Author: Castillo

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKELA!

It’s SO hard to believe that we met our sassy little Mikela when she was just 10 months old and 4lbs….and today she is 14!

She couldn’t go to sleep unless you put a cracker in her hand…afraid she wouldn’t find food the next day. Her first word was cookie. She was always Miss Personality – even as a toddler! God sure did know what He was doing that day when He brought that precious little baby through the gates and into our lives.

Mikela invited 14 friends over for a slumber party! I can’t take any credit for tonight’s success…. Emma and Susan not only planned it but also executed the entire night!

The Schedule:

The party started at 6pm and will end tomorrow at 8am!

Dinner: They had boneless chicken, fries, plantain, & juice.

After Dinner: Just Dance & some played dolls. Even Momma Gigi came over and danced! 🙂

After Just Dance: They had water balloon games!

After Water Balloon Fun: Hide N Seek In the Dark!

After Hide N Seek: Shower Time & Cake Time

After Cake: Movie Time

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When Mikela got done with her shower – she walked to the living room and they started singing…before we even go the cake ready! LOL! 

HAPPY  INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

What a WONDERFUL 4^th of July!

Malaya, Jose, and I spent the entire morning decorating the cafeteria for our party tonight. For the past several months the kids in Children’s Church have been earning points by memorizing scripture, attendance, participation, & inviting friends. Tonight we invited the top 30 kids with the most points to celebrate this great holiday!

Not only did we get to party with these 30 amazing kids… but we also have a team of 20 from Texas! They were such a HUGE help tonight and made everything just that much more fun!

So tonight’s scheduled festivities….

As kids came in we did some face-painting and everyone got a light-up necklace.

5pm-5:30 Bonfire – roasting hot dogs, chips, & juice

5:30-6pm Carnival – we had 10 games set-up on the basketball court. We had an American running each station. The children were allowed to play whatever game they wanted – as much as they wanted. The children had a little bag to collect their winnings from each of the games!

6pm-6:45pm American Ninja Obstacle Course – Thanks to Susan, Emma, & Nene – this was a complete blast! Children hopped in a sack, went under a hurdle, jumped over a hurdle, went through a tunnel, walked on a balance beam, jumped across tree stumps, had to do a flip on a mat, and ended it by popping a balloon. The kids were timed and the fastest 3 times were awarded prizes.

1^st Place: Asher with 30.3 seconds

2^nd Place: Hannah with 31.6 seconds

3^rd Place: Presly with 31.9 seconds

6:45-7pm Dance Performance – Malaya & Mikela have a dance group called Our Generation. Emma has been choreographing songs & working with them to prepare for the upcoming Revival July 16^th-18^th. Tonight they performed 2 of their songs for the first time. (Not gonna lie…I got a little teary-eyed! It’s amazing to see how far they’ve come since this started in March. They really are a little family – they laugh together –play together – dance together.)

7:15pm Party Ended – Everyone came back to the cafeteria to collect their goody bag, candy bag, a light-up sword, and a cupcake (Malaya made & decorated 71 cupcakes).

After the kids left we got the sparklers out! Our family had a special time together in our front yard. Then the Americans played with them in the big courtyard. We also projected the Macy’s 4^th of July Show in the cafeteria while the team ended the night playing cards.

You can also check out Wolfforth’s Blog about today: https://molehaiti.org/2017/07/05/wolfforth-day-3-2/

A GREAT TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FABI!  

On Saturday Fabi turned 2 years old! On Sunday we invited her family over to celebrate! She’s such a little miracle…. and I’m so thankful God brought her into our lives.

I still remember the day she came through my clinic…

I remember Fabi’s mom – Micheline – was sobbing in the waiting room. She was SO overwhelmed and unsure how to help her daughter. Micheline has a learning disability and everyone was teasing her. They told her she was a bad mother for “letting” her daughter get so sick.

I was seeing another patient at the time when I heard the commotion outside my door. So I rushed to the waiting room and brought them into my office.

Fabi was unable to hold her head or track my finger with her eyes. She was lethargic. She only weighed 7 pounds which isn’t too bad for a 2 month old.. except she wasn’t 2 months old. No…she was 9 months old!

Not only did she not weigh very much but she was only 19.4 inches long. This little girl just wasn’t growing.  She wasn’t tall enough OR heavy enough to even make the growth chart.  After much discussion –  I offered to keep Fabi for a week so I could figure out this medical mystery.

And well….one week turned into one month….and one month into one year…. AND their lives – AND our lives –  – were forever changed. 

