It’s been almost 2 weeks since our move to our new mission post. From the Jungles of Peru to the heart of the Amazon. as it’s known by its inhabitants. It was a 10 hour
drive through Peru and its mighty mountains, where on the other side lay await
our new home, sight unseen.
We
arrived safely with the belongings that we were able to fit in our truck.
Reluctant to give away what we had accumulated over the past 2 years, we found
ourselves trying as hard as we could to tie and strap everything as tight as we
could. I can freely say that we looked a lot like the 1970 TV series the
Beverly Hillbillies. We soon realized
that not everything was meant to make the move with us. God had other plans for
some of the things he so carefully provided for us while we served in the
Jungle, such as our stove, chairs and
our very important baldes (plastic buckets) to hold and collect water. With a
quick prayer we were given the graces which allowed us to unclutched our tight
grip of these material things and walked them to our sweet neighbor, Juanita
knowing that she would put them to good use in her own home. It felt good not
to worry and to trust completely that God would provide exactly what we would
need, again in our new mission post as we meditated on the Bible verse found in
the book of Mathew 6:25-34
“Therefore I tell
you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your
body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than
clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap
or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not
much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying
add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about
clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet
I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of
these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,
which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more
clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What
shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For
the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you
need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore
do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has
enough trouble of its own.”
I often tell others there is no other place I rather be than
in the mission field, because here you must rely on God and it is amazing to
see him at work and to be close enough to Jesus to feel his breath. Upon our
arrival, we were welcomed with such love
and anticipation it was like it was Jesus himself welcoming us, we have not
experience this kind of love anywhere else but among the poor. Within moments
we were handed a small, 2 burner stove top and three chairs and trashcans full
of water in which someone had already thoughtfully collected for us. If all of
those gifts were not enough 30 mins after our arrival a lady was at the door with
a small fold out bed. She had said she heard we only had two small twin beds. I
said yes that’s all we have used for two years. The three of us just sleep on
two beds or we would rotate sleeping on the floor or with each other. She hastily
(with a purpose) left the bed and ran off saying she was going to find us a
mattress and would be back later. We were beyond blessed by Gods gifts for us. It’s
not easy for us to receives gift. It’s much easier to give than receive. However
I can hear Mr. Andy a fellow missionary saying“ just let God Love you”!!!!!! With
a smile we did just that!
The faithful women of Cajaruro
(the little town we live in) are so delightful and full of Joy. Last year they
raised funds to build a small one bedroom home behind the church. They
explained to us that they had really no idea why they had all of a sudden
decided to build a home behind the church after all these years, after all no one
had told them to do it, they just felt that
it was something that they were supposed to do. However they were quick to say “sometimes you
just have to trust in God”. They did
just that, together they worked faithfully and did as God asked of them and they
called on neighbors, friends and even the town’s mayor for donations and
materials for the home. Little did they know that they were building the home
for a missionary family! We are so grateful for their faithfulness and obedience
to Gods plan. I can not help to think that they might have felt a lot like Noah
as he was building the Arc, as others watch and criticized his faithfulness.
We have not yet started any active ministries, per say. We
are spending the rest of the month of October getting acquainted to our new
town and its beautiful people. We ask
for your prayers for patience and for a spirit of docility , we trust that the
Holy Spirit wants to leads us to those he has sent us too, we just need to be
patient and allow him to guide us. We have already seen so many needs here and
have had many ministries placed on our hearts and we pray that we will receive
confirmation soon on the work that God is asking of us. But until than we
continue to meet with our new neighbors and community. We have enjoyed playing
with the children and participating in the youth group, which currently has no one to lead them. The entire month of October the town’s
faithful pray the rosary each evening as the image of the Señor de los
Milagros (The
Lord of Miracles also known as "Christ of Miracles) travels
throughout different homes here in Cajaruro, it was such perfect timing for us to arrive
this month, it’s created the perfect opportunity for us to join our new
community each evening. It has been nothing short of Gods mighty hand in it all.
Our new mission field is very different from our past
mission post in the Jungle. In many ways, but for starters, we have water that comes in every day for an
hour. A huge change from the last two years of collecting rain water and
hauling water from the river. Now when it rains in the middle of the night we
just enjoy listening to the rain instead of sitting straight up from a dead sleep
to run outside to collect water. Or when
we walk by the river we do not become overwhelmed by the trash dumped in it or fixated
on the cow that is being butchered next to it for easy clean up, wondering if we will get sick from using the
water. Mosquitos do exist here but they do not desire to eat people alive. Our
home is made of cinder block walls which have been covered in plaster with a beautiful
new fresh coat of paint. I haven’t had to have Julianna chase out not even one Lizard,
wasp or cockroach yet. The children and I have even learned to live with the
two huge iguana lizards who lurk high above us as we walk about the hallway
between the church and our tiny home. The 4 resident bats have adapted to us
living here as well. The climate is a
bit cooler and most days we are greeted with a nice breeze. Further up in the
mountains of course it’s much cooler.
