A La Republica Dominicana

The Fritsche Family

La Fe Proviene del Or Weve entered what is called The Time of the Church on the liturgical calendar, that long stretch of green paraments. Weve moved beyond the festival season where we follow the life of Christ from Advent to Ascension into what is also called Ordinary Time. I always found that to be an interesting designation for the season of Sundays after Trinity. Can we really call anything that happens in the Church ordinary?

The answer is yes! I would suggest that pretty much everything going on in the Divine Service appears quite ordinary. Take preaching for example. Each of us may have an idea of what wed call extraordinary preaching. You may have a pastor or know of a pastor who preaches more eloquently than any other youve heard. But all in all, the preacher is an ordinary man with words that sound ordinary. The Divine Service is filled with the ordinary: the voice of a pastor, water, bread, wine, even the sinners gathered in the pew.

Despite how ordinary everything may seem, we know that what is happening through the ordinary is truly extraordinary. God is at work for salvation. He is doing amazing things, delivering the extraordinary salvation accomplished by His Son on the cross for you. The Holy Spirit

Continued on the next page

J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 5

Serving the Lord in the Dominican Republic

To subscribe to our newsletter send Joel an email at Joel.Fritsche@lcmsintl.org.

Romanos 10:17 As que la fe proviene del or, y el or proviene de la palabra de Dios. So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)

Fun Facts about the DR Up until 1983, mining for gold in the Dominican Republic was the number one foreign currency earner until tourism took over.

Check out LCMS Missions in Latin America and the Caribbean for regional updates and The Fritsche Family: A La Republica Dominica for weekly updates on our family and our work in the Dominican Republic.

2

FRITSCHE FAMILY NEWSLETTER JUNE/JULY 2015

Our Congregation in the DR Pastor Willy Gaspar

In 2005, Willy Gaspar, a dentist in the capital, showed up in Santiago (160 km away) for the installation of Pastor Walter Ries Jr., the first Lutheran missionary pastor sent to the Dominican Republic. He began theological studies with Pastor Ries later that year. Six years later he was ordained and installed as Pastor of Amigos de Cristo Lutheran Church. Pastor Gaspar is a faithful servant, operating a full-time dental clinic during the week, all the while visiting church members and preparing sermons and classes for every Sunday.

Following their confirmation, Willy and his wife, Santa started Sunday school in their garage in Las Americas, just outside Sano Domingo. Under the direction of our missionaries, regular worship began shortly after. In 2010 worship moved to a tent on newly purchased property. In 2011, the year that Willy was ordained, a sanctuary was built and dedicated. While the facility is a work in progress, the Body of Christ is fed as Word and Sacrament ministry occurs weekly!

The beginnings of the congregation

is at work creating and strengthening faith in Jesus. Thats the promise of God recorded in Romans 10:17.

I for one am very thankful for the promise that God is at work through His Word for the salvation of His people. I have a weighty responsibility as a preacher, a responsibility to be faithful to Gods Word, but I know that God can even work through my weaknesses. As I preached in Spanish for the first time in June, even with the help of colleagues to check my Spanish grammar and word usage, I was thankful for Gods promise to take my ordinary words and to do His extraordinary Gospel work through them. Thankfully, the sermon went well. I was told that it was clear and comforting.

After almost 15 years as a pastor I still have a lot to learn about preaching. In the midst of a new language and culture, I have even more to learn. But thanks be to God that the same truths are certain here in the Dominican Republic: Christ died and was raised again for sinners; and this glorious Gospel is being preached unto salvation! Thank you for supporting this mission and praying for our family and church regularly!

Continued from previous page

Pastor Fritsche

3

FRITSCHE FAMILY NEWSLETTER JUNE/JULY 2015

Financial Support To support our work financially, you may send a tax-deductible gift to either of the following:

The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod P.O. Box 66861, St. Louis, MO 63166-6861

Mission Central 40718 Highway E16, Mapleton, IA 51034 Make checks payable to The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod. Mark checks Support of Joel & Clarion Fritsche. Gifts can also be given securely online through the LCMS website, on our online giving page at www.lcms.org/fritsche or call 888-930-4438.

Prayer Support Please pray For our Amigos de Cristo church

family, that they would continue to hunger for and rejoice in Gods gifts through Word and Sacrament.

Thanksgiving for Joel as we celebrate the 15th anniversary of his ordination in the Office of the Ministry on July 2.

For new DR missionary family, the Warrens, arriving on the field in July.

For DR missionary Ruth Pollex, concluding her service in July.

For Carmen, one of our members in Santiago who has had a lot of tragedy

Construction Work Continues Although worship has been taking place in the newly built sanctuary since 2011, the building itself was not completely finished. It had no exterior walls and was more like a pavilion. In early February of this year, a short-term team from Immanuel Lutheran in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin came to work on adding walls. Since then, new windows have been installed and a new office for the pastors is almost ready. One of our members, Benjamin, recently constructed new front doors, including Luthers seal in the middle. More work is forthcoming, including a floor and even a dropped ceiling.

In my cover article I spoke about how ordinary things can appear in the church. Some people have a rosy picture of how extraordinary it may be serving in overseas mission work. Before I came to the field I probably had that idea. Dont get me wrong. It is extraordinary, but not in the way youd think. Our church has a dirt floor. Because of the heat, Im often soaking wet throughout the Divine Service. Electricity can be very unreliable. These are realities. But the ultimate reality, the most extraordinary thing is that God is at work here through Word and Sacrament. We are truly thrilled to be a part of that!

In short, we are all doing very well. Joel & Clarion are making progress with Spanish, but still have much more to learn. Clarion has begun teaching a Saturday English class for kids at our language school. She also teaches some of the neighborhood kids at our house. We had a wonderful Fathers Day celebration at Fuddruckers followed by a family movie. We have been working through the process of getting the boys enrolled for school here in August. Well report more on that in our August newsletter. Thank you again for your prayers and support! God bless you all!

The Realities of Mission Work

Quick Family Update