THE FOUNDERS
JASON + NICOLE FITZPATRICK |
Jason and Nicole Fitzpatrick have been serving overseas since they were teenagers. Jason, a native of Saint Louis, Missouri, took his first mission trip when he was 15. His heart was struck, and he spent the next couple of years living in Guatemala, finishing high school and ministering to marginalized tribes during the Guatemalan Civil War. He moved to Mexico to preach the Good News at 18 and has never left.
Nicole had grown up as a missionary kid in Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru. Jason and Nicole got married in Mexico in 1992, and they served together as missionaries. Nicole fell in love with her husband twice. The first time was before they were married, the second time was after a tragic accident around their first anniversary. While driving through Texas, Nicole was thrown through the windshield of her truck and landed over 80 feet from the crashed vehicle. Her back was badly broken, her liver and spleen ruptured, and both of her lungs collapsed. She was shocked back to life five times in the helicopter as she was airlifted to the hospital. When she awoke from a coma nearly two weeks later, she couldn’t remember Jason - or much of anything. Nicole’s family was able to convince her that she was married after winning her confidence and showing her wedding photos. But her husband remained a perfect stranger. Jason went to work to win her heart a second time - and succeeded. The Fitzpatricks are no strangers to overcoming enormous obstacles. After her accident, Nicole was told she would never bear children. But by the grace of God, in 1995 she delivered a healthy son, Sed Justus, and in 2001, a beautiful daughter, Jasmine Elane. The Fitzpatricks continued to pioneer churches among the poor, marginalized descendants of the Aztec Indians. Jason spread the gospel in remote villages where Christ had never been preached. Most of the people whom he encountered practiced a mixture of folk spiritism and Roman Catholicism, the fruit of which has been rampant immorality and incest, drunkenness, grinding poverty, and broken lives. The Gospel has proven to be the cure. Jason has pioneered dozens and dozens of house churches throughout 7 states in south central Mexico over the past 28 years, and miraculous healings have followed the preaching of the word. In 2004, Nicole became aware of the atrocities of human trafficking - exploitation and child sex trafficking at its worse. She answered her heart's call and began to take in abandoned, abused, and orphaned children into her home. They purchased 6 acres of land in the Puebla mountains and started The Village Children's Home, a Christian Community that welcomes any child rescued, homeless or at risk. The children receive the love of a family, education, and protection. Most importantly, they learn of our Father's great love for them as they heal from their traumatic pasts. As they discovered that poverty and corruption were the source of the human trafficking they were battling, they started the Village Rehab in the neighboring state of Hidalgo in 2010. It has served hundreds of youth and men who arrived in the most unbelievable mental and physical conditions, due to horrible drug and alcohol addictions. They are detoxed, discipled, and graduate as new creations before being restored to their families! The cycle of poverty –> addiction –> abuse –> trafficking is being broken! Jason and Nicole are Mom and Dad to all the precious Village children and they shower all the churches, rehabs, schools, and children in many states with Jesus’ love. They conduct rescue missions, work daily with state and local authorities to stop trafficking and rescue children, feed and clothe the residents of all the Villages, minister to the many churches, care for over 40 widows, and provide basic medical care for residents and the poor in the surrounding areas. |