A letter from Pastor LeRoy Curtis visiting Ometepe

Dear Friends,

A light fog had settled over the vast, still lake. The twin volcanoes that define Ometepe Island were barely visible in the distance as the ferry chugged slowly, but persistently toward Moyogalpa’s dock and to a place that seems so “long ago” and so far away. I had returned to Nicaragua to participate in a graduation of the first class of pastors on this remote and exotic island, and to celebrate their completion of the New Testament portion of the ministry training curriculum.

I teamed up in San Jose, Costa Rica, with my friend Jamie Johnson, founder of “Boy With a Ball” ministry, A.J. Austin, an engineer from Houston with an interest in foreign missions, and Josué Garcia, a wonderful Bible teacher who regularly conducts the inductive courses to pastors from various villages on Ometepe. In another hour we'd be on the island and finding a taxi for the forty-five minute ride to the Island Breeze ministry compound where its founder, Tom Fritz, awaited our arrival. A few years ago Tom arranged for us to begin pastoral training in the facility that he built to serve the community. The graduation ceremony would take place there on Sunday morning. Eleven of the original fifteen pastors who started with the program had persevered through hundreds of hours of study and were now ready to be recognized in the presence of their family, friends, and congregations.

Tom has worked hard to provide various services to the poor population on the island. He and his sweet
Wife, Esther, provide vocational training to the residence and biblical study for local pastors. In the near future they will complete the building of a medical clinic designed to supplement the meager resources that can be found on the island. I love the Fritz family and their ministry.

We were all tired and travel weary, having begun our journey from San Jose at four o'clock in the morning. The six-hour drive to the Nicaraguan border was pleasant enough, and the border crossing was about as hassle-free as we could have expected. As always, there was the usual long line… hundreds of freight trucks waiting for customs inspection which jammed the roads for several kilometers on both sides of the border. The one-mile walk through “no man's land” between borders had us all dripping with sweat. We had left the car on the Costa Rica side because Ometepe’s roads are not particularly kind to regular vehicles. So, we opted for using whatever transportation we could arrange in Nicaragua. After obtaining necessary visas, exchanging money, and some minor refreshments, we passed through the last gate into a sea of humanity that was peddling one thing or another. Josué guided us through the confusion to an affordable taxi that would eventually get us all to the ferry landing in about an hour. This would have been the case had we not been stopped by the narcotics police. These guys don't smile much, and they make their weapons as conspicuous as possible. We wondered if we were in for a shakedown. As they rummaged through our luggage, I thought myself to be lucky that I had forgotten my little baggie filled with Metamucil! I'm so glad I didn't have to try to explain that in my not-so-hot Spanish. After fifteen minutes of mild harassment we were back on the road. Another delay awaited us in Rivas as a parade celebrating some obscure saint blocked traffic for another quarter of an hour. By the time we reached the ferry docks, we were all ready for a nice long nap.

Josué seems to know everybody on the island. He quickly arranged for a taxi to take us up the road to Tom's house. After resting for a few hours, we all assembled on the roof of Tom's kitchen at dusk to watch a light show provided by a distant thunderstorm. This is the end of the dry season in Ometepe. The rains had just begun to the north and we could almost hear the earth begging God for a drink. Nearly everything was dry and parched. Even after showering, we were all feeling a little less than fresh. Had it rained right then I think we would have enjoyed getting soaked by a hard, cold downpour. Esther was at a retreat, which meant that the team would be eating out. One of Tom's English friends runs a restaurant nearby and offers a surprisingly diverse menu. I was delighted that he was featuring dahl, an East Indian lentil stew, served with buttered garlic chapattis, the Indian version of tortillas. It was wonderful. After dinner we returned home and retired for the evening. The team spent the following day visiting the various ministries sponsored by “Boy With a Ball” and “Island Breeze.” A lot has happened since I visited well over a year ago.

We retired fairly early on Saturday evening after enjoying another, even closer, light show. The rain would be coming very soon. We hoped and prayed that it would hold off at least until Sunday afternoon. It didn't. About two o'clock in the morning the skies opened up and it rained cats and dogs, and maybe horses. I slept very well. Fortunately, it was not raining at daybreak. The skies were pleasantly cloudy, which was probably a good thing since the graduation ceremony was to be held outdoors. The event was scheduled for 9:00 AM and was to be completed by 11:00 so the pastors could be free to return to their churches in time for services. Time in the more remote parts of the earth is relative. By 9:30 nothing seemed to be happening, except that the sky was getting darker with promise of more heavy rain. Finally, a swarm of humanity made its way up the hill and onto the compound. A few minutes before 10:00 all the pastors were there, as was a quorum of the audience. A pickup truck was parked in the middle of the crowd to serve as a platform for the speakers and honored guests. It sort of reminded me of Jesus standing in a boat so that he could speak to the thousands who were gathered to hear him. We didn't have thousands, but we did have about one hundred people who were there to celebrate with the graduating pastors. I spoke for a few minutes, encouraging and challenging the men to give themselves to the ministry and message of reconciliation (II Cor. 5:16-21), rather than merely delivering another message of judgment to the world. God did not send Jesus Christ into the world to judge the world, but that, through Him the world might be saved (John 3:17). Jamie and Tom also spoke briefly with similar encouragement.

The highlight of the day, however, was when Josué gave out the diplomas. He had something special to say about each student who stood displaying his reward with great pride. It was obvious how much these humble pastors love and respect their teacher, Josué. Likewise, he has served these men faithfully challenging them to study the Word of God unceasingly and to proclaim it kindly, but courageously. Immediately after the benediction, God opened the heavens with another downpour as if to pronounce His own “amen.” I was blessed to witness this great little ceremony and hope to return to the rustic splendor of Ometepe soon.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support that make my participation in ministry such as this a possibility. Please also pray for Josué as he faithfully serves the Kingdom of God in this little corner of the world.

God bless you,

LeRoy