Hello from Peru
Wow, we have been so super blessed this last past month and 1/2.
We arrived back to our mission post here in Shimbillo Peru on the 2nd of
February.
We hoped for a slow return into our ministries upon our arrival
here in the Jungle. It’s funny that one of my fears before missions was if I
was going to be bored. After all, a single mother with 4 children and two jobs
what the heck was I going to do in the middle of the jungle. But much the same
as last year Jesus again proved me wrong. Since our return we have been going
nonstop which is great.
The home He prepared for us
We have moved to a different home, a home that is half the size of
our home last year and a lot cooler than the previous one as well. We our
blessed by the amazing breeze that comes in . Also we do not look so American
in this home. Our last year’s home looked like a castle and very much not the
same as those whom we serve. It made people feel a bit uncomfortable to come
in. We are so grateful to have found this little tin roof home.
A Family Retreat
My children and I were able to take a four day retreat offered by
a wonderful Priest and Religious Sisters in the Northern part of Peru were we
were greeted as a guest and provided housing and meals while we were there. It
was a wonderful time for my children and I to call upon our Lord and ask him
what His will is for us this year. How He would like us to serve Him and the
poor whom we live among. Please keep
Julianna, Gabriel and myself in your prayers as we discern the next step that
Jesus is calling us to. We are discerning if God might be calling us to serve
in a different location than our current
mission post. It is amazing how we feel
Christ’s presence while in the mission field. You can feel him breathe and hear
his voice so remarkably close. Its indescribable. We hear him speaking and we
have entered into prayer asking Him to make His will know to us in a very clear
way. So I beg of you all to keep praying for us to be able to have the courage
for the next step as Foreign Missionaries.
A new chapel on top on the mountain we visited while on our retreat |
Father Robert introducing us in the small humble chapel. They use school desk instead of pews. |
We were blessed on Saint Valentine’s day to go on 11 Home visits
to those here in our home pueblo bringing each family a box full of food with Father
Francisco. And we rounded the day off by traveling an hour away with Father
Francisco to join him in celebrating mass in a small pueblo. What a wonderful
way to celebrate Saint Valentines Day. Sharing our love with those in need and meeting
Christ among the faces of the poor. Truly the best Valentines ever.
In His name we can cure the sick
Maria and her family were one of 11 to receive a gift box
In His name we can cure the sick
We were happy to be able to host the very first Medical Mission
here for our three pueblos we serve. The Doctors and student doctors and nurses
from St Benedict college provided free consultations, medicine and personal hygiene
products while we offered prayer and translation between doctors and residents.
It was a blessed day for over 200 persons.
New Missionaries
The wonderful team of Doctors and Nurses |
Before its person left they were prayed over |
In the remote area of the Jungles there is such a need of
missionaries. It’s crazy to think about what a role we play here. We have only
2 priest and they serve over 175 pueblos. I know that in my home community in
Wise County Texas we had 2 priest and they only serve 3 parishes and that was
hard. But here without missionaries it’s impossible for the priest to get to
every pueblo once a year much less each week. Although we cannot celebrate mass
we can do so much more to help the Kingdom of God. We can visit the sick, bury the dead, visit
the incarcerated, celebrate the liturgy of the word, lead and teach catechism
classes and prepare people to receive sacraments. By our baptism we are called
to do such work and as foreign missionaries this is what we do on a daily
bases. It is such a tremendous amount of work that at times seems like there is
no end in sight. We are so blessed that
God answered our prayers by sending us 2 new families and 4 new singles to
serve among us here in the jungle. Even though they live over an hour away and our paths barely cross if ever. It’s great
to know they will help with the work load of spreading the gospel message among
the poor.
Praise God for new missionaries |
Maybe we could get just a few more mattress on top.
Getting the new mission families homes ready before they arrived took a team effort!
|
Adventures of Super Missionary Boy
You may have seen the new
YOUTUBE channel Super missionary boy, Gabriel has desired to share our families
mission with others via YouTube. He is only 9 but has such a big heart for
those we live among. Please keep him in your prayers that he will continue to
have the desire to let others learn of the great need here among the poor
through his videos. You can watch his latest by clicking the link below.
