Growing Up......It's not the Don and Jacque Show anymore.
All Praises to our God and King, who writes beautiful stories and calls them "life." Here's our chunk of His story so far...
Praise the Lord for His grace that covers us. In October 2010, we moved to Nicaragua to serve at El Puente Mission Base with Charles and Sarah Kaye for 2 years. As I'm writing this now, it's 2013, and I'm still sitting in the balmy breezes of Granada, Nicaragua. Two years just aren't what they used to be. And I'm glad. God is so good. He has done a tremendous job in humbling us, disciplining and teaching us, growing and maturing our minds, our mouths, and our hearts, and above all, He has sunk us deeper and deeper into intimate awe-filled relationships with Him, and we are truly caught up in the joy of being His children. Praise the Lord that He is LORD.
To add a little more to the story, since it has been 2 years after all, I wanted to answer a few more FAQs. Here you are. Hope you see His Glory through it all...
Where do you live and what do you do?
Granada, Nicaragua, four blocks south of Xalteva (haltayvuh) Church, the third to last house on the right, to be exact. We are missionaries, called by God to leave the United States for the current season to serve Him in utmost reverence as we work out our salvations with fear and trembling as He works in us for His glory. We work at El Puente Mission Base with a wonderful team of Nicaraguans and Americans, spreading the glory of God through the sharing of the Gospel and discipleship of God's children. Some of our duties are...
Don:
Leading Short-term missions teams
Teaching at Bible Study and Church
Leading a discipleship class
Outreach to Pantanal, sports and evangelism
Being an awesome husband (really, Job #1)
Leading our Community Household (a household of 7, including a cat and a dog who don't like each other...yet.)
Minister on a daily basis to the hearts of people of all ages, backgrounds, and experiences
Jacque:
Management and PR for theJicaro Project
Directing the Children's Church program (with ALL of God's Help)
Coordinating the church's Character Development program
Odd jobs for El Puente (website, certificates, 5K fundraising website, etc.)
Loving being a wife (again...Job #1)
Lifting Don up as the leader of our happy household
Love the children and women of our community, by the grace and truth of Jesus
Why Nicaragua? Why more than 2 years?
Why not? God is awesome. He led us here through a friend and a couple trips, we lived here for 2.5 months and felt him call us back, and now here we are, 2 years in and not able to imagine leaving the great community we've been welcomed into. We have felt God leading us to an extended stay in Nicaragua, that His work in us and through us here is not done. We have seen His glory and grace and are just overwhelmed by His work. We love it. Our place in the community has only deepened, and we look forward to becoming more and more Cien Por Ciento Nica.
Where are you going next?
Let next worry about itself=) God has taught us the value of living for today. However, we also know that in the depths of today, God is preparing us for special, precious work in His Kingdom. We have watched Him grow us up in the last two years, and we know some of the great and glorious things He's been doing. Don has felt called to pastoral ministry since God saved him, and we have seen God cultivating the soil this past year (2012) like never before. Jacque (and our household) have just been the blessed beneficiaries of all that growth. Jacque, since day one, has desired to be a stay-at-home mom, blessed with the duties of caring for a household and discipling God's precious little ones. As of today, and this year, neither of us has seen the full joy of our anticipated calls, but we have tasted and seen that God is good and that He prepares everything in His perfect time. And in that present day, we rejoice.
Why do you live in Community?
God made us do it. And we are thankful. God is so good. Friends of ours who went on the World Race in 2009 shared with us their desire to live in community when they returned to the US. We thought that sounded cool and prayed about it and felt like God was leading us to that as well, so we moved in with another couple for our last 3 months in the States, loved it, and moved into a house that hasn't stopped its revolving door until now. We were blessed with two special roommates, Lindsay and Bethany, in 2012, and now we have been blessed by the presence of the Curtises, Michael, Jordan, Reagan (5), and Sydney (2.5), and Cocoa, their chocolate lab. Bethany and Kylie (another joy of a roommate) found a home near El Puente, and we now are fighting to keep our little family together in spite of the challenges of no longer living together. Living in community is a challenge and a joy all at once, but because of grace, and Jesus' blood, we have been so blessed by the depth of relationship God's built. You'll grow, for sure, but you're guaranteed that with God either way, so why not just jump right in and let the growing begin?
What is your favorite thing about being a missionary?
Jacque: I love doing ministry ALL the time. I love not switching focus from secular job to church to family to dot dot dot. I love that just day to day living is a reminder that I'm in God's world, not mine, that He's God and I'm not. I love that my mind is set on missions all the time and so are those of my community. I love the people of Nicaragua, their sweetness, their faith, and their strength. Most of all, I love knowing that this is right where God has me, so where else would be better or more full of joy?
Don (by way of Jacque): Don has been growing abundantly in the Word, which is probably his absolute favorite part of working here. He has found himself very comfortable in the Nicaraguan culture, and he has loved teaching at Bible Study and Church, as well as our discipleship class. He loves the children of Pantanal and is usually carrying one of them around as he and Jesse visit houses. He's patiently growing through the process of being equipped to pastor a church, wherever, whenever, and however that may be.
Favorite thing you do:
Jacque - Enjoy fellowship and sharing at Women's Group, ministry with Ingrid
Don - Teach at Bible Study
Hardest Ministry so far:
Jacque: Ministry with Ingrid (our neighbor, 14), most dying to myself I've done apart from marriage
Don: changing from ministry to ministry, not focusing on just 1, though that's been a real joy as well. God is good, He knows what He's doing and when.
View our 2010 FAQ, The Don and Jacque Show: Pre-Nicaragua
