved the work he was doing on campus at Nicaragua Christian and has deeply missed the intimate and
supportive community he daily engaged with at NCAI. Rebekah and Will have needed to grieve losses and adjust to
many changes throughout these past three and four years. Grieving losses is normal for kids who grow up outside of their
passport country. We are proud of Rebekah and Will for taking their journey seriously and for being committed to do what
they need to do to heal and to thrive. As each of us keeps taking the next step in our journey of healing, I see how God is
so near. He helps us by placing people and opportunities in our lives to lead us to deeper healing.

I see how God gave me the opportunity to write my memoir. In August 2021, I received a scholarship to be mentored by a
best selling author who is empowering me and a group of writers to write and publish our memoirs. Through the process
of writing about our call to Nicaragua and the significant events that occurred while we were there, I do hear the still small
voice of God speaking “wisdom” and “grace” and “healing” into my own personal story. At times, I notice how the words
and phrases I type onto a screen seem “new” to me, like I have not considered them before. This is when I know God is
speaking into my story with a healing message. A message like . . . “Lisa, I am with you. I will help you. You can put
your trust in knowing that is always true.”

For the past 14 years, Dan and I have been surprised by a specific way that our ever-present God consistently helps us.
Our family has always known God as our Provider. During our years of serving with Nicaragua Christian, however, we
have come to experience His provision in ways that are more profound, easily noticed, and regularly unexpected.

Since 2008, Dan and I have engaged in the process of raising 100% of our family’s financial support. We do not receive
any funding from our missions organization, Resonate Global Mission, because we serve at a status of “partner
missionary” as we partner with another organization, Nicaragua Christian Academy. Normally, a partner missionary
working with NCAI would receive a housing stipend. However, at the time we began ministry with the school, there was
no funding available for us to receive that stipend and so we adjusted by raising enough support to cover all of our living
expenses. A few years ago, Resonate Global Mission asked their missionaries to raise an additional 6% to cover
administrative costs, which is common among missions organizations.

Our family has been shaped through this process of raising support, especially at times when we cannot see how a need
will be met. It is in those moments when we are challenged to consider whether we really do believe God could provide
for our family yet once again. I have found that for me personally, this rhythm of life has produced a deeper and more
consistent sense of gratitude for what I already have and for what I receive from Him on a daily basis. We are also
grateful for our relationships with a team of churches, families, and individuals who have invested in the work God is doing
through us and in us. The journey has been so rich as we travel it with others. God has shown Himself to be with us and
to help us beyond what we could have asked or imagined in this area of our lives as well.

There have been many Christmases when I have read the verse: All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said
through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him “Immanuel” which means
“God with us”. I have known since I was a child that another name for Jesus is “Immanuel, God with us”.

But, it has not been until Daniel and my conversations

about safety, while wrestling with how to respond to his
fears, that I have more thoroughly pondered how
Immanuel’s presence and His help are always, always
available to me and to my family. Especially, in the midst
of suffering. Especially, when we are harmed. Especially
when we do not see how a need will be met. He is with
us. And, He will help us. This is 100% true all of the time.
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I do not know exactly where you are this

Christmas. Perhaps all is well with you and
your family. We are happy for you and your
family if this is where you find yourselves.
May the joy of Christ fill you with even greater
joy this Christmas!

I know, however, that it is possible there may

be someone who receives and reads this letter
. . . following some discouraging reports heard
on the news . . . in the midst of adjusting to a
difficult diagnosis . . . . just minutes after
hanging up the phone to end a heart
wrenching conversation with a loved one . . . .
while feeling the weight of loneliness . . . grief .
. . suffering.

It is to you also that I extend good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this
day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord . . .

Immanuel. God with us. Helping us.

Immanuel. God with you. Helping you.

May you experience His loving presence and faithfulness this Christmas and throughout the days and months
you walk with Him in the year 2023.

Merry Christmas!
Lisa (Dan, Rebekah, Will, and Daniel Van Zoest)

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