On July 22nd our family flew to Miami. We overnighted there and then flew to Kentucky on July 23rd. If you’ve read the birthday posts – you know how we spent our first few days in the states! We also managed to see the dentist, have a cookout with our friend Frank Clare, & start shopping/packing crates for our annual boat shipping to Haiti. (Did I mention we’ve only been out a week?)
Here are a few pics from our first week out. Also if you notice the ones of little Fabi…She has learned to stand all by herself this week!
FYI – If you are collecting supplies for the Mole – the goal is to have everything in Kentucky and loaded into crates by August 20th.
We will be doing A LOT of traveling this time out. We are only in Kentucky a few days between each of our speaking engagements/trips. I’m sorry if we’re unable to meet up with all our friends/supporters this time out but PLEASE know we love you! Also please pray for our sanity as we travel 12-17 hours at a time in a van full of crazy Castillo. I’m sure we’ll have some stories to tell. You know our motto- Never a dull moment!
I realize I haven’t written in a while and not everyone is on Facebook – So here’s a few posts from the past 2 months.
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Jody Owen Castillo
June 14 ·
Umm….WOW! Over 100 patients today in clinic. Had to start turning people away.
Everyone with bad colds, fevers, itchy skin, and diarrhea. We are the only place with the needed medications in a 3-hour walking distance right now.
One lady came with her 6 children and has been walking for 5 hours trying to get them seen and treated. She didn’t have enough money for all her kids to be treated at other hospitals.
She cried when we told her we would see and treat them all for free. She didn’t want to pick which kids would get help if she didn’t find us. #haiti #countyourblessings
–Jody Owen Castillo Thanks everyone for your encouraging words and for sharing the story. Seeing those weak/sick children in flip-flops and the youngest just 2 years old – I can barely wrap my mind around what their 5-hour journey looked like. I continue to wonder how many other parents have to make those difficult decisions every single day – often life & death – which child will they “choose” life for? And though some days are way harder to process than others – I’m grateful for the opportunity God has given us to be the hands, feet, & face of Christ.
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Jody Owen Castillo with Jose Alexander Castillo.
June 19 ·
Happy Father’s Day!
On Friday (with the help of Mr. Nene, Susan, & Momma Gigi) we made a family stepping stone.
This was quite the undertaking as you can imagine with 9 kids & 3 dogs! Nene smoothed the stone right before we started. As Gigi bent down to put her hand in the cement – Sophie walked all over it.
It took another 10 minutes to smooth it back out again. By the time we got to the dog’s turn – the cement was drying. It was a race against the clock to get all the beads into place! Phew!
The handprints from left to right are: Isabelle, Asher, Levi, Gabe, Malaya, Rosie, Mikela, & Gigi. On the top left is Fabi’s & Sophie’s footprints. On the the top right is Ella’s & Diddle’s footprints.
The kids were SO excited this morning to show their daddy the stone they made just for him on this special day!
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Jody Owen Castillo
June 20 ·
What better way to have fun on the trampoline than spray yourselves with the water hose while you jump!
It’s also Diddle’s favorite game as she runs all around the trampoline hoping to catch the water before it hits the ground. Never seen a dog who loves to be sprayed more than her.
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Jody Owen Castillo
June 21 ·
Another 100 people showed up in clinic today – having to turn many away due to lack of needed medicines. We treated 65. We don’t have enough seating so people are sitting outside – any place they can find shade.
We are starting to run out of the needed medications as we deal with this epidemic of colds, fevers, itchy skin, and diarrhea. We have people coming from Jean Rebel and Mare Rouge seeking help.
Susan has been controlling our pharmacy inventory every week. If you’d like to help collect/replace the most needed supplies please message me. #haiti
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Jody Owen Castillo with Jose Alexander Castillo.
June 25 · Môle Saint-Nicolas ·
June 25th 2009 – After a total of 92 days in the hospital, Asher and Levi greeted the world….and the world has never been the same since! 😉😱
They couldn’t be more opposite but they still have a special bond! So thankful God blessed me with this dynamic duo!
