Jackie Castelli [00:00:03]:
Why can’t someone overcome the impossible? Why can’t someone have their dreams come true, whatever that may look like for them?
Introduction
Kim Moeller [00:00:16]:
Thanks for joining us at the generous girl podcast. I’m Kim Mueller, your host, and I’m so excited today to introduce you to Jackie Castelli. You’re going to hear a beautiful story of how God has woven her career calling into a beautiful story, as well as her own personal journey of health and emotional fitness and how she’s become the beautiful woman that she is. And when we finished the podcast, she said, you know, I just wanna help any woman listening. So if they want to talk with me, give them my email. And so I love her generous spirit. And so her email will be in our show notes and you’re welcome to reach out to her or reach out to me and I will connect you with her. So can’t wait for you to hear her story.
Kim Moeller [00:01:05]:
Never Thirst Water
Well, I’m so thrilled today to have Jackie Castelli here on the generous girl podcast. Jackie has spent the last two decades in marketing, design, and fundraising, and just really has a heart for people, creative writing, and storytelling, but really living a life with purpose. And she, right now, leads the the organization of, Never Thirst Water in terms of her role as a senior director development officer. So she uses her role and is so grateful to continue her calling as a voice for those living in extreme poverty and injustice. And she then invites people who financially give to this organization to step further into their faith as humanitarians and bringing kingdom impact into their hearts and into the lives of those needing clean and living water. And so this is actually the first time we’ve had a guest on the Generous Girl podcast who whose mission in your career is working with clean water. So first, I’d love to welcome you welcome you, Jackie. Hi.
Jackie Castelli [00:02:08]:
I’m so excited to be here.
Kim Moeller [00:02:09]:
Thank you for having me.
Kim Moeller [00:02:10]:
It’s a thrill to have you here, and I just want to kind of jump into the deep end of your your company, your job. And first, let’s just start by define what it means to help people in areas around the world who don’t have clean water.
Jackie Castelli [00:02:26]:
Yeah. Absolutely. So I work for a, a small company that we focus on burning clean and living water to the unreached people groups, most unreached, specifically in the 10:40 window. Have you ever heard of the 10:40 window?
Kim Moeller [00:02:42]:
I have, but please go ahead and define it.
10:40 Window
Jackie Castelli [00:02:45]:
Yeah. Absolutely. So I’ve actually been in in the humanitarian sector for the past 15 years, and I am embarrassed to say that I had no idea, what the 1040 window is. So you are not alone for whoever is listening to this for the first time, but the 10:40 window is if you’re looking at the global map, it is 10 degrees 40 degrees north latitude, and it’s basically Northern Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. It’s about mixed up about I think, over 60 countries. And one of the things that I have been so honored to serve along this team is prior to my role with Neverthirst, I worked with a beautiful organization called, World Vision, and I worked for their artist channel, which was super fun because I got to partner with musicians, authors, athletes, and basically, we would, we would sponsor their tours or their events in exchange to fundraise on their platform. And while I was the head of creative and digital marketing over on that team, and what was so beautiful is that that catapulted and extended where I was seeing poverty. So prior to my, prior to the last, like, 6 years, I had just seen poverty in small parts of Mexico and then in a few places in Africa.
Jackie Castelli [00:04:15]:
And the reason why I’m sharing that is I didn’t realize that poverty was everywhere. And I think what was so important was we were focusing on sponsorship. We are focusing on education. We are focusing on human trafficking. Any sector you can think of, the more I was growing in my career, the more and the more heartache I was not only seeing in these places, I was also watching communities moving out of poverty. And I was really realizing what came down to it was water. We want to solve the world’s greatest problems in all of my travels. Again, I’ve seen it in every continent.
Clean Water
Jackie Castelli [00:05:02]:
It’s water. And, and so one of the things that throughout my own story, I was really beginning to I wanted to understand that more. There are over I believe it’s 703,000,000 people now who do not have access to clean, safe drinking water. Like, the I think the stats alone were was what just began to break my heart every time I was learning something. And then seeing when you see a stat in real life, those are human beings. Those are beating hearts. Those are pets. People.
Jackie Castelli [00:05:39]:
Mhmm. Yeah. And and so I just became I’d always been really passionate about wanting I I just wanna end poverty. Right? And I was just trying to understand why is it complicated or why and there are a lot of complications. And so as I was understanding meeting the physiological needs of human beings, it started with water. And when I was learning that it was mainly weighing on women and children and that they are walking. I think it’s, like, the average that they are walking to get dirty water. Not even clean water is 7 hours.
