NWHCM – THE CASTILLO CLAN

Last year I was so engaged & overwhelmed with caring for my dying sister… and grieving the loss of my best friend & her mother…. that I neglected to advocate for our campus needs! I forgot to ask you to collect items for our yearly shipments: like soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, school supplies, etc

So below is a list of our Campus Dreams & Goals!

We ask that you fervently pray over these needs. In full transparency, I have struggled with my prayer-life… unsure whether God hears my cries or not. There were times where I could barely stand… where I was headed for a violent fall –  had friends not “randomly” reached out and caught me.

But I know God is a GOOD God. I believe in His timing and in His sovereignty.  I do know prayer changes things. This is a world full of hurting people… perhaps you could be the reason that someone else finds their footing.  So pray over our missionaries, our staff, our campus, our needs, our community…. and most importantly your community and your sphere of influence.

Whether you feel called to help us or others…. I encourage you to do for one what you wish you could do for everyone.

The following is a list of projects that we compiled as a staff and believe position us in the best possible way for our ministry.  They’re not necessarily listed by priority….

Basketball Court Covered

• We would really like to cover the basketball court with a high steel roof.  This way we can do sports ministries on the court even in the daytime without the kids being stuck in the sun.  We’ve tried to do some summer camp activities and the parents were frustrated that their kids were playing games on the court at 2pm in the afternoon.

**Not really sure how much this would cost because it has to be built in a way that we don’t need poles in the middle of the court. We don’t need to build on top of it…but we’d like for it to be hurricane sturdy. 

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Clinic Expansion ROOF Covered

• We would like to build a shakoon on top of the clinic. This would be a covered area with no walls. It’s a wooden roof with thatch on it….kind of that Caribbean tiki-post look. The idea is that we can do devotions up there, have meetings up there, it’s another place seminars and daily activities can happen. We can also do weddings up there….in honor of my best friend “The Wedding Lady”.

**We believe this will be $5,000. Steps leading up to this area are already poured thanks to our last team! 

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Clinic-Supplies

• When we first built the clinic, we did it with the mindset that it would play a smaller role in the community.  But it has actually become the main facility to go to… especially for pharmacy needs.
• We have been blessed with start-up funds to expand the clinic – adding a separate pharmacy, lab, & overnight room for patients! This past year we completed this project! The building is ready to be used now…but we need supplies to get everything started.

**We need funds for the “start-up” supplies for the lab. We have all the larger equipment just not the tubes, slides, specimen containers, & smaller individual tests. We have an overnight area for patients – but we need IV bags/tubing and supplies so that we can treat them through the night.  We need $4000.00 to stock this new expansion. 

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Granmoun/Homeless Program:

• There are many elders who have become orphans – their children have all died out from under them. They sleep on porches or in the street. We’ve seen them abused, beaten, and I’ve treated elderly ladies who’ve been raped. They have no place they can sleep safely. One man had kerosene thrown on him because he was sleeping on the porch of a house and they didn’t want him there. They are dying without any dignity. During the rainy season they are wet & cold.
• We would like to build a home that can house 30 men & 30 women. It would be great if we were able to feed them but the most important thing is to provide them a safe place to sleep.  They can check-in each night and check-out in the morning so there aren’t monthly costs associated.

One home has been completed. We need $20,000 to complete the second home as a structure. We need $13,000 to outfit the 2^nd homes with plumbing, electricity, windows, etc.

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 Church Needs:

• We came up short on finishing the outside of the church. We weren’t able to plaster the sides.
• A lot of our sound/speakers need to be upgraded/fixed. It’s very hard to do any sort of conference or big event because the speakers go in and out all the time.
• We would like to screen the church….the mosquitos are SO bad inside the church. We can’t really bug-bomb it or control it. We’d love to add side fans onto the walls as well….as away of also keeping the mosquitos from being to bad.
• We would REALLY like to tile the floor. We have nice instruments and the floor is rough/dusty. No matter how much you sweep – there’s always more dust to be found with the rough floor. This would allow us to keep everything clean.  Also as a church who lived in a tent for many years I think there is a want to show God continues to provide and none of the curses worked.  ***This particular need has a lot to do with the struggles we faced because of the curses that came against us – the voodoo services that burned down our military tent time and time again. It’s probably a little prideful on our part.. but in a culture where the building matters… we’ve faced a ton of battles trying to get this church completed.

**Plastering sides of church: 2200.00  **Tiling the Church: 7500.00  **Instrument/Speaker Repairs: $2500.00   **Screening the church: 1200.00 – This need has just been met! PRAISE THE LORD!