Happy Birthday Asher and Levi! I know you will be mighty men for the Lord!
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Jody Owen Castillo
June 27 ·
Rosie’s granny is visiting the Mole this week! She LOVES Fabi! Every time the boys try to play with Fabi she swats them away! It’s funny and precious all at the same time.
Rosie’s granny is deaf yet it seems like she can hear Fabi as I watch their sweet conversations together!
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Jody Owen Castillo
July 11 at 12:28am ·
My little Mikela is turning 13! I can’t believe how quickly she’s grown. She was just 10 months and 4 pounds when God placed her in our lives. This morning at church she had her first solo with her singing group! So proud to be her momma!
Happy Birthday Mikela!
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Jody Owen Castillo
July 16 at 8:02pm ·
The entire team carried our 15-foot wooden cross from the property to the town square. Very powerful imagery.
Tonight we are inviting people to nail their burdens and fears at the foot of this cross. To give it all to Jesus. We have a prayer tent set up as well so each person can be prayed over.
When the revival is over we will place lights on this cross and put it on top of our church… so even the village of Preskul can look across the waters and be reminded that God is near! #haiti @nwhcm
–Jody Owen Castillo Love that there is a long line outside our prayer tent and it really brings tears to my eyes as I watch them walk to the cross and nail their burden there. If only all of us would so humbly go before the cross. God’s heavy presence can’t be denied tonight! Worship is still going strong!
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Jody Owen Castillo
July 21 at 11:36am ·
Gabriel was born 8 weeks early and spent the first several weeks of his life in the NICU. He contracted pneumonia at birth, had under-developed lungs, and spent many weeks on a breathing machine. We could only see him for 30 minutes every few hours and there were moments where we all feared he wouldn’t make it through the night.
Gabe is a sweet boy – a deep thinker – hilarious – loving – smart – sensitive – caring – fights for justice – loves Haiti & all his friends here – and makes me SO very proud! Having only had little girls come through our home – I never dreamed I could love a little boy this deeply…that was until God blessed me with Gabriel!
Happy 9th Birthday Gabe! #babio #oneofakind — with Jose Alexander Castillo.
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Jody Owen Castillo with Jose Alexander Castillo and Marla Crisman at Kentucky Kingdom.
That awkward moment (for the people in the hotel) when you walk into the lobby and your kids are screaming and running to “strangers” sitting on the couch!
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Got a van-load of crying kids now that we dropped off Marla Crisman and Jack Crisman at the airport. Always hard to say goodbye to Family.
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We are getting ready to do our annual shipping of supplies to Haiti on the boat. We are hoping to have everything collected/packed in Kentucky by August 20th.
If you have supplies collected for the mission – that’s the date to keep in mind. If you’d like a list of stuff to collect please let me know. Our clinic really needs empty pill bottles for our liquid/children’s doses.
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Took the kids to the dentist…not bad. Just Malaya and Asher with cavities.
That awkward moment when the people in the lobby look at you and say “all those kids yours?” And when we say yes they no longer make eye contact!
That awkward moment when Levi is getting an X-ray of his teeth and the lady says I’m going to take the pic – and he strikes a pose by tilting his head to the side and smiles!
That awkward moment when Asher says “sometimes i just pretend to brush but don’t tell my mom”.
That awkward moment when Gabe says “you know if my teeth are bad it’s because I live in haiti and a lot of people there don’t have toothpaste”….that’s true except we aren’t one of those people.
That awkward moment when Levi has no cavities and he says ” wow that’s crazy cuz I haven’t brushed my teeth since we flew to the states”.
That awkward moment when Asher flirts with the ladies…says he hopes to see them again and winks. (He’s got 4 cavities so he definitely will).
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For the past month we’ve been working with Fabi…trying to get her to stand by herself. She can walk holding onto things but hasn’t lasted more than a second standing alone.
We called Mme Nene today and she said Fabi is standing all by herself! I hate missing that milestone but it’s SO exciting to see how far she’s come since January.
I can’t believe it’s only been a week since we left. It feels like a month! We all miss her SO much.
