Dear Friends & Family,
We would like to thank you for your thoughts & prayers. We have received countless emails, texts, voxes, & phone calls expressing love & concern for our family.
My first trip to Haiti was 40 years ago – when my mom was pregnant with me. Jose & I were married here in 2001 because we wanted to share that special day with the people we would spend the rest of our lives serving.
Jose and I have experienced countless coos, upheavals, natural disasters, unrest, etc. I can honestly say that we have never felt called to leave the country during those times… and we have yet to do so.
Depending on where you live, your experience can truly vary. Perhaps if we lived in PAP, we might feel differently. But personally, we don’t feel like we can tell our friends/family here to “Trust God” and in that same breath say “Good-bye” as we pack up our family. The same God that we ask them to trust…is our God too. And though there are definitely times of great stress & frustration…I have thankfully never been afraid for our safety.
My dad loves to tell the story of the time a gang came to our gates wanting diesel. All the missionaries had been called out of the country. The airlines didn’t fly for several months. Everyone was afraid… our own security guards wouldn’t walk out the gates. I strapped on a pistol, put a shotgun over each of my shoulders, and walked out that gate. A fat white girl with 3 guns? Hilarious! I knew they’d laugh… and they did.
I told them if they took our diesel we wouldn’t be able to pump water. When the town is dying of thirst… I’m going to tell them you are the reason we have no water. Needless to say, they left and never bothered us again.
God gives us what we need when we need it…that’s what I have learned. It doesn’t mean that there aren’t times where we drop to our knees begging God to free us from our calling, to surround & protect our family, to provide for our ministry, to remove the thorn in our flesh, to help us process what is SO unfair and unjust… but what it does mean is that we must get up from our knees each time and do our best to stand in the gap as HIS hands, feet, & face.
Currently in the northwest…. most of our villages remain calm. We freely walk through our town as though it’s any other day.
Because some of the main roads are cut… getting needed supplies has become more and more complicated. The price of those supplies is also increasing rapidly. A gallon of diesel was 35.00 Haitian dollars last week AND we just paid 60.00 Haitian dollars today. So while we currently aren’t facing safety concerns…. we will have to start rationing supplies.
I don’t share that for you to feel sorry for us… because we are blessed even in the direst of situations. But what does the average Haitian family do…when the cup of rice they barely could afford to begin with – now doubles?
We cherish your prayers always…. but we believe our Sovereign God will make His presence known even through this current tragedy. I have seen God redeem situations that seemed unredeemable. I have seen God move in places that seemed impossible. What is out of our hands…has never left His.
One response to “Update From The Castillos…”
Jody, I am praying for you and your family and for Haiti. There are so many people I love there. May God bless you and protect you. Most of all I pray God will guide you in how to be a light of hope leading them to Jesus.