Home Visit Group
Please pray for our new home visit group. We have formed a new
group this year which began on the 1st week of Lent, in one of our
pueblos called Nuevo Codo and each Thursday at 3pm ( Devine Mercy hour) we
gather to visit those who can not make it to church or those whom have fallen
away. It’s a ministry my children and I have been doing but this year we have
invited the pueblo to join us. I ask that you pray for the group that will have
the strength and the courage to bring Jesus to the less fortunate. It’s hard at
times among the faithful here for them to go out and sprinkle a bit of that
seed that they have cultivated in their own hearts. One of our goals is to make disciples among
our pueblos but it’s difficult at times for them - the poorest of the poor- to remember
that they are blessed in many ways and that they should share that with the
poorer whom are less fortunate than they are. It’s much easier for a person rich
with material things and money to share a bit of it with the less fortunate .
But as the widow who gave her last two coins which together did not add up to
much gave way more than the rich who only gave out of there surplus. As we read in Mark 12: 42-43 “ But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper
coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the
treasury than all the others. " Please pray that they will
see their worth and what gifts each one in the group has to offer to those they
are called to serve.
Home Visits In Nuevo Codo
Our home visit with Gilberto who has a tumor and is 78 years old.
Beggars For Christ - Uniforms for Lent
As a missionary its very
humbling to have to beg. To be honest we beg for our food, transportation, for
our clothes and for prayers on a constant bases. Becoming full time
missionaries meant we became full time beggars for the poor. Such a very
different world than I grew up in. I remember that 3 or 4 years ago in the
beginning of my discernment process I had asked a missionary whom I honored. “How
can I ever have funds to help the poor. How do you do it.” I told him how I
felt called to serve but I did not have the “guts” to beg for funds to help the
poor. I was determined to fund my mission myself. But that missionary said some very harsh words
to me. If I was truly called to be a foreign missionary he would give me the
courage to beg. He bluntly told me that
“until I had the “guts” to humbly ask for help to serve the poor, I would not be a foreign missionary” But I
just could not get over myself enough to become a beggar for the poor. It wasn’t
in my nature to ever ask for help much less for money. But when your heart aches and you lay awake
praying for the courage to help those in need He is faithful and He gives you
the courage it takes to be humble enough to kneel among family and friends and
complete strangers in His name. He
doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called. As we read in the book of
Exodus.
After finishing our first year in missions last year it makes even
more sense the TRUTH my missionary friend spoke to me so many years ago. Living
as a full time missionary in a foreign country it’s impossible for us to do the
work of the Lord as we do, on our own, for many different reasons. All though my
family has Religious visa’s and permission
to live in Peru we do not have permission to work in the country, second we are
FULL TIME missionaries which means we are serving every day, and for my
family its very common to serve 6 to 7 days a week for 6 to 8 hours a day. It’s
not something we do just in our spare time.
With that said It has be such a blessing to be His humble servant
and to be able to connect the poor whom we live among with those whom are able
to help financially. When we are beggars
we are beggars for Christ and the
voice for the less fortunate.
This year we felt confident that we could beg for help for school
uniforms, shoes, school supplies and back backs for 10 children. It was hard to
settle on a number because there are so many people here who need help. But we
prayed about it and felt called to help 10 children who we have journeyed with
since our arrival her last year. We launch the campaign UNIFORMS FOR LENT and
praise God for his faithfulness to his people. We were able to raise the funds
for not just 10 but for 13 uniforms. Thank you for all of you who made the
sacrifice. It’s comforting to know that
God affirms us and our mission with his goodness and faithfulness in providing
for his people here in Peru. To see so many fruits here in the mission field is
the most greatest gift of all.
Thank you for your prayers and financial support.
Without
you there would be no mission.
Without you we could not serve the poorest of
the poor.
I pray that God will answer the prayers that lay within your
hearts and that your hearts may be transformed in a radical way during this Lenten
season.
With much LOVE!
Karen, Julianna and
Gabriel Del Castillo
Catholic Missionaries
We invite you to please prayerfully consider becoming a mission partner with us. If you feel called to support our family in missions and have questions please feel free to contact us or FMC by following the links below or send us an email.
Catholic Missionaries
We invite you to please prayerfully consider becoming a mission partner with us. If you feel called to support our family in missions and have questions please feel free to contact us or FMC by following the links below or send us an email.
Contact us with your prayer intentions, follow our blog, or make a donation at the following links.
Web Site: delcastillo.familymissionscompany.com