I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;

 I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done! 

Psalm 9:1

  

My children and I wanted to reach out to each of you and share with you regarding our current situation here in Peru as we are on a mandated quarantine here. We desired to give you a brief update and to also connect with each of you in this time of uncertainty and despair among many.  First of all we would like to remind everyone that this is a time we must unite in prayer and praise God for his faithfulness and love for each of us. We are reaching out to you,  not because we have great courage or strength but because we are weak and feel the need to be united with you, our sweet brothers and sisters in Christ, in prayer during this difficult time. 

So be strong and courageous, all you who 

put your hope in the Lord!- Psalm 31:24

Julianna with her prayer team

Last week March the 8^th through the 14^th my family and I were blessed by the opportunity to join our fellow missionaries in our old mission post about 9 hours south of us. We joined together to bring medicine, vitamins and two Doctors and two Physical Therapist from the United States to the poor of 6 different pueblos. Julianna served in the prayer station set up at each clinic, she and her team prayed 

with all the patients for Gods healing. Gabriel and I had the task to teach in the education station, were we taught about the importance of washing hands, brushing teeth, diabetes, a healthy diet and drinking water.  

During the clinic we were blessed with so many encounters with the Lord. The witnessing of so many miracles that Jesus performed during the medical mission trip must not be forgotten.  The smiles and the changed hearts we encountered should fill our hearts and last us a life time. For example the beautiful woman pictured below, who walked with her sister over 5 hours away to make it to the clinic. The things we take for granted in the United States and would be frustrated and appalled if we had to do the same. But this lovely woman was so grateful and overjoyed to be able to travel the distance to the free medical clinic. These witnesses and encounters we shared should be indeed cherished forever. 

This sweet women walked with her sister about 5 hours to get to the medical clinic 

I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; 

I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.

-  Psalm 9:1

But as we are human we fail and in the blink of the eye we can become over whelmed and become highly at risk to forget how good is our God. As we wrapped up the medical mission trip and planned to make the drive back to our mission post we heard that the President of Peru was closing the boarders and placing the country on a mandatory quarantine. With police and military on the ground directing traffic and warning everyone to go home and stay inside,  I heard a voice tell me to “go, go now”,  so we rushed to fuel the truck and pack our belongings as we prayed for open roads, for the ability to refuel along our journey and for Jesus to guide us back through the long journey home. Praise the Lord we were able to make it back to our small town of Cajaruro just in time before the road blocks were enforced. It was in an instance that our world here turned upside down, with absolutely no warning. Sunday night  the President made the announcement and by Monday the airport was closing. By Tuesday the enforcement of the no travel band was in place. No one absolute no one was to be out.   

Military posted everywhere, these guys just walking about town stopping people they saw walking around or driving.

Not normal for the USA, but we are glad to see the Military out in such force. 

We are in day 6 of the 15 day quarantine and it seems this day,  Saturday is a calmer day. The children and I have been diligent and obeying the mandatory quarantine only going out to the local Bodega (store) to make our daily food purchases. As the great Commandment tells us to Love our neighbors as our self’s, we as a family feel very passionate about adhering to the strict regulations during this time. We of all people around us have been exposed to so many different people in the last week. Because we served with the medical mission trip which consisted of 30  missionaries some of which were full time missionaries living here in Peru and others that are based out of FMC’s home base,  and 5 short term missionaries from different parts of the United States we run a high risk of bringing the virus to are small and closed off community. After all, over the course of 5 days we were in contact with over 100 patients each day. To top that off my family even made two trips to the Tarapoto airport dropping of and picking up people.  So needless to say we as a family feel the duty to remain quarantined in hopes to not contaminate anyone else in the event we have been infected by the virus ourselves. 

