Padre Horacio Castillo

As the rain falls tonight in Guatemala City, Padre Horacio rests in a hospital bed. Visiting hours (12pm-1pm; 5pm-6pm) brought his wife of 36 years to his side to quietly express her love as she clipped his fingernails and helped him write a letter to help a fellow pastor. They also brought family to gaze upon his transformed face before heading home to try to sleep themselves before the 6:30am heart surgery. He appeared younger and vulnerable with his chin, cheeks and upperlip exposed from underneath his beard for the first time in 20 years. A strong man of God, teacher and preacher of the Word, Padre Horacio loves the Guatemalan people with all of his heart. Though I have known him but briefly.. I have seen him among the people of La Esmerelda-- knowing their stories of suffering, war, hunger-- and walking with them in Christ. I have seen him and heard him from the pulpit gently (and I am sure sometimes not so gently) challenging societal norms-- women´s roles, political realities, and the like. He says that a community is like a chess board: you need to know how the pieces move before you begin... and he does work within communities not inspite of them. He raises up leaders and allows them to lead-- even if/when that causes anxiety for him and the ILAG pastoral team. I have seen him sleep on the board that serves as church pew inside the church during an afternoon downpour. He is not perfect but his realness is transparent. His sharp whit and sense of humor cross even language barriers as his eyes sparkle with the joy of life. He sees the poverty, the crime, the land disputes, the discrimination and racism against the indigenous , the need to continue to heal from the war and preaches and teaches about Christ in the midst of it all. It is my prayer that as his heart heals so too can Guatemala´s heart heal. It has been a long road for him and his family as they have worked hard to reach the day of surgery. So many have helped both with spiritual and material support to help pay for the surgery (It must be paid before surgery in Guatemala, in case the patient dies during surgery), but also with their very blood (he had to have 6 people, regardless of blood type, donate to replace what he might use in surgery-- harder to get than one would think as they turned away so many people that the Castillos brought for as many reasons. I was turned away, for example, because my blood type is AB pos!) And now, with hurdles jumped and "I"´s dotted, his heart will soon be in the surgeon´s hands but also where it has always been-- in the hands of the one who created, redeemed and sustains him and you now and always. God, Bless and Keep your child. Amen