WE DESPERATELY NEED YOUR HELP!
On Wednesday, the hurricane began to blow by the Mole with strong winds and crazy intense rain. We lost several trees on campus, there was minor flooding in areas, but there was no real damage in the village. The biggest issue was simply everyone was wet, cold, and just plain miserable.
Little did we know that the real damage to the Mole didn’t happen here on land…but out in the sea. …
Yesterday morning we received devastating news that the ship carrying a year’s worth of our ministry supplies sank. They were just 51 miles off the coast of Haiti when they got caught up in the hurricane. All of the crew was airlifted and saved. We PRAISE God for their safety and protection…. but we are CRUSHED by the news.
Here’s the story: http://m.subseaworldnews.com/#newsitem-150532
We had a little over $18,000.00 worth of supplies on the boat. In addition to those supplies, we also had donations that were dropped off this summer for us as well. Then there is all the supplies my parents had on the ship for Waves of Mercy Mission. Unfortunately even the crate of supplies that the Crossroads team packed full of Christmas gifts for all the orphans is also on the ocean floor.
I shared this yesterday on Facebook:
Part 1
I can barely type for the tears. I know it is just stuff but this is my favorite time of year and so much is time sensitive.
Our kids are supposed to start school this month, we do Christmas in Haiti so all the gifts for our own children, staff, staff children, orphans, all the supplies for the church – drums, speakers, keyboard, brand new sound system so we can have everything there for our big dedication, all the big yard and Christmas decorations and party supplies for the whole year for the church and food to go with it. Enough soap, shampoo, and toiletries to keep our orphanage going for 5 months.
We lost a generator and after 18 years of using the same mattress Jose and I finally bought a new one.
We had 40 water cones that turn ocean water into drinking water by filtering out the salt for the fishing villages so they don’t have to walk 3 hours. The list goes on and on. Little things and big things with a purpose and packed with care by my Dad and Asher–all gone.
***
Part 2
As the rain continues to pour down…so do the tears.
The kids knew something was wrong because of the tension and tears around them. Bad news travels fast in Haiti as if the demons themselves work overtime at spreading despair. The news of the supplies gone started being tainted by unbelievers saying we were cursed.
The first thing Malaya cried out was that all their “Dollar Club” money was used to purchase supplies for the orphans and put on the boat. Now “their ministry” was for nothing……(which I assured her that wasn’t the case and God saw their hearts).
Mikela asked how will they start the new school year without any books – does that mean they won’t pass their grade this year? Does Miss Beth know that we will fail this year?
Levi wanted to know all the details of how the boat sank… and then he cried for the Shipper who lost his boat. And that’s just how sweet my little Levi is.
Asher asked – So all those things Papaw and me worked so hard on are all gone? Everything we put in the truck? Papaw is crying? It won’t float in the ocean? Nobody gets anything now? What about the drums we played on for the church? What about the Halloween Party? What about the water things? The fishing village won’t have water now? What about all the stuff for the orphanage? What about momma gigi’s things? There won’t be Christmas anymore? (he does NOT forget anything…and he did help pick it out and pack it all)
Rosie can’t say anything – she can’t form the thoughts- in fact she threw herself on the floor first – too much for her little mind to understand. She is now calm after an hour laying on my lap.
Everyone knows that Gabe is my entrepreneur in the family -always trying to find a way to make a buck. He didn’t say anything at first. He just left the room. Then he brought in his little Haiti box of money and asked- how much would it cost to replace it all?
Asher chimed in and said he would start working again on the church with the construction crew so he could have money to give too.
***
My kids are the best part of me…they lost A LOT today….more than they even know.
Yet their FIRST tears were for others…..for the shipper….. for the orphans…. for papaw….. for momma gigi….. for their schooling…. for the fishing villages…and while I’m in a puddle of tears thinking of all the losses including our own….. their first thoughts weren’t about the things they would no longer be getting BUT about the special things others would miss out on.
The mission field is Satan’s playground and today the bully won. He beat me up and stole all my lunch money with the whole community watching.
But my little Gabe….that boy….his first instinct was to reach out his little hand….and share his lunch with me.
