Four Bold Prayers For New Hope School

By Zach Dodd, WEGO Director

Two brothers from New Hope School invited me to their home for fresh-baked bread last summer in Nicaragua. I was super bummed because my family was flying out early the next morning and it sounded super delicious. I asked for a rain-check so they gave me some bread from their backpacks instead.

When our team arrived in Nicaragua months later for our December graduation, I made sure to get myself reinvited. I grabbed my friend Robert and my friend/translator Jerry and we headed to their house. It was perfect. We sat on plastic chairs as their chickens scurried around us on a rugged slab floor. The sunlight shined between the gaps of their tin roof and concrete walls. It was a beautiful two-room home and we felt so welcome. Their mom brought out several varieties of pastries and bread she made with fire. That’s how she provided for her family. The boys made us coffee by tossing a metal device with two wires into a water-filled plastic bowl.  They plugged the two separate wires straight into the socket as Robert and I both feared for their electrocution. But they knew what they were doing. It heated the water and everyone was just fine.

We spent most of our time sitting around and laughing. I didn’t realize how many chicken jokes I had in my arsenal until that day. We talked for a long while about their lives, struggles, dreams, and about what it was like to attend New Hope School. I asked for some advice on how to raise my own kids and how we can improve our school. I always love these intimate moments because it gives me a chance to really hear from the families we serve. Their mom told me their landlord was kicking them out because he was selling the property. She had no idea where they were going to go but she insisted they weren’t going far. She said her only plan was to keep them in bike-riding distance to the school.  She told me New Hope made too big of an impact on her kids to move them away from it.

Their hospitality meant the most but her words struck the deepest. It’s easy for me to get lost in all the big-picture vision, website updates, video calls, and paperwork. But New Hope School is about that family and every other one in our community like theirs. It makes a difference. Every day, students get an education, a meal, and a chance to grow as followers of Jesus. I know you most likely won’t be eating their bread while hearing their stories any time soon. But I’m telling you right now as someone who has, New Hope School matters because these students matter.

Our school is filled with 100 unique and individual stories like this one. With all of these students and families in mind, I want us to pray this month for New Hope School. We are going to pray Psalm 3, the same thing I pray for my own kids every morning on the way to school.

#1 Pray our students win the battle against doubt
Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” (Psalm 3:1-2) 

I’ll shoot you straight. Our students have been given a tough lot in life compared to the lives of most students in the USA. They don’t live in a community abundantly filled with opportunity, wealth, ease, or even food. “I love living here but there just aren’t any jobs” is a common thing I hear. They have many reasons to give in to doubt and discouragement, with a variety of cards stacked against them. Will you please pray that the God who sees and cares for them will silence the lies of the enemy and nay-sayer? Will you pray their vision is cast well beyond their foes and circumstances? Pray they keep their hope set on Jesus, His Voice, and what He alone can do in their lives.

#2 Pray that God will protect them
But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. (Psalm 3:3-4) 

A “Psalm 3 shield”, that’s what I pray for my own kids every morning. Will you pray for the physical safety of our students right now? Pray for their walk or bike ride to and from school. Pray they are physically protected as they play sports and live active lives. Pray for their health as they battle mosquitoes, hunger, and sanitation challenges. Pray for the protection of their hearts – that God would keep them far from temptation, lies, and sins committed against them by others. Pray God will protect them and lift their heads.

#3 Pray our students find rest
I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side. (Psalm 3:5-6) 

You want to find a hard worker? Travel to Nicaragua. Hustle is the native tongue. The day always starts earlier and lasts longer than anywhere I’ve ever been in the world. This is good and a sign of Nicaraguans strength but I bet it can also be exhausting. The same is true of our students. They work hard and give it all they’ve got. The teachers always tell me that. Pray our students are able to receive their Sabbath rest. Pray they find the balance between working hard and also trusting God to do the heavy-lifting, both in their school work and in their relationship with Jesus.  Pray that in the midst of so much bustle they find the Lord sustaining them with peace and rest.

#4 Pray our students experience blessing
Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people. (Psalm 3:7-8) 

That’s what we want. We want God to exchange all of our students curses for overwhelming blessing. Will you pray that for them and for their families? Pray for the blessing of new jobs, new opportunities, new provisions, and new chances to succeed and grow. Pray God gives our students ears to hear His voice and the insane joy of knowing Him. Pray they find the blessing of faith in every circumstance. Pray our students discover the richness of New Hope in this world and the next.