This morning as I ran through Matt's mom's neighborhood, my heart was saddened by all that these people are missing. If you have seen this neighborhood, you would doubt that these folks could be missing anything. They have big houses with manicured lawns and ornate Christmas decorations. Each home has 3 or 4 cars. Probably inside the house there are multiple flat screens, computers, i pods, blue rays, and many other high tech gadgets. Yet I have the odasity to say they are missing out on anything.

The last few days in the states I've been amazed by the desire for stuff that so many people have. They are buckled down in stress for the season, bu fail to realize how blessed they are. I was thinking today about Oscar, a man we met on Friday at our home before we left. Oscar had wasted his life in drugs, but had recently become a Christian and was wanting to get off drugs. A local church offers a rehab program, but in order to enter, he had to bring with him basic necesities of life including a bar of soap, shampoo, toilet paper, and a change of clothes. If you are reading this blog, you surely cannot imagine being not able to afford basic things like soap.

This Christmas season remember the important things are not things at all. The most important things anyone can own are their relationships with others and with God. All else will waste away.

Ronald

Ronald Martinez is the preacher of the Church of Christ in Desamparados, Costa Rica. He and another man at church have been asked to go to Haiti next month for 10 days. He told us today that they are a little over $200 short of being able to go. It is very important to these men that they are able to go and team up with some other ministers in Haiti to share the word. If you think you might be able to help please email me at mandnfitz@gmail.com and I will give you the information.

Terremoto en San Jose (Earthquake in San Jose)

Last night, Matt and I were watching CSI when we felt our couch start shaking. Then we could feel our entire apartment shake. By the time we realized what on earth was happening, the earthquake was over. We live in the second floor of our apartment, we felt it a lot. We could actually see the building shake. I was really shaken up by it. (hahaha) My heart was racing for the rest of the night. After the quake (it was only a few seconds long) I checked on Haley. It didn't stir her at all. I told my landlord that she probably just thought I was rocking her.

Fortuneately, no damages or victims have been reported throughout the country. It ranked on the rictor scale as 5.9, which is pretty big. The epicenter of it was just 41 km (26 miles) from San Jose. We are praising God that no one is hurt and that nothing in our apartment was messed up.

Matt was laughing because it scared me so much. He said "You lived in California, haven't you been in an earthquake before?" I told him that movies over depict the frequency of earthquakes in CA that they do not happen that often. I hope that is the only earthquake that we feel while we are here in CR. Praise God that nothing happened during the earthquake. It made me realize just a little more his awesome power if he can shake an entire counrty. Matt said it makes the song "Can you feel the mountains tremble?" So much more powerful to him.

Christmas thoughts

You may see the title and run because it is almost three months until Christmas. Stores here love Christmas and already have their Christmas decorations out. We went into a store at the mall on Saturday that was fully decorated and playing Christmas music. Ironically they had signs that said "Let it snow." Costa Rican's would think they were in a very bad place if it ever actually snowed here. They talk about how it is so, so cold when it is 50 degrees outside and are so bundled up.

We've been trying to think of what the perfect gift for Haley is. We cannot afford to buy her very much, but we want to give her something. Sometimes I am so sad that I cannot give her the whole world and every cute toy that I think she would like. Haley will not grow up having tons of stuff. Fortuneately, she will grow up knowing what it is like to serve Jesus and have a much broader view of life than other kids. So at times materialism creeps up on me when there is so much that I want to buy for Haley, I must remember that she in the end will be much better off.

spanish

Right now we are in spanish school in costa rica. This is such a huge blessing. Going into language school,I thought the worst. The reason for that is my one fear about being a missionary was learning the language. I was horrible at spanish in high school. So needless to say spanish is going to be difficult for me. The thing that surprised me was spanish is different. For some reason God has made spanish easier for me. I know that it is not me. I know God has blessed me to understand what I have been learning. The time here is Costa Rica has been amazing. In 2 weeks I am going to another city in costa rica to work with our preacher. I am so happy that God has given me these opportunities.Continue to pray for our family. God is awesome.