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP
I can’t even express how much we appreciate the love and prayers that you have shown us today. We keep reading through the comments and messages- over and over again. Every word reminds us of your care for us, for this ministry, and for these people we came here to serve. Please keep praying for God to bring peace and restore first the hope of our people and secondly the ministry and personal items lost.
Your desire to help COMPLETELY humbles us and reminds us that we don’t fight this battle alone. THIS ministry and these people are His. Though we feel SO defeated, we know He will not let satan take this. This whole community is watching the battle – some with tears and great sorrow yet others watch with drunken joy believing their little god is bigger than our King.
So we’ve ALL come together as a family because during crisis that’s what we do. My brothers and sister, my parents, my Haitian family – all of us have been making phone calls, praying, and seeking counsel on what’s best to do. The boat did not have cargo insurance so everything is truly lost.
God is beginning to put the pieces together and here’s what we see right now as the plan.
1) My children are home schooled by Miss Beth and their new school year starts this month. After reviewing receipts we spent $2400.00 in school books and supplies. We have got to get this in so they can begin the school year.
There are also some items – ESPECIALLY our Christmas and New Years gifts/supplies that are time sensitive and we need to get them repurchased and shipped in quickly.
Though our church could be dedicated without these, we spent $5000.00 on instruments, speakers, mic and guitar stands, podium, etc. We plan to dedicate the church and have a big revival at the end of November.
We also had 2 crates full of Christmas decorations, church party supplies, helium tanks, glow in the dark items for our holiday festivities, fireworks, our children’s Christmas gifts, the staff and their children’s gifts, the things our children bought the orphans for Christmas, canned food, peanut butter, crafts to make for 12 days of Christmas with the orphans, and specialty foods. Since we can no longer afford to come out for Christmas we try to make this season extra special for the whole community.
If funds are there, Jose and I can fly to Miami this month and repurchase those items and get them sent in on another boat. It TYPICALLY takes about 3 weeks from the time we drop things off on the boat dock until they arrive at our door-step. We could hopefully have these supplies for this season here around Thanksgiving time. That takes care of the urgency part that is just absolutely tying us in knots.
2) If funds/supplies are there, then my parents said they will take another Ryder Truck down the first week of December. So for those of you who want to collect items, if you can collect them and then get them to Versailles, Kentucky by November 5th – then they will get crated and driven down to Miami to ship on another boat.
Maybe certain groups/churches would like to focus on one specific thing to collect. Or maybe do a financial collection that goes towards one specific thing and then you don’t have to ship it to KY. I’ve made a list of the supplies at the bottom of this blog.
We just used the last of our peanut butter Thursday night to make sandwiches for the community and hot chocolate knowing we had cases on the boat. It’s just SO HARD to even “mentally go” to what will be required to make this happen. BUT as I’ve told teams before when things here are hard – if all I do is cry all day then I’ve accomplished nothing for the Kingdom.
We really need your help. Please don’t think that someone else will do it for this size of a miracle it requires everyone! I am thankful I know the ONE who turns water into wine–man, we could sure use some of that right now! LOL!
No seriously I am thankful that I know the ONE who can take nothing and make it something. And I’m looking forward to showing this community once again the life changing, care giving power of my Lord.
If you would like to support our efforts to replace the supplies:
Click here for the Online Payment Center
**Please mark Boat Supplies in notes section. If you want to designate your money for a specific lost item you can list that as well. Example: Boat Supplies – Musical Instruments for Church.
Or mail checks to:
NWHCM
7271 S Mayflower Park Ave
Zionsville, IN 46077
**Please mark Castillo Boat Supplies on a note.
LIST OF SUPPLIES THAT COULD BE COLLECTED:
Items Lost on the Boat that were purchased or donated
**It’s our hope with multiple places collecting – we will be able to reach the goal of what we lost.
We are down to the last bottle of Multivitamins for adults & just a few left for kids.
