by Zach Dodd, WEGO Director
“In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.”
-Proverbs 16:9
What comfort this verse brings to dreamers and wanderers alike. We (or at least, I) can be so fixed on the bright horizon a hundred miles ahead, that the gravel underfoot gets missed. God certainly cares about our course and destination and we know He sees the whole mapping of our long, winding paths. But Proverbs tells us the LORD also cares about every little step along the way. He is there, even in the gravel, determining and directing the small, seemingly insignificant flips and flops of our feet.
This is the verse and reality that comes to mind when I recall the various interactions I’ve had over the last seven years with Nicole Solorzano, our new Bible Teacher at New Hope School in Nicaragua. I am grateful for how I’ve seen God establish just a few of the steps in Nicole’s life.
2017: Claudia Meléndez joined New Hope School as our Social Studies teacher and quickly became one of our most beloved teachers. Claudia’s daughter, Nicole, enrolled as a student.
2018: WEGO put on a big haircutting fundraiser. The students in Nicaragua raised money for our children in Mongolia with the prize of shaving my head, beard, and eyebrows so I could then donate my long mane to girls suffering from hair loss. After the students shaved my entire head and face, one student (who graduated 2 days before) stepped forward from the crowd and said she also wanted to donate her hair. It was Nicole. (Side note: Imagine trying to explain to the Nicaraguan airport authority why you are traveling eyebrow-less with not one, but two separate bags of hair.)
2022: Our Bible Club teacher resigned and we interviewed several great candidates, including Nicole. Our Nicaraguan leaders offered her the job after a lot of consideration and prayer. She accepted it.
2023: Twelve children in our Bible Club trusted Jesus to save them under Nicole’s leadership.
2024: Our Bible teacher for New Hope School left the role to be home with her two young daughters. Our Nicaraguan leaders did not want a city-wide search. They knew Nicole would be the perfect fit. She took the step and is now the Bible teacher in the same classrooms where she was the Bible student five years earlier.
These are just five steps I’ve personally seen God establish for Nicole. Can you see His work in her life through them? None of these are accidental or irrelevant. God has numbered each of her days, along with every strand of her donated hair. If God cares about and directs each of these steps in her life, can you believe He does the same for you? Nothing about you is meaningless or insignificant. Take a moment to remember how God has already carefully established your steps, too, to put you exactly where you stand today. Maybe now is a good time to release your worries and big plans so you can learn to trust Him more. I know I need that. I doubt you’ll end up as our Bible teacher in Nicaragua but God does tell us he has good plans and good works prepared in advance for each of us in Christ. And there is only one way to find them. Yep, step by step.
Now hear from Nicole and how you can pray for her and the different ministries she has served.
Pray for Nicole Solorzano, Bible Teacher
FROM NICOLE:
“To me, WEGO is a place of learning. I remember when I was the Bible Club leader and had so many special moments with the kids. It reminded me of when I was a little girl and found a lot of value in simple things. Now that I am working with youth, it is completely different. I am learning to be patient so I can truly understand them. The most important thing now is for the students to understand more about who Jesus is so they can give their lives to Him and place everything they do under His direction. Just to be able to share my experience of what Jesus has done in my life fills me with great joy. I thank God and WEGO for this opportunity. God bless you!”
HOW YOU CAN PRAY:
1) Please pray God will grant me more wisdom on how He wants me to lead our students in Bible class.
2) Pray for my health, that I would be free of illness and full of strength for each day.
3) Please pray for me to be humble.
Pray for our New Hope School Bible Class
HOW YOU CAN PRAY:
1) Ten students accepted the love of Jesus last fall through this class. Pray for many more students to respond to God’s offer of salvation this month and school year.
2) Pray God’s Word transforms our students’ hearts, not just their minds
3) Pray for our students to take the Truth found in our Bible Class into their homes and community.
Pray for our Bible Club
HOW YOU CAN PRAY:
1) As we shared, twelve elementary-aged children also accepted Jesus through our Bible Club last fall! Join us in praying for more this year!
2) Pray for Keyling, our new Bible Club leader as she continues to learn this new role and builds relationships with the children.
3) Pray Isaiah 55:11 for the children in our Bible Club. Pray God’s Word will not return void but, instead, for it to become a foundation that holds and guides them throughout their lives.