Friday, July 17, 2020

This mission is only beginning









Julianna Del Castillo Graduation Picture 2020

As we learn from St Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, we should not boast instead we should seek humility. St Paul explains how important it is that, we do not boast of ourselves but of what the good things the Lord has done, if we must boast it should be only of our own weakness.  We should not boast beyond limits but will keep within the field that God has assigned to us, to reach out even as far as you. 2 Corinthians 10:13 


I Pray immensely, that I do not come across with folly or with a prideful heart, for my intentions are to tell you of the great faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Many have wondered about our sanity when we made the difficult decision to follow Jesus to a foreign land in search for His most beloved poor.  I really can not count how many times I heard, “What about your children’s education?”

Even though we as a family, said “YES” to the Lord, I cannot lie, the education of my children, was a worry I carried into the mission field with me. However, I had been gifted the opportunity in 2016 to read one of the founders of Family Missions Company’s testimony in the book called , Go You are Sent, the words Genie Summers wrote kept replaying in my heart and in my prayers as I lamented to Christ my desires and concern of my children’s education.

Mrs. Summers wrote in her book the words that our Lord gave to her and to her husband personally, as they prayed for guidance,  as they were experiencing the same situation, they too worried about the cross that their own children would bear, as missionary children, living in a third world country.

As any responsible parent would, Mr. Frank and Mrs. Genie Summers indeed discerned heavily, the call they had received, to go into foreign missions and what crosses they must bear. Worried about her son Beau’s education she entered a time of discernment;  there Genie received comforting words from our Lord as He said “You and Frank, as parents, shouldn’t try to protect your children from the cross. You should rejoice when your children have the courage to pick up their cross each day and follow me. I am building Beau’s character as My disciple.”  Mrs. Summers goes on to write about one of Franks prayer times and when he heard the Lord tell him “Trust Me, all wisdom and knowledge comes from Me. Beau’s education is My responsibility. I can use schools, but I don’t need them.”

One cannot deny the education struggles that present itself in the mission field, it is a concern indeed, but we must remember to give those concerns and worries to Christ, as he knowns better than anyone how to carry a cross.  We must realize that the Lord is the best teacher of all teachers! We should, as parents rejoice in the fact that our children are willing to embrace their own cross, for the sake of His kingdom. The testimony of both Frank and Genie Summers, that was shared in the book, of God's goodness and love for His creation, inspired me to have trust and faith in our Lord,  as my own children followed Him into the mission field.


 The powerfulness of Christ’s words that He spoke to the Summers, speak truth to the fact, when we give all and whole heartily carry our crosses to follow Jesus, he pours His immense love over us. He knowns what He is asking when He calls a person, or a family into missions, and what sacrifices they will need to make. He knows that we leave the world behind, friends, family, comforts, and education to serve His beloved poor. With that said we should know that He loves us so much that He sees fit to make the impossible possible. He as a loving Father wants the very best for his children.

I can not in any explainable terms, tell you how full my heart is at this time. To the world it is nonsense, to the world it is unbelievable, as He asked us to sell all our possession in order to become poor and to follow Him to the corners of the earth; and due to our obedience, we were left without worldly prediction of the future, only left with His will to be done among us, as “we are His clay and He is the Potter” Isaiah 64:8. Which to be honest is not easy to overcome as you need to totally trust in God alone and not of the lies of the world. It requires one to have the willingness to allow Him to smooth all the rough edges which at times can be painful. Once we said “Yes” our lives were in His hands, our task is merely to sustain our obedience through prayer and to seek His beloved poor and to love them as ourselves.

As I testify not of my own doing, but of my faults and weakness, I urge you to hear of the goodness of our Lord !


In our mission schedule as a family, we allot time for school, for both Julianna and Gabriel. Though it is on the schedule many days come and go without time to open school books in order to study spelling words or algebra. We learned very quickly in missions that school often comes to a halt by the knocks on the door from someone in need, or a home visit to someone who is sick and might die within the hour. This is the life of a missionary kid. Though we learned that with loss time there is also time gained and glory to be given to the Lord. We mustn’t fixate on the days that were redesigned by the best designer of all (God) because there are many perfect school days that were created, and exists,  and on those days Julianna and Gabriel are able to get three days’ worth of school done in just one,  without distractions.   

With that said, I must not keep you any longer, but I must tell you of the good, that the Lord has done for my daughter Julianna.




Julianna - medical mission clinic. 


 Julianna said “YES” to missions when she was 15, she had just started high school, an incredible trying time for any teenager, as you can imagine. With her “YES”, came the responsibility of saying goodbye to her life as she knew it in the United States. Turning away the privileges she had as a citizen of the U.S. to live in solidarity with the poor in Peru.

Her desire even at a young age, was to become the hands and feet of Christ. To care for the sick, the lonely, and the less fortunate. And somehow even though she placed the needs of the poor before her own, she was able to finish high school and has been giving an unfathomable opportunity to continue her education through Connecticut’s, Holy Apostles Catholic University and Seminary.  She was giving the choice to return to the states to become a fulltime student at the college, however after much prayer she feels called to remain in the mission field, serving those around her as a fulltime missionary and an online college student.



Julianna, removing a neighbor's IV using plastic bags for gloves. 

We are not sure how the financial aspect will work out in the future, as she attends college while on a missionary budget; but what we do know is that with God anything is possible. It is merely our job to remain obedient and faithful, and to serve the poor as they are His beloved people, everything else he desires of us he will provided in his own time and way.

We want to encourage all of you who have heard the call to serve Christ in missions, not to fear. The world, most certainly, will tell you it is impossible but we pray that the testimony of Frank and Genie Summers, and within the witness of Julianna’s own testimony, that you too, may find peace and comfort to trust in the Lord’s call to serve His beloved poor.  

We know that “The mission of Christ the Redeemer, which is entrusted to the Church, is still very far from completion……. this mission is still only beginning and that we must commit ourselves wholeheartedly to its service. It is the Spirit who impels us to proclaim the great works of God: "For if I preach the Gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!" (1 Cor 9: 16) Saint John Paul II, writes of the sense of urgent duty to repeat the cry of St. Paul and it is indeed an invation to you, to engage in this most urgent mission to go to the ends of the earth to preach the gospel.

Please pray that we as a family, especially my daughter Julianna, will always “Thirst” for Christ on the Cross. Pray that our days will be focused on the urgent need to satiate the “Thirst” of Jesus, with every single drop of our blood, as we wish to bring more souls to Jesus!


You my brothers and sisters we carry in our prayers, as we try desperately try to become worthy handmaids of the Lord.




We thank you for your prayers and your support. 



Without the sacrifices made by each of you this work would be impossible. 


Prayer request





Donations 


Karen,  Julianna and Gabriel Del Castillo 









No comments:

Post a Comment