Desktop Printer/Scanner/Copier & 5 ink cartridges
Orphan clothes 4T- 14/16
Hundreds of bottles of OTC medicines
canned food
4 – professional size bug killer (spray all over the house prevention)
25 – mouse glue traps
10 – full size sheet sets
24 – cans of febreeze/generic smell good spray
24 – Clorox Wipes/Generic
2 – cases of toilet paper
24 – bottles of dish liquid
12 – the works/any sort of shower/tub cleaner
15 – bounty/generic dryer sheets
15 – lighters (with the long handle)
4 – 12 gauge extension cords – heavy duty – 100 feet
10- outdoor extension cords 20-50 feet long – still need 7
5 – Ryobi lithium batteries
4 – Ryobi Flashlights
Outdoor Christmas Decorations – please think of us after Christmas Sales
5 helium tanks – 3 purchased
1000 File Folders – for the Clinic – STILL NEED 800
Crafts for the 12 Days of Christmas **12 DIFFERENT holiday crafts for 50 children aged 3-10 – Jen is collecting
200 cups – they’re not sure they will get all – but Texas Tech is starting
200 bowls – they’re not sure they will get all – but Texas Tech is starting
200 plates -they’re not sure they will get all – but Texas Tech is starting
50 Christmas gifts for women’s ministry – (2 tea candles & 1 tea candle holder & matches) – collected
8 – power-strips (plug in 5 or 6 things) – 3 collected
Crafts for the 12 Days of Christmas **12 DIFFERENT holiday crafts for 50 children aged 3-10 – Jen is collecting
peanut butter – several people collecting
100 forks – collected
100 spoon – collected
100 small medicine cups – Collected
20 packs of small ziplocks (to put meds in) – Collected
15 – small extension cords 8-10 feet long – collected
30 packs of posty-notes (used to make invitations for ministry) – collected
20 packs of colored index cards -collected
10 packs of sharpies – collected
5 packs of labels – for labeling medicine – collected
100’s of glow in the dark necklaces, rings, bracelets, headbands – collected
24 packs of white copy paper – collected
15 box fans – collected.
400 bars of soap – Woodford/SLCC
200 bottles of shampoo – Orlemann/SLCC is collecting
200 tubes of toothpaste – Woodford/SLCC
50 pairs of children’s shoes -Jina is collecting
50 flash lights & batteries – Liberty High Key Club is collecting
40 containers of baby powder – Orlemann is collecting
4 dozen cans of baby formula – Woodford is collecting
50 deodorant – SLCC is collecting
5 tents – Provided
35 backpacks – Jina is collecting
100 composition books (schooling notebooks) – Texas Tech!
100 packs of loose leaf paper – Burlington Youth is collecting
20 packs of pens – Burlington Youth is collecting
50 strands of Christmas lights – AGCC Sunday School is collecting
Professional Movie Theater Popcorn Maker – FUNDED
100 prom/bridesmaid dresses – Raise the Veil/Diane collecting
Tupperware containers for organizing the pharmacy – collected
10 – pairs of scissors – Collected
24 – scotch tape – collected
12 – duct tape – collected
Ministry Items Lost That We Would like to Repurchase
200.00 – Momma Gigi’s TV she lost – Christmas gift for all her family – Funded
57.00 – Momma Gigi’s pots & pans – FUNDED
50.00 -Momma Gigi’s food storage bins for her home to keep out rats – funded
4000.00 Water Cones – 1 funded so far (40 cones 100 each) **Friskney starting campaign
600.00 3 Fridges – – 4 cubic feet each – funded
1000.00 Staff & Their Children Christmas Gifts – FUNDED!
1000.00 Industrial Shelving units for storage – Funded
500.00 – Fireworks – FUNDED!!!
600.00 Orphan Christmas Gifts (Dollar Club Ministry) – FUNDED
1000.00 Church/Christmas/New Years/Dedication Supplies – FUNDED
5000.00 Instruments for Church – FUNDED!!! HALLELUJAH!!!
1000.00 Generator – FUNDED 🙂
Personal Items We Lost That We would like to Repurchase:
$6800.00 -Children’s school books, food, children’s birthday gifts/decorations for upcoming year, our children’s Christmas gifts, patio furniture, mattress, paint, cleaning supplies, professional bug/rat killer supplies, storage containers, yard tools, household supplies **We’ve received $4100.00 towards our personal losses
**Internet here is so bad it’s taking hours to load just one picture. I will keep adding but here are a few so far.
