Global Partners Dan and Lisa Van Zoest, faithful servants at the Nicaragua Christian Academy, share an amazing story of God's generosity through his people. The story is about Nain Miranda Duate, a young man who grew up in Managua, Nicaragua. Lisa writes—
Nain was a part of the Nicaragua Christian Academy family from third grade through eleventh grade, along with his brothers. Nain was a part of our son Will’s, class which allowed us to get to know him.
This past April, Nain graduated from Calvin University with a BA in Accounting along with our daughter Rebekah, and our son, Will. Nain, who was the 2023 Calvin University Student Body President, shared his story as he addressed the graduating class. The following are his words . . .
"I had a dream. I had a dream that I would be graduating from a world-class university one day. A dream deemed impossible by society’s standards. A truly impossible dream.
After all, the odds were not in my favor. I was born and raised in the slums of Managua, Nicaragua. My parents had a combined income of only $50 a month which amounts to $1.67 a day. This means that my parents were feeding a family of seven with less than half the threshold to measure poverty.
I remember an instance growing up when we were hungry and did not have anything to eat. And I remember my parents kneeling and praying for God’s provision. Later that day, a lady came up to us out of the blue and said, “God put in my heart to give you this gallon of milk.” My parents cried and said, “You have no idea how much this means to us.” We celebrated God’s grace and the lady’s generosity as we had just witnessed the impossible happen.
My parents worked tirelessly to provide a great education for my brothers and me, but there were many times when we didn’t think that we could graduate from school. There was this time when my Dad explained to my older brother and me that we would not be able to finish High School. And, that we could not return to school the next week because we couldn’t afford to pay the school bill. And then, the impossible happened again.
We received communication from the school director saying, “Good afternoon Miranda Duarte family. We hope to see your kids again next week. An anonymous donor has just paid your whole bill.” Once again, we celebrated God’s grace and the anonymous donor’s generosity.
And then, came April 2018. One year before graduating high school, a crisis erupted in Nicaragua. High school and college students who peacefully protested against Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship were kidnapped and tortured and even killed by police officers. Even I, who was not involved in any protesting whatsoever received a death threat from my neighbor who was the wife of a higher-up in the police department. Upon receiving this threat, my parents decided that it was best for me to flee. So, I fled to Costa Rica where I was generously hosted by a family.
Thankfully, one of my older brothers lives in Oregon so I was able to fly to the U.S. and spend the summer with him. But, at the end of the summer, I received a phone call that changed my life. It was a phone call from my parents. The first thing my mom said was, “Son, you are not coming back home. Your cousin, Enrique, has been shot and killed by the police this morning. And, we don’t want that to happen to you.
All of a sudden, I needed to figure out how I could finish my education here in the U.S. The high school I had applied to said, “Usually, the immigration paperwork takes over a year and there is no way you can get all of the paperwork you need in just a couple of weeks.” I flew back to Costa Rica and the same week I landed, all the immigration paperwork was sorted out. This made it possible for me to continue my education in the U.S. I was able to finish High School once again. An impossibility made reality.
As I was considering where to go to University, I realized the impossible needed to happen again. Calvin and other schools had offered me a generous amount of aid, but it was still not enough for me to afford to go. I emailed my Calvin admissions officer and explained my situation and that I only needed a bit more aid for me to be able to come to Calvin. She explained that I had received the highest financial aid scholarship package out of any student of the year and that they were not able to offer any additional aid.
I didn’t know if I would be able to make it to college. But then, I received an email from the admissions office saying, “Nain, we have found an additional scholarship for you. The Central America scholarship.” The impossible happened yet again. God’s grace was shown to me once again.
And I had a dream that I would be graduating from a world-class college one day. A dream deemed impossible by society’s standards. A truly impossible dream. But, I stand here today by the grace of God and you do too. Together, we stand here today because of those who decided to become God’s hands and feet and who actively exemplify the power of generosity. Class of 2023, it is my turn now. It is your turn now. It is our turn to be the hands and feet of God. It is our turn to embody the grace of God through generosity."
Nain’s speech has been one I have listened to often as we have shared it, by video, with each of our supporting churches this year. (This video can be found at http://bit.ly/Nain). As I listen to Nain’s story, I find myself overwhelmed by gratitude.
I feel grateful for God’s grace and empowerment in Nain’s life. The challenges he thrived through are more than many survive in a lifetime. I feel grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve with Nicaragua Christian Academy, knowing that God has worked through NCAI to shape each one of these kids and so many others.
“Surprise” is another emotion I have felt as I notice some similarities between my husband, Dan’s life story and Nain’s life story. After listening to Nain’s story for the third time, I thought, This story sounds somewhat familiar to me. I think Nain’s story sounds familiar because there are parts of his story that remind me of Dan’s story.
Dan, like Nain, is the youngest in his family. He is the youngest of four. After Dan’s father passed away from cancer when Dan’s mom was 38 years old and he was 7 years old, his family struggled financially. He remembers feeling grateful for having enough food to eat and yet life was stressful, especially when unexpected expenses arose.
Dan remembers thinking that the only way out of the financial situation he was in was to get a college education. During the summers, he worked long hours six days a week on a family vegetable farm near his Ohio home to save money for college. He, like Nain, had a dream of attending Calvin University one day.
Dan, like Nain, also remembers the generosity of others. He remembers the day his family found a $100 bill in their mailbox. He remembers family and community members taking him out to eat, to professional baseball games, and on vacation with their families. He recognizes that it was because of the generosity of others that he and his siblings were able to receive a Christian education through eighth grade.
By the grace of God, Dan was also able to attend Calvin University, made possible through financial aid, student loans, and Dan’s summer work on a family member’s vegetable farm. Throughout the school year, Dan would ration the money he made during the summer to pay his expenses. He developed a system and it worked.
It worked until his senior year at Calvin when friends asked him to join them on a spring break trip. Dan knew that if he went on this trip, he would run out of money by the end of the school year. He let his friends know he could not go.
As Dan drove to Ohio to be with his mom over spring break, he processed through lots of emotions about missing this trip with his friends. The social impact of being someone who lives with less was deeply felt in these moments.
It was at some point over that week, however, that Dan had an encounter with God. He could have rooted himself in despair, resentment, and jealousy as a result of his life circumstances. Instead, he remembers a specific moment when God revealed Himself to Dan as his Heavenly Father, bringing peace, contentment, and a new perspective. Dan, like Nain, received the gift of coming to know God in profound ways because of the life challenges he needed to navigate.
Like Nain, Dan graduated from Calvin University with a BA in Accounting. Dan then climbed the corporate ladder for 15 years. It was when Dan and I were in our late 30s that we heard a call to serve with Nicaragua Christian Academy. We have been serving with NCAI for the past 15 years.
It seems that our God enjoys authoring these kinds of stories . . . stories of His grace and generosity being expressed through people. Stories of the impossible being made possible.
May we reflect on all of the ways “the impossible has been made possible” in our lives and in the lives of others through the gracious and generous heart of God. Perhaps we could also make ourselves available to be people through whom He reveals His grace and generosity. We come to know Him more intimately as we do.