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Orphanage Needs:

• We have broken toilets and showers that need to be fixed. Those two buildings need a lot of work! When you have 35 kids…it requires constant care.
• The government requires there to be an “office” for the kids in our orphanage. We need to build a small structure where we keep all their records & can officially receive social services when they visit each time.
• Our wooden fence blew down with the storms. We would like to get a chain link fence to officially mark off the orphanage that way we can help them with boundaries.
• When flooding happens everything pools right in front of the orphanage porch. We need to build a small canal//lay pipes// to redirect that water around the orphanage.
• Sponsor one of our children at $30/month.

We aren’t quite sure what the budget is, as they are new to our list.  If you are interested in helping, you can put “Mole Orphan Construction” on the memo – and we will meet with our construction foreman to get started.  

FEEL LED TO HELP AND NEED MORE INFORMATION?

If you would like to collect supplies for our yearly shipment or need more information about these projects:  PLEASE SEND US AN EMAIL… jody@nwhcm.org

Or

If you feel led to donate towards these projects or our benevolent ministry in general – which meets the needs of the community –  the information is below! 

We are better together and every donation matters no matter how small! 

CHECKS CAN BE MADE TO:
NWHCM
7301 N Georgetown Rd
Suite 190
Indianapolis, IN 46268
Please mark: Mole Ministry & the project you’d like to donate towards

OR – ONLINE WITH CREDIT CARD – CLICK HERE
You can write in the notes section:  MOLE MINISTRY & the project you’d like to help with! 

I’m currently writing you from our St. Louis du Nord Campus. On Friday we will greet our first surgery team of the year! We are SO excited and thankful for this medical team. Many Haitians have been waiting over a year for these life-changing surgeries.

We will be here for a week and then we’re heading to the states. Malaya has several doctor appointments scheduled as they continue to investigate the marks that are on her arms, legs, and back.

January 2020 has been full of many ups & downs….

So here’s a look at some of our past posts from this month.

Post 1 – The President’s wife actually came and dropped of Christmas gifts for our orphanage! They spent 5 days here in the Mole – across the street. We became great friends with their security guards. The town was completely calm during their stay. In fact, the President actually rode his bike downtown around the town square! 

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Post 2 – When we get to the States I plan to upload more pictures and videos from this incredible New Year’s Celebration. It could not have gone better and the talent was insane!

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Post 3 – My best friend died on January 1st 2019.  Reliving & processing those days was SO difficult.

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Post 4 – Our Children’s Church Party was a blast.  I’ll load more pics next  week.

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Post 5 – My best friend died on January 1st 2019.  Reliving & processing those days was SO difficult.

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Post 6 – IT IS A MIRACLE!!! GOD JUST MOVED MOUNT EVEREST!!!

On December 20th we celebrated Christmas with our favorite dance group – Our Generation!

The girls have been in the states for the past 6 months and have really been looking forward to this time of fellowship together. Just like we do for our staff, we had each of the dancers draw names earlier in December.  They had to perform 2 acts of kindness without getting caught.

On Friday evening – we enjoyed a great meal together! We then divided everyone into two teams and played 10 Minute-It-To-Win-It Games! Everyone received gifts for playing!

We also revealed our Secret Santa Partner! Listening to how sneaky they were – and what things they did for their person – is always a highlight for everyone!

We finished the night with a Santa Hat Walk! Whatever number you stood on – there was a corresponding prize box!

Take a look at some of our pictures from our Fabulous Evening Together!

One of our favorite things to do is feed the elderly folks from our community a hot meal! They are always SO thankful and sweet! Every year we pass out 200 cards inviting them to join us on Christmas Eve. We always share the Good News with them and pray over them.

We have posted several other Christmas Posts on our ministry blog: molehaiti.org 

Here are some pictures from our annual feeding.  

Malaya and I spent all morning setting up for our annual Christmas Bingo Game!

Our core staff invited 5 friends/family to join us today at 4pm. We had over 156 people in our cafeteria. We played 5 rounds of Bingo and had over 20 winners each round. Everyone who won received a cash prize AND they got to pick a present from our tables!

We also made sure that every single person left with something! A MERRY time was had by all!

We would like to extend a special thank you to Sue Lukomski. The majority of our tables were filled with goodies because of all of her efforts!

Here’s some pictures of our incredible night together!

I know it’s been a long time since I’ve blogged. Now that I’m back home in Haiti – I plan to write more frequently.

I started summarizing the past few months and then decided it would be easier to just cut and paste my Facebook posts.