We must remain faithful even though at times there is no hope, we must be the light for others to know there is better times and a better life to come. For instance on Wednesday we experienced high winds here in our small town, the impact and the force of the winds destroyed many bamboo homes and blew off many tin roofs. Within the last 6 days of the quarantine we  have experienced a day without electricity and a few days without water. And instead of losing hope we must praise Jesus and His Holy Name that we have not had to go with out for long, those who had homes destroyed have found shelter until the quarantine has lifted. Yes there is a huge show of armed military and police officers throughout our small town and we are forbidden to leave our town unless it is for a medical reason or to buy food. But they are here to keep order and to enforce the law in this state of emergency. And to be frankly honest they are doing an amazing job thus far. Though it is not common to see in the United States a show of force from our military within the country I expect it is a common display here in Peru.   One can have a negative outlook and a harden heart about what we are experiencing. But we must not forget that earth is not our eternal home. We were sent here to complete our mission, not to have worldly goods and comforts, we must not forget that in our next life we will not suffer.  Pope Benedict XVI is attributed with saying the following: “The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness!” We should let his words sink in. These times are uncomfortable and scary. Believe me I have had to re-focus my worries to prayer many times in the last 6 days. It is not easy for anyone to live in a third world country but under these times it is especially trying and frightful to say the least. 

Morning after the storm blew through 

Morning after the storm blew threw

I truly want to encourage each of you to take this time of Isolation as a gift, in our suffering we must remember we are united with Christ. We should not panic and we should not be upset for having to change our plans. We should instead have joy and sing praises to the Lord our God,  who does not ever abandon his people. We are in the time of Lent a time of Alms Giving, Prayer and Penance and nothing should keep these things away from us. Yes our Churches have closed, but we must be overjoyed by the faithful and saintly priest that are still celebrating the daily Mass,  all over the world allowing us the body of the church to unite with the Head of the Church, the Bride Groom, whom is our Lord and savior. We should feel we are united with Christ in these desolate and trying times. After all Lent is a reflection of Jesus’s time in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights without food and water. He was tempted by the devil 3 times but even than he remained obedient and focused on His prayer. I cannot help but feel we are called to do the same. 

Please know that we are praying for each one of you. I beg of you to join my family in prayer as we fervently pray for an end to the virus and the quarantine. Most importantly we pray for the safety of all our missionaries around the world whom have been effected by the closing of borders, and mandated quarantines to keep them safe from any threats or outbreaks of violence. Please keep all of us safe as we continue to serve your people. We especially pray for the first responders, including my two sons Mason and Maccray and the doctors and nurses whom do not have the option to stay home.  Lord God we pray for you to remain close to us and to breathe your spirit of peace among each of us during this time.   Amen

Please remember at any time please feel free to send us your special prayer request.   You can send them to us by email:

Email:  karendelcastillo@familymissionscompany.com

If this Lenten season you feel called to help support our families mission here in Peru, Please donate by following the link below:

Web Site: delcastillo.familymissionscompany.com

We thank you for your prayers and your support. 

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

Karen,  Julianna and Gabriel Del Castillo 

A wonderful group of missionaries, it was an honor to serve a week with them, 

The doctor found a way to entertain his patient 

Gabriel wanted to help this gentleman make it through the medical stations

Waiting for the Doctor 

Gabriel made it to the small make shift pharmacy with his patient.

First Responders

  Wikipedia defines a First Responder as a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance at the scene of an emergency, such as an accident, natural disaster, or terrorist attack. First Responders typically include paramedics, emergency medical technicians, police officers, fire fighters and rescuers.

I am more than confident that you know what a First Responder is.  But I had a strong feeling that God was asking me to read the definition and to really reflect on its meaning. I was a bit reluctant to look up such a elementary word. I, of all people should know what a First Responder is,  after all two of my sons Mason and Maccray are just that. Mason is a fire fighter for the large city of Dallas Tx and Maccray Is a fire fighter for a smaller rural community in Boyd Tx. As a fire fighter’s mom I spend a good amount of time in prayer for both of them. 

Mason called to a head on accident

The two of them are so fearless. So eager to jump in the engine, flip the lights and sirens and race to the scene of a car accident or fire. They don’t hesitate for one reason, because someone is in distress needing them. They are trained so well that; when everyone else is running out of a burning building they run in. When someone is in need of an IV they mustard the courage to insert a needle while at the same time holding their hand and reassuring them. When pulling up to a car accident they hustle to the smoking car to find the victims and pull out whoever may be trapped. They walk along the roadside after a violent head on collision searching for and picking up body parts.  They make welfare calls to the elderly who have fallen, they respond to the call to check on the homeless sleeping in the parking lot. Or that dreaded call to the home where a person has taken their own life. Which I hear about so very often from my son Maccray.