Our 1st days here It was hard not to feel
guilty, It seemed like we were far away from the poverty and the harsh
conditions we have lived in for our 1st two years of missions. Since
our arrival to our new post we have awed
and marveled at the fact that clear water comes into our home through our pipes
each day all though not drinking quality for us and our American immune system,
but it’s visibly crystal clear and no
need to remove bugs or trash as we have had to do since our time here in Peru.
It’s feels like we have the pinch me syndrome, were perhaps we should pinch each other to
make sure we are not dreaming as we find ourselves admiring the pretty plaza
and the cleanliness of the church. However after nearly two weeks of living
here we have begun to see the different kind of poverty that we live in now. We
have been warned about traveling alone and have even been offered a police
escort after the locals heard we made our way by ourselves up the mountains as
we followed a prompting of the Holy Spirit in search of the pueblo that had
been praying for us. As a mother I do not take these warnings lightly. I knew a
bit of the violent history if the area before we came. However it is harder to
digest when you find out the little girl next door, Maricielo who is 9 years
old (the same age as Gabriel) is now living with her grandmother, because her mom was killed and left dead in a
rice field down the road, just 7 months ago.
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Maricielo lost her mom less
than a year ago.
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The fear that most of the
locals have regarding the violence and robberies have been issued and passed on
to us too serve as a warning. In response to these warnings we must faithfully
and fervently pray and we must lay our lives in the hands of God. Knowing he
will protect us in the same way he protecting Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when they were
placed in the fiery Furnace (Daniel 1-3). Along with these warnings given to us
we can see just a glimpse of what poverty the locals live in. Many without a
strong relationship with Jesus which can create a great deal of fear among them.
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On our way up the
mountain
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Amazing group of Catholics living on the mountain
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The mountains in the background, home to our new mission
field
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As many
of you may have heard Pope Francis has called together an Amazon Synod to
discuss and advocate for the rights of indigenous people and their land in the
Amazon region. With debates about land rights, protecting water, to protecting
children from sex traffickers and slavery to the super-hot steamy topic of
married Priest and the role of women within the Catholic Church in the Amazon
region. Giving many laity an opportunity to have their own debates on social
media and on the news about the Amazon Synod. I can tell you I have not
followed the Amazon Synod as I should, the irony of it all, is as a single Catholic
missionary mom living in solidarity with the poor, I just do not have the time
nor the internet connection to be able to follow this amazing meeting of such
Spirit led and Godly people; Whom with much prayer and desire wants to help the
indigenous people and longs to find a modern way to bring the Catholic Church
to them.
A lot of our work in the jungle apart from meeting material
needs and just living in solidarity with the poor, was finishing the education
and formation of the poor which had been started by former Priest, Religious
Sisters and Missionaries who served before us. Although there were other
dominations of churches they had a very small number of faithful. The Catholic
faith was the dominant faith in the Jungle. For two years my children and I
worked under two great missionary Priest from Spain whom had huge missionary
hearts.
My children and I
now serve under two Peruvian Priest all though loving and wonderful they are a bit
overwhelmed with the over 200 pueblos between the two of them. As they serve
with very few religious sisters whom live in the area. The Catholic church is
here but it has very much forgotten its missionary heart. It seems to be that
there are cells of faithful men and women mostly in their 70 and late 80 who
try to keep the religion alive but it’s just not enough. The Catholic faithful here
are disappearing. The other churches in the town are filled with the towns
children who eagerly and devoutly attend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons as each of the children are
assigned a sponsor from the USA which faithfully sends them material goods or
money biweekly, which motivates the attendance levels. An approach that seems
to be working for the leaders of the church but very much a contradiction to
the saying, Give a man a fish, and you
feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.