So below are some of the posts I’ve made since I blogged in October. It’s been a VERY bumpy ride…but I’m thankful to be home. 

Thanks for your patience, prayers, encouragement, love, and support!

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Our “Joy Story” Children’s Church Kick-Off has begun!!

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I am happy to report that we made it home safely! THANK YOU for all of your prayers!

I’m also SO excited to share that we have electricity! We don’t know how long it will last… but we’ve had power every day since we arrived. Pierre said that the town has been WAITING for us to put up all the lights & start our Christmas Festivities. It’s the signal that it’s okay to celebrate even when times are tough. So we’ve been working nonstop since we arrived.

Tonight is our Children’s Church Kick-off. We will be showing A Toy Story to introduce our “theme”… which is – A Joy Story! Jose, the kids, and I will be dressing up as the characters tonight!

We have Staff, Dance, Youth, & Children’s parties to plan…. Christmas Bingo, 10 Nights of Christmas Movies, Food Give-aways, Animal Give-aways, & many other activities that will be starting this week.

We will also have a New Year’s Eve dance competition. We’ve already got 22 teams signed up! There’s 185 people coming from the Port-de-Paix area to participate! With all the drama in Haiti – I assumed the turnout would be really low… but instead everyone is just super excited to do something fun!

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I also wanted to THANK everyone for all of the thoughtful birthday messages!

Yesterday was a very difficult day… honestly I’ve found it difficult to breathe ever since we arrived home.

We decorated our tree last night and took our annual family photo. We normally mail out our Christmas Cards before Thanksgiving but we obviously got a late start this year. We’ve been doing cards since 2002. Lori has always helped us come up with the theme & written the poem. It just doesn’t “feel right” celebrating my 40th birthday without talking to her… without her picking out the clothes for the kids…. without her telling me what to write.

As we were decorating our home, I created a little square in her honor. The stocking was hers when we were children. Whenever I told her I loved her – she’d say “ Love You More”. I bought that sign for her funeral. The Mickey Mouse was a present she got for her last birthday. Her ashes are in the black bottle that Mickey is holding. Each piece in the little square has a special meaning to me.

Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to move forward … and as we begin to dive into all our upcoming ministries.

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Jody Owen Castillo is with Jose Alexander Castillo.   December 1 at 5:37 AM ·

That awkward moment…

1- When your basement floods the day you are packing 16 suitcases and two of them are soaking wet… AND you have to do laundry again… AND you have to throw away boxes of food you spent hours shopping for.

2-When it’s 2:30am and you load up your van to head to the airport BUT it won’t start because the battery is dead.

3-When you are the first people in line at the ticket counter (an hour before it even opens) and yet the last people who are finally checked in because the lady is Ridiculously slow.

4-When half the kids make it through the TSA line and the other half are stuck waiting for boarding passes… AND every single carryon gets flagged… AND 4 of us get patted down… AND Asher asks if they will pat him down too because it’s “not fair” that the other two boys were.

5- When TSA can’t help the others stuck behind us because we’ve sucked up all their manpower and counter space with all the extra security checks.

6- When you were the first people at the airport and YET you have to run to the gate where they are holding the flight for you… AND everyone already hates you from back at TSA!

7- When it’s not even 5:30am and you’ve already had the most mentally exhausting day!

#neveradullmoment

Ready or not – Haiti Here We Come!!

** COMMENTS I MADE LATER: 

Jody Owen Castillo Ugh…our connecting flight leaves at 10:30 and we are not landing until 10:15am now. They close the gate 10 minutes before departure. Looks like today is just not our day and we will have to overnight 😢

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Jody Owen Castillo That MIRACLE MOMENT WHERE THE AGENT HAS A CAR WAITING TO TAKE US TO THE GATE AND THEY HELD THE FLIGHT FOR US!!! 😅 tears of joy!!!

Malaya and I both were crying as we got off the plane…knowing what a pain it would be to recheck bags and go through all the security checks again tomorrow….and they had a sign waiting for us! Totally redeemed this day! Our bags won’t make it but at least we don’t have to touch them again until Haiti! PRAISE THE LORD!!

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Jody Owen Castillo God works in mysterious ways. They held the plane for us and we couldn’t have been in that airport for more than 10 minutes.

YET EVERY SINGLE BAG MADE IT!?! How?? I have no clue.

My crew looked like such a hot mess that as we went through customs they just waived us on through without opening a single bag!

This has to be the weirdest trip we’ve ever taken….so many twists and turns.

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Jody Owen Castillo is with Hannah O’Neil and 6 others. December 1 at 1:17 AM ·

Special thanks to the Hope College Dancers! The kids LOVED their box of goodies and were so surprised that you thought of them!