Hidden Poverty

Costa Rica is the most well off country in Central America, and they pride themselves on this fact. However they are still considered a developing country. They are very good at hiding the poor places. In general as you are in main areas in town you will not see people begging and you almost certainly will not see children begging or selling things in town. We have been here since August, and shamefully, we forget at times that the poverty exists on a pretty large scale here. We had a family fun day today and went to the big mall where they have a very American-esque food court. (I had Taco Bell and Matt had Pizza Hut). As we got out of the taxi and looked by the river, I felt like I had been hit in the stomach. Above the river are houses made out of tin and other scraps. They looked like many of them had dirt floors which means right now they have goopy muddy floors. These rivers aren't pretty rivers, but sewege rivers, and as it rains they sewage water rises into the houses. I felt so upset with myself that I had escentially forgotten about the poor here in Costa Rica. I felt ill because earlier this week I had said something to Matt that I wish that I could buy more for Haley (toys, clothes, etc). Haley has more than enough of everything and I was upset that I couldn't give her more. I was upset that Satan had blinded me to the harsh reality of many places in Costa Rica. Lord, I pray that I will never forget the poor. I pray that you will use me to help the people that you put in my life. I pray that the people living above the river will be able to stay dry tonight. Prevent them from sickness.

Marching bands have xylophones??

Our church usually lasts until 12 or 12:30 including worship and class. We decided to not stay for class today because Haley didn't sleep well last night because she is growing several teeth right now. We didn't want to put her in class because she was tired and hurting. Also, when she doesn't feel well, she can be pretty aggressive. Therefore, at 11:15 we headed for our walk back home. Upon entering the main highway that brings us home, we heard music that sounded like it might be a parade. We looked in the opposite direction, and sure enough there was a parade. They had just blocked traffic on the road. Instead of marching for a couple miles as we do in the states, they would just have two or three bands lined up at a time and move to one area where each group would play two or three songs. One group played the BEATLES and another played a tune from Phantom of the Opera. We watched a few minutes before heading home. I had seen a marching band with a stationary xylophone before, but almost every band had several (up to 20 in one group) hand held xylophones. Some of the percussion instruments looked hand made. Most of them were pretty old. All of them, though were in tune and beautifully played.

A DAY IN TOWN

In order to get Visas here, the National Police has to have a record of our huellas (fingerprints). We are supposed to have this done by the time we go to a meeting tomorrow. We were told that all of the westbound busses went by the Police Academy where we were to do this. Well, that is all of the Buses except the one our driver took. He made a million turns and we got to the end of the line and were kicked off the bus. We got off the bus and asked someone where the police academy was located. He said this bus will take you there. Ok. We got back on the bus, and it took us right to it. We got off on the correct stop (I knew it was next to the McDonalds) However, we did not see the Police Station directly accross from the McDonalds, so we went inside McDonalds and asked where it was. 20 meters up the road on the right.

We had been told that Ticos are sympathetic to people with babies. I know that many people had been there longer than me, but they called me and Matt within 5 minutes of when we got there. Once I got inside, they skipped me to the front of the line because Haley was fussing. We had to use one of the photos needed for our visas for the huellas, and we needed a couple extra photos anyway. While we were waiting we saw a friend from school and he said that there was a place that did passport photos across the street at the mall. We went to the mall and had passport photos made to take to our appointment tomorrow. Afterwards we walked around into stores and practiced our Spanish. Upon leaving the mall, we realized that we were only a kilometer and a half from home, we walked back. Unfortunately, since we rode the bus, we carried Haley. All is well, and we have the items we need for our Costa Rican visas (except all of our personal documents that are in route to us because the consulado wasn't finished with them when we left).

Church in Desemparados

Last week I wrote about getting lost on our way to church. Through some miscommunication, the preacher had sent me his home address not the address of the church. He came to our apartment to meet us yesterday and to be sure that we had the correct address to the church. He is a very nice man named Ronald Martinez and is married to Nora. They have three children between 17 and 22.

Since we were not exactly sure where the church was, we decided we would catch a taxi there and walk home. Church started at 9:00, then at 11:30 there is Sunday school. Ronald introduced us and said we would be part of the family for the next year. When the worship time finished, almost everyone there came and greeted us and said they are so happy that we are here to worship them. It was a very warm welcome. I remember back to times I have visited at other churches when no one talked to me, so it is always very comforting to be the visitor and feel so welcome.