**

Micheline shared about all the scary things people had told her to do – so that Fabi would be “normal”.  She told me about the voodoo services that were held for her daughter in order that she would grow.

She told me about the time Fabi had been tied to a hospital bed for 3 WEEKS.   Seriously – her legs were tied to the end of the bed. Using a twin sheet they tied her chest around the mattress. Every day they’d “stretch” her by moving her chest up a few inches…still leaving her legs tied.

Fabi’s mom thought she was doing what was best for her… never realizing how harmful and dangerous that advice really was.

***

Fabi’s house was destroyed in the hurricane. We thank Jesus that she was with us when it happened. We finished building her a new home a few months ago.

Fabi’s mom didn’t have a relationship with Jesus. She came to our 8-week discipleship class and started attending church.  She’s been coming for over a year now!!

Micheline joined our sewing class last year.  It takes her a little longer to learn than the rest of the students….but she’s doing well!

It took us some time before we felt comfortable transitioning Fabi back with her mom. We wanted to make sure that she would be safe, loved, & cared for. We wanted to make sure that her mom wouldn’t be pressured to do something that could be harmful.

I’m happy to say that Fabi is thriving!

We hired Micheline to wash clothes and she brings Fabi to work with her every Monday-Friday! This allows us to continue to pour into the mom, to make sure Fabi remains healthy & eats every day, and also brings stability to Micheline. This momma now has the chance to provide for her family.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Check out her 1st Birthday Blog to see how far she’s come! https://lifeoffering.org/2016/05/28/happy-1st-birthday-fabi/

Our Generation Cook-Out

As I’ve shared in previous blogs – Malaya & Mikela have a dance group called Our Generation. We practice every Saturday from 1pm-3pm as a group. And then throughout the weekdays – we break them down into smaller teams – each team learning a different dance.

It’s our goal to have an hour’s worth of dances… so when we get invited to perform –  we can put on a full concert! It’s a lot of work. 

If it weren’t for this dance group – many of these kids would not be friends. They don’t hang in the same crowds.

To help promote unity & the importance of family – twice a month we do something fun. Tonight we invited the children over for a cook-out! Everyone roasted hot dogs, enjoyed chips, ate 2 pieces of cake, & drank an ice cold coke!

We played a few games together before heading into the house to watch a movie.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing how close they are growing to each other.  We really are becoming a family.

We’ve added two new boy dancers to our team….and they’re pretty amazing. These two guys are going to take us to the next level!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA GIGI!

As I shared in my last blog – Momma Gigi is a HUGE part of our family. I don’t know what we would do without her. Friday was her birthday so we surprised her at her home with a hot meal for the entire family! 🙂

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ANNIVERSARY

May 25th, 2001 – From this day forward…..

For better – Wow! I can’t imagine standing on the mountain top with anyone else but you. Those beautiful confirmations that we really are in the center of God’s will….. The pink line that we thought may never come… resulting in 4 beautiful children, falling in love over and over again with the adorable Haitian children that God placed in our family – making it complete. The times where we just couldn’t believe that we get to do this life together – going to a job we love and are called to…. and working side by side … 16 years strong.

For worse – Wow! We’ve survived the deepest and darkest valleys together… where comfort and healing just couldn’t be felt or found, when we cried out face to the floor begging God to make His presence known…to hold us up… so many losses, so many tears, so many trials, so much pain….

For richer – We moved to Haiti after we got married…. we have no home in the states…. so we don’t have much experience with this… BUT it depends on your definition of richer… a husband who treats you like a princess, a roof over our head, food on the table, no empty chairs around that table, a God who unleashes His goodness when we least expect it, a family who comes to our rescue time after time, friends who became our family…. I’d say that makes us pretty rich.

For poorer – Remembering how hard it was to find supporters who weren’t already giving to my missionary parents, missionary brother, or the mission in general… Starting from the ground up…. those difficult moments when we worried all night not knowing how we’d survive the month…or the week for that matter… didn’t know how we were going to pay our medical bills or care for the kids that trickled through our home year after year… (Then we are gifted with a “random” donation that gets us through the next few weeks….) and yet the next month we do it all over again….