Earlier this week I was sitting with a
group of school kids in front of the church. All of them full of questions for
my children and I. As we sat playing the 50 questions in a minute game. I heard
one of the older girls who was very polite but very assertive with all her
questions she had for us, say to the group “they are Catholic, they believe
Christ is dead, that’s why they have Jesus nailed to the cross”. I honestly could not catch my breath. I am not
one to debate religions. I, being a convert to the Catholic Church as an adult,
raised with the concept that we do not need a “church to believe in God”. I
never had the knowledge of the Holy Trinity or the understanding of the true
presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. I
owe a huge gratitude to my grandmother (a devout Catholic) in which undoubtedly
prayed and petitioned the saints and angels for help, that her granddaughter would one day enter
into the fullness of the church. So hearing the young girl say that Catholics
believed that Christ was dead really drove my heart to proclaim my passionate
love for the Holy Eucharist and the understanding and the belief the church has
of the Holy Trinity. I of all people began to defend my faith. Not merely preaching
it or teaching it to those who desired to know more which I have done for over 2
decades or more, but I was in a middle
of a war with a young girl who had been obviously taught to disregard the
teachings of the Catholic church; to become in a sense an enemy of the Catholic
Church. She could not have been more than 10 or 11 years old, but she could
recite the bible like an adult, at least better than most Catholics. I could
not just let her profess lies about our faith and as much as I did not want too,
I engaged in the battle. I simply asked
her if she had ever heard of the last supper and the institution of the
eucharist and the words that Jesus spoke to his Disciples. As I was trembling
with fear of the battle I began with the words from Matthew 26:26 “Jesus
took bread and said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” I paused, and asked her if she had ever heard that part
of the bible. To my confusion she said yes and then she began to recite the
rest of the bible verse saying “Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for
this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the
forgiveness of sins.” I explained to her that very same supper that Jesus
had with his disciples, we as Catholics get to partake in that very same
banquet every time the Priest comes to celebrate mass with us. Than it
dawned on me, that this is part of why Jesus sent my children and I here. Why
the Holy spirit went before us to open the doors to this diocese that has never
had fulltime lay Catholic missionaries living within its territories. It’s why
the holy spirit inflamed the hearts of
the small number of faithful Catholics to build a house for us and why He spoke
to each one of you to help us obtain the funds for a truck so that we can reach
the further lying pueblos up in the mountains, who have already pleaded
desperately for my children and I to return weekly to help teach them and their
children learn about our Catholic faith. He sent us here to be a witness to so
many who have been kept from the temple because of man’s deceitful lies and
twisted words. To re- ignite the flame to those who have remained faithful both
to the hierarchy of the church and to the true presence of Jesus Christ in the
Eucharist.
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Led by the spirit and high in the mountains found a town
who not only welcomed us but was praying for someone from the church to come
help.
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We as baptized Catholic have a duty to go out
and Proclaim the Gospel. To become disciples and to win souls for Christ. I
understand that it would not be wise for everyone to go out and sell all their
belongings and set off for a new land to proclaim the Gospel. That’s not what
God wants. Not everyone was meant to sell everything included their only place
to lay their heads, their beds and hit the road to a unknown land with what only
fits in a suitcase like my children and I did. However I encourage each of you
to pray fervently and ask yourself, in
what way does God want you to partake in this mission mandate. If He is not
asking of your own life to enter into foreign missions, perhaps God is asking
you to be a supporter with a sacrifice of your prayers or by supporting our families
mission financially. For the love of the Catholic faith and the Mother Church,
I beg you all to continue to pray for us and for the Amazon Synod. More so for
an increase in priestly vocations even for my own young son Gabriel and his discernment.
For our new mission post, and for my family to have strength, courage and
wisdom to bring people back to Jesus and His Church. Lastly, I plead for your
prayers for protection for whatever evil spirit which lurks about that wishes
to harm us here at our new post.
The Church needs everyone of us to take part
in the Mission Mandate. I only share this with each of you out of the extreme
need of the Catholic Church and for our love of the Church and our love of the
Eucharist. I beg of you to prayerfully ask yourself what it is Jesus is asking
of you.
I also humbly invite you to partake in a
short term mission trip to anyone of FMC’s mission posts to see what we as full
time missionary do and what we are up against as we try to win souls for
Christ. If you would like to visit our mission post here in Peru with my family
and I for a week or two let me know, I can get you connected to those who can
help you state side make a mission trip a reality for you and your family. There is no better way to understand the great
need of missionaries in this vast world we live in than to walk side by side
with us in the field. Which would allow you a chance to see into the eyes of
the poor and feel their heart proclaim their desires for the Catholic Church
and its sacraments.
To our family, friends benefactors and prayer
warriors, every step we make, we make with you in our hearts and in our prayers!
We love you all and thank you for Loving the Lord as you do!
Karen,
Julianna and Gabriel Del Castillo
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Walking around the top of the mountain smell better than
walking into STARBUCKS, coffee plants are everywhere
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Mountain Top View
with a cute little Donkey
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