Update #2018-02 – PCA: 2018 School Year Begins

As we get ready in just a few days to kick off the 2018 Academic school year, I am overwhelmed by the goodness of God and how far we have come in only a year. Next month, Deborah and the kids mark their one year anniversary of living in Nicaragua. It has been truly amazing seeing all God is doing and knowing He has only just begun. I hope you are all as excited as we are to see all God has planned for this year. We are going to do our best to keep sharing and hope you are as amazed as us with what God can do. This year as you look for ways to follow God closer, I pray you will hear His voice and see His face more in every detail of your life.

Open House

The PCA open house was a fantastic event. We were much more prepared than last year, but oh we have so many ways to improve. I am proud to say we had our handbook and parent agreements ready and the children enjoyed meeting their teachers and seeing their new classrooms. Many of our children are so excited for school to start. We have truly missed the kids and it was an indescribable blessing to get so many hugs from these wonderful children. They have most definitely stolen our hearts.

Hope & Riley

This month we saw the arrival of our two new English volunteers for this year. Riley arrived on the 22^nd and will be teaching English in our 1^st grade. Hope arrived on the 25^th and will be teaching English in the preschool. We are so happy to have Riley and Hope joining us this year. Oh what a difference these two wonderful servants will make. Please pray for them as they transition into life in Nicaragua and are working hard on preparing for their classes next week.

1^st Grade

Speaking of, the first grade class looks incredible. The desks have arrived, and everything is ready for classes to start. We have most of our last year Kindergarten students returning and several new students starting with us. This is going to be an exciting year for PCA. I know it is only the beginning, but wow the opportunity that lies before us.

Another Great Partnership

I was extremely blessed to learn this month the Fellowship North Youth Group has chosen us as their missions partners. We are honored they will be partnering closely with us to bring the Gospel to Palacaguina through a Christ-centered, bi-lingual education. With a trip this summer in the works to Palacaguina, we look forward to all God has in store for the youth and us. Welcome to the team and we look forward to meeting each of you! We love our Fellowship North Family!

Projects

Quick update on several projects we have been tackling this month in preparation for the new school year. We have refreshed paint, added roofing in critical areas, sidewalks for our new entrance and are almost complete with the first third of our kitchen/cafeteria. These are all very important to complete before school starts and I am so grateful for a year-end gift that made it all possible. We had no idea how we could get it done, but God called and His children listened. Thank You!

Teacher Orientation

In the last update we mentioned a new partnership with a family who would be helping us with professional development. I am overwhelmed by the amount of work they did to make our first ever teacher orientation and training a success. I spent two weeks teaching modules on everything from lesson planning and behavioral management to CPR, First Aid and kids YOGA. It was a great time spent with the teachers and the concepts they learned, I believe, will help us to be even more intentional and successful this year. We are off to a great start! I know it will be worth the many 19 hour back-to-back days.

April Trip

Get Ready, Get Ready, Get Ready!! Now that our teacher orientation is complete and we are about to kick off our next year, I am going to be focusing heavily on my trip to the states in April. The trip will be focused on sharing our vision for 2018 and trying to raise support for our $350,000 capital campaign. I plan to be in Central Arkansas for 6 days and Florida for 14. We are already booking up quickly and I know God is going to open the doors. I will be planning a fund raising event in Central Arkansas so please pray about how you can be a part of helping us have a successful event. I will need help with planning and will be reaching out to many of you very soon.

New Hires

We added several new faces to our team this year. Our new office assistant is Karina. She is actually a product of 516Now’s smiling school kids program and a wonderful example of the success and opportunity that await children who receive an education. We are happy to have Karina joining us. In addition, we welcome Jorge (Hor-Hey) to our team who will be working as our full-time maintenance resource for the school. Jorge will also be driving the microbus and helping out all around. And Abner will be our new English Professor for the school. Welcome to PCA!!

Karina

ANF Donation

Just a few days ago, we received our 3^rd donation from the American Nicaragua Foundation. We received several books, tables & chairs as well as more food for our students. This has been a wonderful partnership and we hope it will continue for many years to come.

Family Visit

We had an amazing blessing this month getting a family visit. It was great to spend the week just relaxing and spending time with our loved ones. We miss everyone so much and when we get moments like these we cherish them. We are so grateful for the time together. Thank you Paul and Peggy for blessing us with your visit!

Prayers

Please continue to pray for our fund raising campaign this year. $350,000 or bust. J
Please pray for the transportation needs of the school. We are still investigating what this will require, but we will definitely need the donation of a bus to make this happen.
Please pray for a positive school year and that our teachers will be firm and consistent.

Thank you all for your prayers and your support. I say this every update, but I really mean it when I say we could not do this without those of you who are supporting and praying for us. We are able to be the hands and feet of Christ on the ground only because of you who are the hands and feet of Christ in sending and supporting us. We are doing this work together all for the glory of the Lord. And we are so grateful to be serving with you for the kingdom. God has shown me that this year is going to be the most challenging, but I know through your prayers and the power of the Holy Spirit, we are going to kick the enemy in the teeth and see what God can do when His people are faithful to follow Him where He leads. Hope you enjoyed the update, talk to you soon.