Everyone was excited to meet Haley. She was so tired when it was time for Bible class, but she was so excited to go to be with other children. She gave everyone hugs and even some wet slobbery kisses. She also broke my necklace during church and beads went everywhere.

I was just looking at the map and learned that the next time we walk we could do it in under a mile instead of the slightly more than two miles we walked today. Oh wellk, I can always use the exercise.

Praise God, for he is good.

Splish splash

It rains here everyday for most of the afternoon usually on till about 9:00. We made the best of the few minutes that it was not raining to go play at the park. We tried to teach Haley to jump in the puddles, but she would just stand there for a couple minutes then sit down really hard. God is good.

Classes start Tuesday.

God, the show off

In the years since we felt compelled to move to Honduras, God has always reminded us that he is in control, not us. Four years ago near the time we got engaged, our hearts raced with passion for the Honduran people. But God gently reminded us, “Children your time has not yet come. I will guide you, just wait.”
We went ahead and finished our schooling to better prepare ourselves for the mission work we hoped to one day pursue. While making our plans to move to Honduras, we said we would move July 2009, just a few months after we both finished our degrees. I am sure that God laughed at us when we told him again what our plans were. Just before Matt graduated, we found out we were pregnant. We were going to have a baby due the EXACT DATE that we were planning to move to Honduras. God was saying to us, “Have faith! I have great plans for you, but this must be on my timing, not yours.
Even after Haley was born, we still felt a conviction in our hearts that God had a place for us in Honduras. On one hand we were being told to wait; and on the other hand, great things were happening that moved us closer to our goal making it difficult to wait. Many times, I told God, “Don’t you know this is where I want to be? I want to serve you!” I could almost hear him respond at times, “Yes child, I want you there, for I have great plans for you. Child, even Jesus spent many years in training before I allowed him to display my glory.”
Time past, and many events occurred to the point where our church family decided to stand next to us in our effort to serve the Lord. This came at a point that we were once again unsure of God’s leading in this great journey. At this point, God was saying clearly to us, Trust me. I have great plans for you. Plans far greater than you can imagine. Remember, child, my timing, not yours.”
During our journey, God has constantly reminded us that he is in control, and we are not, even when we desire to serve him. Sometimes he has exhibited his control by telling us to wait. Often times we are reminded of his control by the provision at just the right time in our lives.
Now, as I sit in my apartment in Costa Rica, (a place I thought I might one day visit, but never dreamed I would be living, even for a short time) I laugh because of all of the times God has gently said to us, “I want you to go, but first you must wait and grow.” Now he sends someone that wants to give $150,000 to our long term dream of helping homeless children learn trades and have a better life. No one had gone in search of this money; though we had prayed about it. In fact, my dad thought he was going to a meeting about an entirely different part of his ministry. This meeting and donation agreement all happened while I was flying to Houston the day we began the next chapter of our journey began. I guess God was showing off as he proclaimed, “This is my will for you, but remember that it is by my hand you are guided not your own.” There truly is joy in the journey.
With love,
Matt, Nicole, and Haley

Lost in Costa Rica

Lost in Cost Rica: that is how I felt the first couple days here. We tried to find the neighborhood fruit market. Not only did we walk a mile or so in the wrong way, it was so much in the wrong direction that the Ticos (Costa Rican) people we asked didn´t even knokw what we were talking about. They said, "You can´t walk there. Its too far" I later found they thought I was talking about the market in Zapote. The community next to ours. We decided to turn around thinking maybe the market was closer to the school which it was. We decieded we would limit ourselves to about $20. We didn´t spend near $20, and we got lots of fresh fruits and veggies for the week.

Sunday, we were lost again. Chuck Morris had given us the name of a local preacher, and the local preacher had given me the address to the church. Unfortunately, addresses here are pretty vague. A landmark is given followed by the approximate number of meters north or south with the approximate number of meters east and west. The cab driver drove all around looking for the church and we never found it. I learned that a lot of churches meet in houses and you cannot tell from the road that they are churches. We had the cab driver just bring us back to the park he picked us up at and instead of paying $2 we paid $7 because he spent a lot of time looking for the church for us. We walked around the neighborhood a while thinking maybe we would find a church. Oh we did find a church, but it was a Mormon church. Thus, we decided that we would just have worship just the three of us and call the preacher to give us directions to the church this week.