You all are SO incredibly thoughtful! The picture collage is awesome too!

Can’t wait for you all to come back! We love you all!

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Jody Owen Castillo is at Parkview Regional Medical Center.  November 25 at 10:37 AM · Fort Wayne, IN ·

Today we are taking Rosie to see an orthopedic doctor to discuss the possibility of their practice doing her scoliosis surgery next year pro-bono. Her curve is growing 5% each year.

We appreciate your prayers for this appointment as we fight for her quality of life.

**COMMENTS I MADE LATER

Jody Owen Castillo Thanks everyone for your prayers! The doctor said she definitively needs surgery.

The surgeon and nursing staff are willing to donate their time and waive their fees!

Now we have to go before the hospital board and see if they are willing to waive their fees. It’s a 200k surgery. It’s a lot to ask of a hospital!

We should know something in a week or so! Please pray as so many doors have already been closed to us.

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Jody Owen Castillo is with Caroline Doyle at Wildwood Flower Tattoo. November 22 at 10:52 PM · Richmond, KY ·

Tonight I did something that I NEVER thought I would do….

A week before Lori died, she asked me to play worship music one night in the hospital. Though she was too weak to even feed herself, I watched her raise her arms in praise as the song – It Is Well – played on my speaker.

After digging through countless journals/notebooks – I managed to find those words in her handwriting.

This evening I had them tattooed on my foot… in her writing, using her ashes. Now she’ll always be apart of me.

At the end I added “With Me” in Creole. Though I can’t wrap my mind around this year… I have FINALLY accepted that which I cannot change/understand.

Thanks Caroline for an UNFORGETTABLE evening!

It Is Well…. with me.

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Jody Owen Castillo is with Jose Alexander Castillo at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.November 19 at 11:50 AM · Cincinnati, OH ·

Last night we had the privilege of having dinner with Joe (Diane’s husband). The fellowship and reminiscing about Diane was just what my heart needed.

This morning we are seeing the endocrinologist in Cincinnati to find out more about Malaya’s health issues. Driving the road I’ve driven a hundred times…. but knowing my sister won’t be waiting for us at the appointment… passing by all the places we ate at, places we met to switch out kids…. it’s WAY more difficult than I thought.

My sister told Malaya that if something happened – she’s counting on her to decorate her house for Christmas… just like we did last year. She of course said – “You’ll be here so we can do it together again”.

Alas… tomorrow will be another difficult day as we carry out her Christmas wishes. It’s also DJ’s first birthday without his mom. So MANY firsts.

**COMMENTS I MADE LATER

Jody Owen Castillo Thanks everyone for your prayers.

Update on Malaya: The endocrinologists were baffled at Malaya’s symptoms. They called in the head of the department and she said her labs aren’t consistent with a specific diagnosis.

Her hormone & cortisol levels are very high which is concerning. BUT to be consistent with Cushing’s disease – there’s other labs that should inadvertently be lower in order for that diagnosis to line-up.

The head Endocrinologist said in her 15+ years of working – she’s never seen such “impressive” purple/red lines that go up and down her legs, arms, and now her back. She’s the worst case she’s ever seen of that. Of course Malaya is devastated that her skin looks so bad. 😞

We are swabbing her mouth every night at midnight re-testing hormone levels and those labs will be turned in tomorrow. IF the cortisol levels are still high – then they believe there’s a brain lesion that the first MRI didn’t catch. They will want to do a more detailed MRI. They said it could be a tiny tumor and she’d have to have surgery to remove it.

IF her cortisol levels come back normal – then they are truly at a loss and we’ll be starting back at the drawing board – having to run a ton of other tests to figure out what’s going on and she’ll have to see other specialists as well. #neveradullmoment

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Jody Owen Castillo Yesterday was a very bittersweet day. We were able to celebrate DJ’s birthday and carry-out my sister’s Christmas wishes. I had practically lived with her this past year and being in the home without her makes every part of my body ache.

My sister collected Manager Scenes. So Malaya very carefully unwrapped and set-up each one.

Lori had several trees. One of her favorites was her Disney Tree. That tree has been around since I was a little kid. I lived with my sister my freshman year of college and I remember decorating it with her back in 1997. She loved to collect ornaments along the way…and hanging them on the tree brought back so many memories.

We invited Lori’s grandkids over to help us decorate. I feel like it’s my honor & duty to include those precious girls as much as I can. She loved them as though they were her own little girls.

