Saturday, January 9, 2010

When we arrived


Hello everyone. T.J. and I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support during our trip to Ometepe. We would also like to thank Tom and his entire family for sharing their home, work and vision with us. And, of course, the fun stuff, too!


We experienced countless moments of God's presence - sometimes in... the most unexpected places. We expect to update you very shortly with  more of our experiences (of course pics) and more examples of Christ Church's blessings.

First, just prior to our trip, we were blessed with a last-minute donation from our neighbor which covered the cost of bringing a third suitcase.  This third suitcase enabled us to bring every single item donated by our church community - including all of those baseball gloves!  More on that later...:)



Upon our arrival in Nicaragua, it wasn't long before Tom explained that the prior season's rice harvest on Ometepe was a disaster.  It yielded only 1/10 of a normal rice harvest, so there is a serious food crisis for many of the families on the island.  We then understood what we needed to do with the extra donations given by the community and friends. 

To the right:   Tom Fritz' son, Tommy, with all our donations and purchased rice & beans.  We also filled the inside of Tom's truck with more rice & beans.  It is customary in Nicaragua to ride in the back of the flat bed.  In fact, we too, preferred the open air ride to take it all in)


To the left is Tom & Esther Fritz and Roe.  We'll share more on Tom and his family later.  

 Love, T.J. & Roe

Sunday, December 27, 2009

On Our Way


We are on our way with three suitcases filled with 141 lbs. of items donated for our Ometepe brothers & sisters in Christ.  In addition to the Christ Church Lenten and other cash donations we have lots of children's clothing, 25 baseball gloves (and some balls), 24 toothbrushes, paste and bars of soap, 28 shampoos, lots of small toys (matchbox cars, bouncy balls, puppets, etc).

Special thanks to all who contributed to the Ometepe Island Mission and for your continued prayers & support.
Praise God!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Welcome to our Blog



Welcome to the Ometepe Island, Nicaragua Missions blog of T.J. and Roe.  This Advent and Christmas season is extra special to us.  In addition to the usual Christmas lists, decor, baking and shopping, we are preparing to give our time and energy to serve Jesus on Ometepe Island, Nicaragua.

On our upcoming trip, we are proud to represent our parish, Christ Episcopal Church (Woodbury, NJ), visiting with the Fritz Family Missionaries in Nicaragua.

We intend to use this blog as a means for you to participate on this journey, pray with us, and to witness God's work....from the comfort of your own home.  Through this lens, we hope you're both humbled and inspired...to strenghthen your faith and understanding that God can do great things with the smallest things in impossible situations....like the birth of our King in a manger!

Stay tuned!

T.J. and Roe

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