We are spending more of our time being lost than found, but we are really enjoying our time here. Our apartment is great and we have a beautiful view of mountains from the front steps and the back patio. Haley is having a great time because there are lots of parks near our apartment for her to play at. She is starting to walk more and more all the time. Our internet is down, but when it comes back I will post pictures.

Blessed

When most people look at my life. They really would not think I was successful or blessed. I truely am. No I will never make a 100,000 dollars in a year. I will never have a big house or be considered rich in American culture. I am blessed though. I have an amazing wife supports me through anything. I also have a daughter named Haley who is so beatiful and the best little girl ever. I would do anything for either one of them. I am so blessed and loved by my family.



I know that I am blessed over the past two years God has certainly shown me that. First of all Nicole and I moved into our apartment with neither one of us having a job. We both knew that God would take care of us though. The next Friday we both got jobs. Then we needed to pay medical bills which is expensive when you have no insurance. Needless to say we got a check in the mail that covered it all. Then at my job I was not as productive pulling product as they wanted so I had a good chance of getting fired at my job. Instead when I got called into the office they offered me a different job. That was such a Godsend. Then two weeks before Haley was born I got medical insurance and it covered the entire pregnancy. That never happens she was 8 and 1/2 monthes pregnant. It just so happened with this company pregnancy is not a pre-existing condition. Then my daughter was born. She is such a continual blessing. Then this February we got supported. We had tried to raise money and were running out of options and we thought the church here was not going to support us . The thing is God his magic through people and now we are supported. God is good all the time. All the time God is good. I ams so blessed.




I get to actually do my dream. I get to do mission work and get my hands dirty. My family and ministry is why I am so blessed. I am so exited Nicole and I are getting to do our dream. We have talked about doing this ever since we have been engaged. The thought of actually doing my dream is scary and exciting. God has given me the opportunity to go to a foreign country and share with Hondurans who Jesus is. I know that I have the best job in the world. I just wanted to thank God for giving me an opportunity to serve him in this way.



My little girl has no idea what a roller coaster ride that she is in for. She is not even 1 and is in a foreign country. She is up for and adventure. I have no idea what to expect but I know it will be awesome.



Realize how much God has blessed you today.

In Christ
Mateo

Heavy Heart

Sometimes, when bad things happen to me or to anyone else, I don't know how to deal with it. I just want to check out. I just can't pretend that these things aren't happening though. I don't really want to pretend that they don't happen. I just want to understand. Since October, Matt, Kin, Donna, and I have been feeding the homeless. When we started, they were living under the overpass. They were a little community. It was getting cold. Very cold. For Baton Rouge anyway, and way too cold to be living outside. They were there with wind and rain as well as days with sun.

A few days before Christmas, the owner of a warehouse opened his place up to them. Before he opened this up to them, there was talk of them being forcefully moved away from the bridge. I was so excited for them when they were moved to the Sacred Hope shelter the warehouse). Good things were happening there. People were getting to know God. People seemed happier. It truly seemed that some of these lives were improving.

In March we showed up on Tuesday, as usual to bring supper for our friends. We were told that they lady who had been serving as a manager of the facility got drunk and came and started cussing at everyone. She was immediately kicked out because there is a no drinking or drug policy.

A few days later, the fire marshal came and forced the people to leave because there us no sprinkler system in case of fire. Fortunately, a church opened up their new building to these people. This seemed to be going well, though some of the people had left, and no one knew anything of their whereabouts. The group was dwindling, and I don't think it was because they suddenly got jobs and found homes. Though that would be great if that was the case.

There seemed to be more and more tension among the group...

Today, we were at the Ellis' getting things ready to go when Kin came and told us that the fire marshal kicked them out of the church too. No one really knows why. I don't really think he had a reason. I almost cried right then and there. My heart is still very heavy tonight for them. We had decided we were just going to drive around the area with hopes to find some of them. God guided us to see George walking on the street. George showed us where about 10 were staying. We walked in and heard several people yell, "YOU FOUND US!! HOW DID YOU KNOW WHERE WE WERE?" It was a God thing that is how.