Huge fire a couple of month ago in Dallas

As you can imagine, I look up to my two sons as Heros.  With the same kind of breathless awe & wonder that a 1st grader gets when they have firefighters come out to their school to teach their class about fire safety and eagerly waiting for a  chance to sit in the driver’s seat of the engine or try on their mask. 

Reading to a group of school kids

So you can see that when my family and I hear a knock at the door of our little home here in the Jungle that I would never had thought it was for an emergency. Emergencies are for first responders. But one night, Julianna open the door, and was greeted with a woman who was crying and was utterly passionate to get us to come quickly, to follow her to her house saying that it was an emergency. Just as my two firefighter sons have to do, we dropped everything and wanted to make it to her home as quickly as possible. It did not matter that we just wrapped up a two hour long ministry with the youth and that we were hot, tired, and dinner was on the stove cooking. The call came in and we had to respond. Just as a firefighter, the needs of others come before the needs of our own.

Gabriel trying on his brothers mask

 As we were running out the door we had no clue what the emergency was, but as we were hustling to the house I was already asking questions . “ What’s wrong” ,“Who is it” . Julianna and I were taking mental notes. We were going to her house because her dad is dying. Julianna quickly said mom you go, I will go back to turn off the stove and get Gabriel who was playing down the street. So our team split up. As I was walking into the unknown I was terrified.  I had no Idea what I was about to see or do. As I entered the home, I came upon women weeping uncontrollably. I became even more nervous that maybe a terrible accident had happen. I said to Jesus “You have mistaken, I am not the right person for this. If there is blood or bodily fluids I cannot handle it.” Without uttering a word to the woman I was following, I went through the 1st door of the mud home and entered in to the back of the home, where I was taken to a small hot room, wherein laid an old frail man on the floor. The smell and the heat was strong enough to knock a person over.  

  I had an image come upon me of my sons. They had their gear on, they had their medical supplies and tools in hand. They had their radios on,  communicating to their team outside. I had nothing in hand. I had no way to call Julianna and Gabriel to explain were the lady had taken me. I could not radio for back up. I had no medicine or lifesaving equipment. I cannot lie I was in a bit of a panic because this family called me to help and this man was dying. I thought to myself, I am just a missionary. Someone more qualified like a First Responder should have been called, not me.

I could do so little, I thought.  I kneeled down beside the man and placed my hand on his forehead making the sign of the cross with Holy Water.  Everyone in the room was watching me. Waiting for something more, and eagerly expecting me to do something. So many things went through my head I could not make since of it; So I closed my eyes and asked for help. I needed to have confidence and needed to act quickly. I called again for the Holy Spirit to come upon me,  and all the crying women  who had followed me into the little hot mud room.

Maccray at the scene of a house fire

  Stepping up from the man, I used the best equipment I had, which was to pray the rosary. I asked the women and children in the room If they knew how to pray the rosary, they responded with a “no”. So I asked them  in a different way, “do you know the prayer of the Our Father and the Hail Mary”?  This time they responded quickly with a  “yes”. So I told them “ok”, we are going to pray the rosary. By this time praise God Julianna and Gabriel found the home that I had been taken too. I can not tell you how much of a relief that was.  So in came, the rest of my team and in perfect time to begin the rosary . Gabriel even though he is nine took charge and led the rosary. Getting on his knees and holding the hand of the frail old man with love and compassion. While Julianna consoled the women and the children whom were crying. It was amazing to see how the Holy Spirit took charge of the little mud room and those in it. 

The joy that enter that room was divine. The hot air became fresh, suddenly the smell was not there and the room became such a serene place. I could not help but smile at Jose, the dying man; at first I told myself not to, in fear of what his family would think of me, but as the holy spirit came upon me I could not hold my joyful heart back. I asked the man’s wife if he had received the sacrament of baptism. She nodded yes, “Wow, how wonderful was that” I said. I asked the women in the room to stop crying, to be joyful that he had lived a long life and now its time for him to rest. That Jesus was waiting for him with open arms. Unlike my two oldest sons who deal with death daily my two youngest children and I have never seen a person die. I had always told my 4 children since they were young that we should not be in fear of death. That it is a time of peace a time of rest. When God is calling us home it’s the most exalting time in our lives. That we should rejoice that our Lord is calling us home after serving Him here on earth. 

