Category: NW_Baby Orphanage

Posted in Mission Stories, NW_Baby Orphanage, Personal Stories

DONT FORGET ABOUT AFTER CHRISTMAS SHOPPING FOR HAITI…

Posted on by Castillo

Don’t think someone else will do it. Last year we could fit everything in one large garbage bag and there’s over a 1000 people that read the blog. SO – As everything goes on sale -if you could buy Christmas square table cloths, all kinds of garland, any indoor decoration decorations, outdoor decorations and LIGHTS! We love solid color strands of lights – any color!

Also -don’t forget we’re decorating the baby orphanage as Candy Land all year round. So lighted candy canes, or candy decorations – – gingerbread decorations – – anything that you think goes with the game – pick it up for our little babies! 🙂

Have lots of fun!! You can send everything to:

NWHCM/CHRISTMAS DECOR

PO BOX 829

Versailles, KY 40383

OR

UPS:

NWHCM/CHRISTMAS DECOR

150 Laralan

Building E

Frankfort, KY 40601

Posted in Mission Stories, NW_Baby Orphanage, NW_General, NW_Sponsorship

Shower of Blessings for Candy Land!

Posted on by Castillo

I love that today I get to write about one of my favorite programs – the baby orphanage. I am so excited to tell you what God is doing!

I’ve written a lot about Kandiance who passed away last month from cancer. She was truly an amazing warrior for Christ. It didn’t matter the conversation – it always ended with Kandiance talking about Jesus. She would get off on one of her tangents and everyone would say – “There she goes – she’s off in Kandi-Land!” Yes – she often lived in a world of her own but it was always her heart’s desire to come to Haiti and work in the baby orphanage. She never got to make that trip here but she will never be forgotten just the same.

In honor of Angel and in memory of Kandiance – we are naming the baby orphanage – Candy Land! We cannot wait to dress that place up and make all the babies feel like they’re apart of the game! We are currently fundraising to finish off the 3 bedrooms we’ve started – so we can house more children. There are many ways you can help.

1)We need things like tile, paint, fans, lights, wood, plumbing parts, electrical parts, fabric, etc. Write some places and see if they’ll donate some of the supplies.

2)Join us next summer when we bring in people to literally make the place look like the game board.

3) I’m serious about this. I plea for it every year and I never get a response. Be at Walmart the day after Christmas and buy out their lighted candy canes and Christmas decorations. I’m serious – really do it. I hate it that I’m not in the states the day after Christmas to buy decorations. We start decorating the campus in October. We can never have enough lights! The babies love to look at the lights and we bring kids in to tour and watch movies every December.

4)If you can draw or paint or sew curtains – or contribute to the decorative supplies in any way – let me know. I’d love to put your gifts to good use.

5) Sponsor a child. We need people who will consistently give to sustain our program.

6)The other thing you can do is throw a baby shower without a baby! Want to know how to do it – I know just the people you should call. First Church of Christ in Burlington, KY  just hosted a Shower of Blessings for our precious little babies in Haiti. They have been collecting things for a while and we now have a truck and trailer-load worth of baby items! I am so excited – I cannot WAIT to see everything! The nurses and all the workers cannot wait to unload that boat full of supplies!

It can be a real burden on your spirit when you see programs you love lacking the essential items they need just to function. Our Burlington folks not only got the things we needed but they got so many things we WANTED – things we DREAMED of having! Can I just share a “few” things? How about a new washer/dryer, industrial ceiling fans, a new dvd player, and get this – a 42-inch TV!!! I know where my kids will be every day – – – well they’re already there everyday! (Except this week because there is a scabies outbreak – another story for another day! LOL)

We’ve got walkers, swings, potty chairs, high chairs, picnic tables, cleaning supplies, baby wipes, washes, shampoo, diapers, food, medicines, formula, clothes, blankets, bottles, a play kitchen, play gyms – i mean the list goes on and on!

One person took an idea and decided to make a difference for babies in another country. I don’t ever want to hear someone say that something is too big – that there is no way they can make a difference. I challenge you to do something so extraordinary that the only way it can be accomplished is if God intervenes……and then watch Him work!

It’s our goal to raise $25,000.00 to FINISH the construction of the baby orphanage. That is something TOO HUGE for Angel and I to do alone. Thankfully God is with us! LOL! Isn’t He always? What about you – are you with us?

If you’d like to donate money to help the baby orphanage- please send a check to the mission:
NWHCM
PO BOX 829
Versailles, KY 40383
Just write a note it’s for Candy Land!

Just some pics of the Shower of Blessings

Posted in Mission Stories, NW_Baby Orphanage, NW_Medical, NW_Nutrition, NW_Special Needs

In Just 9 Months….I’m Completely Blown Away

Posted on by Castillo

Now before you get all excited…that statement is in no reflection of another baby on the way!! LOL!! It’s just that since January (9 months ago) this campus has changed so much – it totally blows me away. Magdala and Ceremone took me on a tour of my home the other day and I couldn’t help but notice all the changes — not just the cosmetic ones – but those that went much deeper than all the new concrete.

THE BIRTHING CENTER:

First on my tour was the birthing center. To see that now as a finished project is amazing. I remember years and years ago when it was just a dream. I walked through this beautiful building – the floors are tiled, it’s freshly painted, and there is air conditioning in nearly every room. I walked to where the mothers were with their newborns and felt the cool air as I opened the door. Tears began to stream down my cheeks. These mothers who went through such pain to bring their babies into this world are laying in a bed with air conditioning!! Now that might not be something to be excited about for those who’ve never been here BUT can you imagine that we are the only facility in all of the northwest to have such a beautiful place for women to come and have a child. A place that is CLEAN and FREE and now has air conditioning!! WOW!