In sickness – Well babe you married a crazy mess! But you knew that already. With 4-5 emergency flights to the states YEARLY, countless surgeries, blood transfusions, horrible pregnancies -92 days in the hospital, etc… You’ve carried this vow out daily…. there for me every time…always by my side…holding my hand, holding my heart, holding me up… wiping my tears

In health – Well I hit the jackpot here!! You are so strong… rarely sick…. You carry the family… you carry the weight of the mission…. you put your body through endless tap-tap/bus/moto rides just to be a blessing to others… you stay up all night and you work all day… I’m inspired and in awe of the way you sacrifice daily for me… for this family… for this ministry…

And I know we’ve had it tough
Our road’s been bumpy and rough
But we have a God who gets us through
And I have every faith in me and you

Until death do us part….

 ***

Though we have no place to go to celebrate this day…. Jose created the most romantic dinner. There is NO one who is more thoughtful or romantic than him. He managed to get steak to make Beef Wellington and for dessert we had soufflé. Who does that?

From the creative way he arranged the candles  – to the beautiful place setting on our table-  to the best meal I’ve had in years. ….. all I can say is: Thank you Jesus for Jose!

Also our staff made us a beautiful cake as well….It made our day in SO many ways!

On this Mother’s Day I find myself experiencing a wide array of emotions….

One emotion that stands out to me the most right now – is unrelenting thankfulness for all the moms who have helped our crew of kids through the highs and lows of our ministry journey…

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There’s Momma Gigi... who undoubtedly has taken our family on as her own. I understand the deep love she has for my children… because I share that same deep love for hers.

She was just 2 years old and 7 pounds when Gigi came into our lives. She required a lot of medical attention, which I was able to provide. But I needed someone to babysit her while I was busy doing ministry. It was hard to find a caregiver that I could trust with Gigi.

SO… I hired her mother to care for her… and 14 years later Momma Gigi is one of my very best friends. She’s a trusted & faithful woman of God who serves alongside us…. and has filled in as momma more times than I can count. With every medical emergency or unexpected trip to the states – she fills the gap staying in our home & taking care of the whole clan.

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Then there’s Beth... who’s faithfully served alongside us…. going on 8 years as their school teacher though she’s way more of a mom to everyone on this campus.

I’d like to take credit for the way our children love and embrace their Savior but honestly it’s been Beth morning after morning – pouring everything she has into them… discipling them daily.

She’s also a momma to the 36 orphans who love to climb, play, pray, and do fish lips together. She’s a trusted confident to these little ones – as well as my children – as they share their hurts & struggles. They love their Momma Beth with all their hearts…. as do my children… as do I.

This week I was able to get just another small and precious glimpse of this beautiful momma and her harvest….

Levi: I want to be baptized.

Beth: why?

Levi: I want to follow Jesus and do what’s right. Jesus talked to me Sunday night. I heard Him say: Levi it’s your choice to follow me.

Beth: wow! What else did He say?

Levi: I don’t remember. I was so surprised He was talking to me.

***

Then there’s my sister Lori… who drops EVERYTHING when we show up in the states – taking 7 kids at a time for several weeks each furlough – trying to soak up every ounce of love from them…. only to drench it right back on them.

Of course then there’s all the health drama – theirs or mine – where yet again she’s rushing to our side. Her van has to have 200,000+ miles on it – and all of it is a testimony to the love and affection she has for her Jesus and children/youth everywhere who are desperate for someone to care for them at the intensity that she does.

My children are amazingly blessed to have such an incredible role model who’s ministry is so deep rooted in her heart … it’s impossible to know where it begins or ends… it just is. You can’t separate it – it’s not a thing she does – it’s who she is.

I can’t believe I get to be her sister…. that my kids get to be her nieces and nephews… oh how she has changed our lives – year after year…. a steady stream of love and support available to us always at a moments notice.

***

Then there’s my momma… Lord have mercy!! All the drama this poor momma has endured being blessed with hundreds of children who loving claim her as their momma… because that’s what she is to everyone who meets her.

My first trip to Haiti was 37 years ago in the cushy stomach of my momma. Already with 3 kids at home, one on the way, she sees Bena on the side of the road… a little boy scraping the enamel out of a metal pan trying to eat it. Homeless, severely malnourished, and orphaned no more… still working side by side with Jose and me today.  That’s just one of about 50 Haitian brothers I have!!

Whether it was Vietnamese Refugees or foster children in the states – or the hundreds if not thousands of kids here in Haiti – those who have passed on or are still alive today…. they knew Jesus – they knew unwavering love – because of her efforts, energy, patience, faithfulness, kindness, and resolve to follow Christ through the good times and bad.