I wish I knew where the rest were. I want to help them too.

I can't help but feel that it was just out of meanness that these people keep getting displaced. It feels to me like someone is uncomfortable with the idea of homelessness so they are pushing them out of their sight so they don't have to be around it and they can pretend it doesn't exist. I'm uncomfortable with the idea of homelessness too, because I hate to see anyone in such a unfortuneate situation. However, I think God calls us to reach out to people who are not as blessed as we are. These are people, but their humanity is being taken from them by people who are uncomfortable with their situation.

Plans for Dump Day May 5

FROM TREY MORGAN'S BLOG

Monday, April 12, 2010
7 QUESTIONS ABOUT DUMP DAY

Can you imagine being so poor and so hungry that you'd take up residence at your local dump and dig through the disgusting trash to find yourself something to eat? Can you imagine feeding your children scraps of molded rotting garbage, just so they can live? Can you imagine your children picking the little bites of chicken off a chicken bone they found in the garbage? All these are regular occurrences at the dump in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The Tegucigalpa dump is a dark and horrible place to live, yet many people do. Last year, on May 5th, you began to help make a difference in these forgotten people's lives, with the first ever Dump Day.
Twice this past year I had the privilege of being in Honduras and feeding hungry dump people with food you helped provide. This year I plan to go back to Honduras a couple of times and help feed the people at the dump. I'm praying this ministry is able to continue. Here are a few questions you may have that I hope I can help answer...

1. What is "Dump Day?"

Dump Day started last May 5th when we all raised over $12,500 for the Dump Fund. Everyone came together and pledged money and hungry people were fed. Here's the post if you want to look back. Now that a year has passed we want to have another "Dump Day" fundraiser to make sure we're able to continue to feed the hungry people of the Tegucigalpa, Honduras dump.

2. How did Dump Day start?

In November of 2008 I got a newsletter from a group of kids who were doing some mission work down in Honduras. They mentioned in their newsletter about going out to the dump and feeding people who lived there. When I first read it I thought to myself, "No way is there really people who live at a dump and eat out of the trash." I emailed them and found out more about their work. They were making and taking sandwiches to them when the funds to do so were available. About six months later we decided to have a fund raiser for them on this blog. My dream was to raise about $2500 for this work. I dreamed much too small.

3. Why May 5th?

May 5th is my cancer anniversary. This year I will have been cancer free for 7 years. What better way to celebrate surviving cancer and being cancer free than doing something like this. :)

4. How can you help?

By doing two things: 1) help pass the word about what we're doing here on May 5th. You can use your blog, your church bulletin, your email, send letters or any other way of getting the word out. The more people that know, the more people that can help. And 2) make a donation. Stop by on May 5th and leave a comment with what you're pledging to give. That helps us keep up with where we are on the fund-raiser.

5. How do I give/pledge?

Once you leave a pledge ("I'll give $50, etc."), you make out a check, money order or use the Paypal button on the side-bar of this blog. We're trying to make it as easy as possible to give. On May 5th I'll include the address where you can mail your money, if you pay by check or money order.

6. Where will my money go?

This is simple ... your money will go to help feed the people at the dump. Period.

7. How do I participate in this year's Dump Day fast?

This year I'm challenging you to a Dump Day fast. A 30 hour fast that will coincide with the Dump Day marathon. It will be a reminder to us that there are hungry people in this world, and they can't be overlooked. I'm not sure there's ever been a day in the Tegucigalpa dump when the people have actually had more to eat than me ... but on May 5th they will. I will be fasting and on that day (Dump Day, May 5th), and my friend Marc Tindall will be feeding rice, beans, tortillas, bananas and water to the people at the dump.
I challenge you to fast from Tuesday afternoon until Wednesday evening. Then you can take the money you'd have spent on meals and give that money to hungry people. What better way to spend the money you saved on meals? :)
I also challenge you to some accountability on this by signing up. Simply leave a comment that says, "I'm in on the fast." You in? Here are the people that have committed so far: Marc Tindall, James Jones, Sherry Hubright, Greg England, Tami Scott, Nick Gill, Janice Garrison, Gary Mabry, Brian Vaughan, Denson Ligon, John Dobbs, Amber Henderson, Nicole Fitzgerald, Kim Robinson, Monica Abayta, Donna Gossett, James E Hampton III ... who did I miss?

