This past week we went back to North Carolina to do a week of domestic ministry. I think this past week was honestly one of my favorites on the race for a lot of different reasons!
For those of you who might not know or remember back in September my squad started off our ministry in Black Mountain North Carolina. During our time there Hurricane Helen came through and caused a lot of damage to the area. My squad and I were actually caught in a landslide and the building we were in collapsed. There’s a lot more that goes into this story and day; if you want to read about that you can go back and read my blog all about it. While my squad went through a lot that day so many more people and homes were affected and weren’t as lucky as us. We got blessed with the opportunity to go back this past week and help with the disaster relief.
We started off the week by actually getting to go back to the sight of the landslide. Seeing all the destruction and damage put so much in perspective for me and gave me so much gratitude and thankfulness to the Lord! We got to hear testimonies from some of the guys that helped to come rescue us and learned so many more little details and miracles God did on that day! We also got the chance to share our testimony with two other squads and to worship on the very ground the enemy tried to destroy us! There was a lot of redemption on that day but that’s not where it stopped.
For the rest of the week we got the opportunity to help rebuild some houses. Most of the week we got to work at the same house and do lots of demolition. I honestly love doing manual labor! I love getting to drive back to base at the end of the day and know that I completed something and helped someone. We also got to hear testimonies from so many other people affected by the storm which was so sweet!
One of our last days there we got to help with an organization called the dream center. We paired up with one of the teams from another squad and helped get supplies to hand out to people. In the afternoon we got to go deliver beds to people who have never had them before. To end our day we went to a park and got to hand out pizza and hangout with some kids from the neighborhood. It was honestly one of my favorite days of ministry from the race!
This whole week was filled with so many sweet little moments and sweet ministry! This week was also filled with so much sweet redemption! While our squad went through a lot in the landslide it was so redemptive getting to not just go back but to help others who were affected by the hurricane. God gets all the glory through all of it! You can see His hand in every little thing, His protection is so evident!
There truly was no better way to end our ministry on the race! To come full circle and end where we began, to see redemption brought to such disaster! It all points back to my redeeming God!
Here’s the link if you’d like to read my first blog about the landslide, it has some really cool testimonies from that day. https://emileecastro.theworldrace.org/post/my-god-protects-and-provides/
Thank you for reading and for following along and supporting me throughout this whole race! I think this will be my last blog but I hope to have an open house to share more stories in person when I get home!
Sincerely,
Emilee Castro
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