Fabi is just one of 18 children who’ve spent anywhere from months to years in my home. Jose gets nervous every time I go to clinic as most of these children have come through this ministry – it’s a working hazard for sure!

But you see… I’m just following in the footsteps of my momma.

You see I can’t think of a time when she wasn’t surrounded with the least of these… with those who felt unworthy of love… with those whose hope had vanished… with those whose pain runs too deep to put in this post….

My children are among the ones who were and are “lucky” enough to be loved by her… to laugh with her… to play dolls with her… to play cards with her… to play trucks with her… to cook with her… to fall asleep on her… to wet the bed beside her 😀 … to travel with her… to have their tears wiped by her… to be completely spoiled by her.. to be counseled by her… to be prayed for by her… to be baptized by her… to be taught and discipled by her.

I am who I am – my kids are who they are – because she’s held us up when we were too weak to stand… because she’s spent nights on her knees praying fervently for us… because she’s laid us at the feet of Jesus time after time… drama after drama.

There’s so many more moms I could thank today for the love they’ve bestowed on our family, for the way they’ve come alongside us, for the way they’ve supported us through the hardest parts of this journey…. and I thank God for them daily.

Yes I’m overcome by an ocean of emotion today… but I’m choosing to ride the wave of thankfulness… to let the tides of everlasting love bring my family safely back to shore as it has done time and time again.

When we plan activities in Haiti – people are typically late. If you want to have a VBS at 3pm – you need to tell everyone it’s 2pm. The only problem is – there are always some children who will indeed come on time. So what do you do when you have 30-60 minutes to kill? Well – we play games…. AND…. we line dance!

Since we started killing time with dancing… more and more children started to come earlier. They loved learning something new.

Typically Malaya & Mikela are the ones teaching.  They began to think – –  how cool it would be to create a community dance group? One that could perform at conferences, revivals, festivals, and other community functions!?! 

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So in March – we put fliers all over town inviting children 10+ to compete in a Dancing Contest. Emma Fowler is a dancer who has performed around the world. (Well at least 3 countries anyways!). She’s been coined as the World Champion Choreographer.

She interned with us two summers ago and she’s coming back again this summer. She came for a visit with her family in March. The timing was perfect! We seized this opportunity to host our dance competition and we had Emma choreograph the routine.

The children practiced for a few hours – and on March 23rd – we held the official competition. There were roughly 150 participants….which we narrowed down to 45.

Then those 45 children registered – were assigned a number – and performed in groups of 3.

This competition was two-fold…. the top 3 dancers were awarded prizes…

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The top 12 dancers were chosen to be apart of the very elite dance group called

OUR GENERATION!

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PRACTICE AND AUDITIONS!

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EXAMPLE OF AUDITIONS:

The children were divided into groups of 3.  Each group performed twice. The first time they got to watch Emma or Malaya while we judged – – – the 2nd time they were all on their own.

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FRIDAY NIGHT FUN:

The kids have been practicing every Saturday from 1-3pm. As we try to promote group unity – we also have fun activities planned twice a month.

Tonight the kids came over for spaghetti & hotdogs. We also played a card game & bingo – they won candy for prizes! I love the diversity of this group. We have one staff kid, two of the pastor’s kids, and the rest are scattered from around town.

Many of these children are from the poorest areas of our village. They rarely participate in the activities that teams provide because they don’t have nice clothes… and they get teased. One little girl ate 3 plates of spaghetti. She told me she had not eaten in two days.

We’ve given this little girl – and many others around the table – a new identity. Tonight she was not ashamed of where she came from…. or afraid to show that she was so hungry.  Tonight she laughed & engaged with those around her.

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It’s our hope that through this Dance Group….  

-we will build up their confidence with a new skill
-we will create a new network of friends – where everyone is accepted.
-we will remind them that they are the sons & daughters of the King.
-we will show them what it means to be a follower of Christ
-we will pour out our love on them & show them they are worthy
-we will create a space where a few hours a week – they can just be regular kids

I’m constantly reminded of how the little things here….quickly become the big things.

I wanted to share pictures from our Easter morning… the internet has been very slow so it’s taken a week to upload.

We invited the community to come for peanut butter sandwiches and homemade hot chocolate. Our kids and our Dames group were the hosts – serving everyone before the start of our Easter Service.

I am thankful for this opportunity – for this platform –  – where we are able to provide some nourishment – as well as remind everyone who Jesus is… where He is… what He did for us. God is good all the time –  and today they were reminded why! 😊

Oh the Joys of a Castillo Photo Shoot!