So, what question did I miss?

Tuesday Night.

Today is Tuesday. Tuesday is the day we feed our homeless friends. Some of these are the same friends that used to live under the overpass. Right at Christmas, they were moved to a warehouse. Two or three weeks ago, they were displaced from their warehouse shelter. Fortuneately, a church across the street opened their doors to this group and offered them a place to stay. At the warehouse, people had arranged support groups and counseling. I do not know that they are getting that. It seems that less and less people are there each week since they were moved to the church. I would love to think that is a good thing, but I fear they are turning back to their old ways and living back on the street.

I did not mention the reason the homeless were displaced from their shelter. Through a series of events, this group was reported to the fire marshal. He came and said that too many people were living in this building for it not to have a sprinkler system. Therefore, they were kicked out.

I am trying to find out how much it cost to buy and install a sprinkler system. I am praying for a means to do this. That is all that is needed for my friends to go back to the place where they felt some sense of security.

It hurts my heart that anyone would be put out of their shelter. Doesn't the marshal know that if homeless people don't have a place to stay they will live in places such as abandoned buildings, behind bushes, and under bridges.

Tonight pray for those who are displaced.

Ministry in Honduras

Nicole and I are so excited about being in Honduras. I want everyone to know what we will be doing in Honduras. I hope that everyone is as excited about our ministry as we are.

Long term what we will be doing is starting an expansion to Casa de Esperanza. We will be taking in girls that are over the age of ten. During the time that we have spent in Honduras, we realized no one takes in girls once they get this age. So we decided to take this ministry on. We will be taking these girls in. We will be able to feed them, give them an education, and share the Gospel with them. To me the most important thing that we can give them is hope through Jesus. We are also going to teach them job skills so they do not fall back into street life. Eventually we will have a mission house on this childrens home. The girls will learn even more job skills by running this mission house. This will be a great tool to help change their lives. I am so excited to see these girls lives change. Please pray for us because the girls that we are taking are going to be abused and broken. We definitely need your prayers.

The first two years of our ministry will be a little different. During this time Marc will be our mentor and we will not take any girls in yet. Our supporting church wants us to get a little better prepared before getting into that part of our ministry. This is a good thing it will help Nicole and I prevent burnout. During this time we will be aiding Karen at Casa. We will also be developing the new property so that we are ready to get kids after the two years is up. We are also going to be highly involved with the dump ministry. Another thing Nicole and I will be is doing a bible study with the girls at Casitas Kennedy. This is where we will be getting most of our girls from so we will already be developing relationships with them. Terri will also be teaching us how to do all of Casa's books. We will also be learning from Marc how to run groups. We will be aiding Marc in every way possible with groups. We are really excited about this ministry and we pray that others will always grow in God. So please pray that God will prepare lots of people in Honduras to be impacted be this ministry. I pray that we always give God the glory. I know that the only way we can do any of this through God. We thank you for your prayers.

God is so good

God has blessed us so much. Compared to much of the country we are just above the poverty line but I know we are blessed. We have never missed out and all three of us have everything we could possibly ever want.

A few weeks ago we were able to get supported by our home church. It is so awesome because it is only through God. I knew that it was only from the grace of God. It just so happened that Marc was able to get the elders so excited about Honduras. Now we are supported praise God!!! We are so excited. This is a miracle from God. This has been our dream for the past three years. I am so excited to do ministry with my inlaws.

Right now Nicole and my life are on the fast track. We are moving to Costa Rica for language school for a year in August. This is so cool because this school is meant for missionaries. It is awesome to know that when we move down I will be almost fluent. I can't wait to talk to people in their native tongue. After language school we will move to Santa Ana, Honduras in September of 2011. Please pray for our ministry. All I know is that God is going to do amazing things in Honduras.