The change wasn’t just the beautiful building but the smiles I saw on all the nurses and staff who worked there. Their smiles were genuine and not just something on the surface. There was a feeling of contentment inside this beautiful building…a sense of pride. Melissa Curtice has devoted so much of herself – poured herself into the nurses and our medical program. You can not only see the fruits of her labor but FEEL them as well.

THE NUTRITIONAL PROGRAM:

Coming around the outside of the birthing center my eyes were immediately drawn to the beautiful pink and white nutritional center. It had been gray and kind of dark for years. Now it’s bright – tons of drawings on all the walls – a wonderful place for little children to spend their mornings. A peek inside the kitchen revealed smiling cooks who were laughing while they stirred their pots. What? Since when is stirring a huge pot of rice fun? The stoves create a certain amount of heat – it wasn’t cool in there . Yet with so little the cooks had – there was still that general feeling of contentment.

THE MIRIAM CENTER:

Perhaps the biggest change of all is the program with our special needs children. The old birthing center was supposed to be home for these children years ago. When construction had to slow down – the kids were kind of stuck in transition and had to be moved to several small rooms that they soon called home. As I walked under the prayer tower and into the main room of this program….again… tears just streamed down my cheeks. A program that needs someone really devoted to it – someone who can really look to develop it and make this place something we can all be proud of has found it’s momma. You can not only see the hand of Courtney in every newly renovated room but FEEL her there as well. I found myself giggling at things that I know only Courtney could have thought of! There are tons of murals and bright colors on every wall. There is new foam tile waiting to be placed on the floors, air conditioning in several of the rooms,  even  a pool in one of the bedrooms! There’s new equipment and developmental toys….space for the kids to be creative and move around. It gives me goosebumps just writing about it. What a wonderful place for these children – these “outcasts” to call home!

There is definitely a sense of pride in all the workers and the colored walls only make their smiles reflect so much brighter. I’m just blown away…completely blown away by this program.

THE BABY ORPHANAGE:

My dream from the beginning was to have a baby orphanage right here on campus – to have at least 50 kids in an environment where voodoo could no longer be an influence but only gentle, loving, christian arms would embrace them. The funds for this program were slow coming in and we haven’t been able to take in all the kids I want yet….BUT – there are 3 new baby bungalows under construction. Tomoka has been influential in the realization of this dream of mine and completed one baby bungalow last year. The construction began in July for the next three rooms. What a beautiful surprise! It must have been 10:00 because when I walked up to the baby orphanage the women were having a devotional. Every day at 10:00 we stop and have prayer time. I looked at my watch….nope…..it was already 1:00pm. It wasn’t prayer time. The women were just having a devotional because they were so moved by the spirit to do so. The kids were all being held while the women prayed and talked about God. I’m just blown away by this beautiful display in front of me. The presence of God was so heavily felt that it too gives me goosebumps just writing about it.

– –

The list of programs and how God is moving in them could go on for days. I saw the surgery center – the new addition –  which is so awesome! It’s so clean and big that you actually feel like you’re in a stateside hospital. The halls that carry the rest of our medical programs were freshly painted and filled with people waiting to be seen. Despite the mission’s lack of funds for our medical programs – hundreds of people are being seen daily – patients who would have no place to go otherwise. The granmoun were happy and singing in their rocking chairs when I came down to their place. The feeling of general contentment was there too. Magdala is our program manager and she pours herself into her work every day. From the moment she accepted the position  – the campus began to have a different look to it and the presence of God can be readily felt no matter where you walk.

The cosmetic changes on the campus are most certainly something to brag about….but the real jewel in all of this is the change that has taken place in the hearts of our staff.

My brother (Janeil) dreams of things that many of us would NEVER even think of. There is no doubt that this change in our campus is a direct reflection of his leadership. We tease him and call him Dr. Phil – but the truth is He’s simply a man of God – chosen to help lead in a country that has been dedicated to Satan. We need to remember to constantly lift him up in prayer. The burdens that he carries for the people here – the programs he wants to do so that we can help so many more children – those things don’t happen without much sacrifice and many prayers.

Thanks for coming along on this tour of my home. The saying is so true….. there’s just no place like home!

Posted in NW_Baby Orphanage, Personal Stories

Baby Orphanage Needs…

Posted on by Castillo

Although it seems like my family has our own baby orphanage – it’s not nearly as big as the one the mission has! It has been my dream to house 50 babies there on the compound. When I went to nursing school – I majored in pediatrics. I was 9 years old the first time a little child died in my arms. It completely changed my life.

I’ve had over 17 children die in my presence (most in my home). That was just from the 2 years I ran the pediatric clinic at the mission. I will never forget my first day as a “real nurse” in Haiti. One mother who came to me – her child in 3rd-degree malnutrition – too weak to eat and completely swollen. Her breaths were shallow and I knew she wouldn’t live through the night. It was just too late. The mother asked me – What could she do? I told her – – – just hold her and sing to her. Soon she’d be with Jesus……. We buried her that next morning.

The stories are all different but the results are all the same. I’ve seen WAY too many caskets – all less than 2 feet long. Most deaths  could have been prevented with a little medicine and a few bottles of formula. Right now we have around 20 children. We have room for more – but not the funds to complete the buildings. I’d also love to have a Baby Care Program that could be an extension of the baby orphanage offering formula/meds to help more children when we run out of room. If you look on the mission website – or on Vickie’s Website (both listed on the side of this post) you can find out how to help change the lives of precious little babies throughout the hills of the northwest.

Here is also a link directly to the Baby Orphanage Needs List: Baby Orphanage Needs