“If we’re so afraid of death and dying, I have to wonder if we’re also afraid of life and living.” Juile Masters professor University of Nebraska, Omaha.

 “It is not Death that will come to fetch me, it is the good God. Death is no phantom, no horrible specter, as presented in pictures. In the catechism it is stated that death is the separation of soul and body, that is all! Well, I am not afraid of a separation which will unite me to the good God forever.”  

St. Therese of Lisieux

After the scene of the emergency was under control,  my children and I needed a time to reflect or as my sons would say have a debriefing of the call. The three of us were reflecting on the fact that we must be prepared at all times, ready to assist when the call comes in. We reviewed the things we should have done better, like turn the stove off before leaving the house. Perhaps figuring out a plan on how we can reunite when we are separated. But the part that hit hard for us to digest was the fact that in the eyes of those we live among and serve; we are considered and seen as the 1st responders. That thought hit hard because in our minds we cannot save a person’s life as my two older sons do on a daily basis. But we can bring the love of our Lord, joy and peace among those who have so little.  For the poor here even in the time of death, they die just as they have lived. They die in poverty with no medical care, no doctors, no diagnosis and no treatment plans. With most of the families torn apart and living in two different worlds, with their indigent beliefs and their unpracticed and uncultivated faith that has been planted among them from temporary Christian missionaries over the years that leaves them sobbing and with broken hearts for their loved ones. Looking to us, the missionaries, asking if there is more that we can do before their love one dies.

 We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. Mother Teresa

Jose has not yet went home to the Lord. He as of the time of this blog lays in his tiny mud home with his wife sitting by his side day and night. For 3 weeks now Jose has laid waiting unable to move, talk or sit up. Much less eat. There is no IV in his hand, no nurse to check on him and to help make him comfortable as he lies waiting to die. Each week we visit Jose and his wife to bring them all we have which is the love that is flowing from us from the Lord himself. Are offering seems so small in the world which we come from. But in the eyes of those we serve it means so much to them.  2 weeks ago Father Francisco was able to come to our tiny pueblo to give Jose his last rites. Even though Jose can not speak and his body lie almost lifeless one could feel and sense an overwhelming gratitude coming from this man , having  received a visit from Father. Its not easy to know that this way of death is the reality here among everyone we live among. But the fact is that this is the reality, We cannot bring 1st world hospitals and nursing homes here but we can bring our love and share of faith and the goodness of the Lord to each of them. 

  Perhaps missionaries could be included in the definition of First Responders. For almost two years we have been living here and many times we are the 1st who are called to provide assistance at the scene of an emergency, such as an accident, natural disaster. Although we are not medically trained or have the emergency equipment to respond to the call with, as my two oldest son’s do. But we must not forget that we have much more than those who we live and serve among. That’s why the poor have the same kind of awe for missionaries that many have in the states for Firefighters and Policeman. They see us all as Hero’s. We as missionaries must be ready at all times to respond to the cries of the poor. We must remember that we have the skills and the training to help the people we live among. That are spiritual tool kit is endless and our faith and are knowledge of  the radical love of Christ is all we need to respond to the call. Understanding that we are not here to save their earthly life but to help their journey to the everlasting life with the Lord.

Father with Jose mistering his last right, sitting next to him Jose's sister Maria.

Thank you for reading, please pray for my family, I especially ask for your prayers for my two oldest sons, who are pictured above. May God protect them, physically, mentally and spiritually as they serve as firefighters . Please pray for my two youngest children Julianna and Gabriel as they learn to live and serve in a humble way among the poor here in Peru. May God continue to mold them and may they both learn Gods desire for them both. Lastly please pray for all FMC missionaries all over the world,  that they will continue to be brave and in the center of God’s will,  so they can serve without limits to those they live among.

Karen, Julianna and Gabriel 

Catholic Lay Missionaries

Serving in Peru

Contact us with your prayer intentions, follow our blog, or make a donation at the following links.

Email:  karendelcastillo@familymissionscompany.com

Web Site: delcastillo.familymissionscompany.com