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Jody Owen Castillo is attending ICOM 2019: Mind the Gapwith Jose Alexander Castillo at Kansas City Convention Center. November 15 at 12:12 PM · Kansas City, MO ·

The Castillo Clan will be at the Convention Center today! Stop by and see us….maybe take a kid home with you! 😂

We also have a special 40th Anniversary Dinner tonight. Message me if you would like to attend. We still have open spots! It’s free! @nwhcm #icom #haiti

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Jody Owen Castillo November 7 ·

I’m not looking to cause a debate or anything…

BUT – in full sincerity – there’s something I’ve really been struggling with this year. I don’t like that I struggle with it…but it’s my reality in face of losing my best friend, my sister, my youth pastor, my best friend’s mom, & Malonea -all within 1 year.

So here’s my thought-provoking dilemma:

Does God heal the sick (on earth) based off our prayers?

Part 1 of my Dilemma:
Lori died of an infection….not the cancer. Some may say she wouldn’t have had the infection had she not had the cancer but the immunotherapy was shrinking the cancer.

Part of me wonders: What more could I have done to prevent the infection? If only I had…… (made everyone wear masks 24-7, watched her drains closer so she didn’t keep pulling them out, fought harder for her last two treatments of immunotherapy that she missed, done more, etc) maybe Lori would still be here.

When I have shared those guilty thoughts with others – I was asked the question… Do I believe in the sovereignty of God? Did I believe that I could change God’s will for her life? After all, He knows the numbers of our days just as He knows the number of hairs on our heads.

Okay… I really absorbed that and tried to process those feelings… because I do believe God is all-knowing and I do believe God is a good God.

SO if that’s true…then here comes Part 2 of my dilemma:

Part 2 of my Dilemma:
So – if we really believe that God’s will – will be done – regardless of why His will was what it was – – why would my prayers for complete healing here on earth matter?

Lori may save more people in her death than in her living. I’m not debating whether God will work all things out for the good of others. I’m not debating that it was His will for her to go now.

BUT – He already knew how long she and Diane were going to live. He knew the number of their days. I believe He even cried with us.

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On the one hand – I could think I didn’t pray enough. And someone would say – God is sovereign. Don’t beat yourself up. Everything is in God’s hands. When it’s our time – it’s our time.

But if I shouldn’t feel guilty that I didn’t pray all day and all night long – then did any of my prayers throughout the past year (specifically for healing on earth) even matter at all?

Am I praying for healing in hopes that I get closer to God? In that case the prayers are really for me.

Or am I praying for healing because I really believe I can change God’s mind? Wouldn’t He already know that He’s gonna change His mind regardless – if He knows our forecast for the future?

Does that make sense at all?

I’ve been searching deep within the Word. I’ve read more books than I can count in the past few months trying to find some sort of peace over this.

I have no problem asking God to give me strength. I have no problem asking for God to protect others. But several people have asked me to pray for healing (on earth) for their loved one…and I’m so confused about whether I believe it even matters.

I’m truly looking for your honest and sincere feedback.

Perhaps it’s a question that just can’t be answered until I see the face of Jesus. I accept the not knowing. But I went to nursing school and not Bible College… I haven’t quite mastered my understanding of the Bible.

When someone asks me to pray for them – I take it very seriously. I won’t say yes if I don’t mean it. I learned that from the Haitians. They won’t offer to pray if they don’t believe in it. I’m just not sure what I believe now….

 

Friday afternoon, Malaya’s primary doctor and dermatologist worked together and came up with a “likely” diagnosis for all of her weird health issues.

So, Saturday we began our long series of tests to see if she has Cushing’s Syndrome.

They took 9 tubes of blood on Saturday. Later this week, she’ll have an MRI to see if she’s got a pituitary tumor in the back part of her brain. Then they’ll do a CT scan of her chest/abdomen. They will also admit her in the hospital for 24-hours so they can draw blood levels throughout the day/night.

Last week, we found out that Rosie’s scoliosis is continuing to grow roughly 5% a year and it will be debilitating for her as she gets older. Her curve is already over 50%. There’s concern that as the curve continues to grow – it could put pressure on her lungs.  She will NEED corrective surgery.

Because we can’t get insurance on her and she’s not a US citizen – it’s been EXTREMELY difficult finding a surgeon willing to operate. We have reached out to Shriners and MANY other medical facilities/programs without any luck.

I’m not gonna lie… I’m feeling very frustrated/overwhelmed/confused that we have to even think about these things with all that we’ve already been through this year.

We appreciate your prayers for peace, strength, patience, wisdom, and answers as we trudge through these rough waters.