Jackie Castelli [00:06:17]:
So that means these women are unable to work.
Kim Moeller [00:06:21]:
These children are trafficked when they’re walking far from their village.
Jackie Castelli [00:06:25]:
Don’t even get me started about that. And so, I just the dangers in just trying to stay alive over something that I could just walk 5 seconds to go get water. And I can have it run on 3, 4, 5 different spouts right now if I wanted, and I won’t die from it. There are about I think one of the saddest things that keeps me up at night is 800 children under the age of 5 die every single day from waterborne illnesses, which is preventable. So that is what that water crisis is, is it is it takes away the inherent dignity of a human being. And I am all in on it because it is a solvable crisis. It is such a solvable crisis. And what makes me even more honored about serving alongside Neverthirst is we go into the harshest harshest places of the world where it’s the hardest place to be a kid and the hardest place to be a woman, but also the hardest place to be a Christian.
Jackie Castelli [00:07:29]:
So in the 10:40 window, it is you know, I always say, you know, a lot of people when they do missionary work, it’s what we want to, bring Jesus to them. Jesus is already there, and Jesus is just waiting for people and their yeses to go and serve and be the hands and feet to know that there is hope and that there is light in their stories. And so one of the things that I love about serving along Never Thirst is we also focus on the gospel crisis. There’s about 3,200,000,000 people that don’t know about Jesus. They are worshiping mountains. They are, like, sacrificing animals to trees, and then they’re predominantly Muslim and Hindu and Buddhist religions. And the reason why that means so much to me is a, we are called to disciple all nations, but, b, in my own story, I wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t have the friendship that Jesus had brought me and if I didn’t know how to crawl into God’s lap. And I want that for everyone.
W.A.S.H. Programs
Jackie Castelli [00:08:41]:
I want and so I care so much about this, and that’s what EverThirst does is we fund WASH programs, which are, water and sanitation hygiene programs. And so we go and we serve and we show them who Jesus is and that Jesus is always in his own business.
Kim Moeller [00:09:01]:
Filters to wherever you go? Is that the practical way?
Jackie Castelli [00:09:05]:
So I can geek out over a wash program as much as you want. So it’s different depending on country. It’s different depending on village and the community. We work with, our implementing partners, and they are bringing anything from a hand pump to a biosand filter to a mechanized borehole to a piped water system. Basically, we are serving at the household level and in the institutional level, so school programs. I think we’ve done one hospital as well. But what’s really beautiful about that is we leave it to the experts and we hire we work with localized experts who are surveying the land and building relationships with the community and figuring out what they need. And it’s always their most basic need is water.
Jackie Castelli [00:09:57]:
And so when they are coming in, they’re making sure that the, water point that we’re able to provide them meets this village’s specific need.
Kim Moeller [00:10:07]:
Mhmm.
Jackie Castelli [00:10:08]:
I there is it depends on in Africa, it is there’s more drought, and so it’s harder to find the water, let alone keep it sanitized. And so a lot of piped water systems are really important, to reach more people because a lot of the indigenous villages that are out there remember we go where others aren’t. And so I remember my last time I was in Ethiopia a couple months ago, and we drove Kim. I didn’t see a power line for 3 hours.
Kim Moeller [00:10:42]:
Wow.
Jackie Castelli [00:10:43]:
And you know how far power lines
Kim Moeller [00:10:45]:
go.
Jackie Castelli [00:10:45]:
Right. So that is just how far that they’ve been out there. And so it’s all different types of water projects to meet their needs. I think one of the things I’m most proud of is there are 5, I believe, different water level standards according to the UN, and it’s the each standard, each level needs to be met. There’s different levels for different countries.
Kim Moeller [00:11:09]:
Mhmm.
Jackie Castelli [00:11:10]:
And by 2030, NetWorkers is committed to make sure that we meet at least the top two levels. And what I’m so proud about that is that means the worst level that someone will experience from our intervention and us serving this community is that we are going to reduce their collection time within 30 minutes from the minute they leave their front porch.
Kim Moeller [00:11:32]:
Wow.
Jackie Castelli [00:11:32]:
That means girls can go to school.
Kim Moeller [00:11:34]:
Yes. Kids can go to school.
Jackie Castelli [00:11:36]:
Girls. Women can work. There’s time for the family. There’s there’s time to go to church. There’s just time for you’re so much more than walking for water. And that was something that I’ve learned in the last 15 years is seeing these sweet, sweet souls. They are so much more than their circumstances. And I resonate that with that so much.
Jackie Castelli [00:12:01]:
And so to me, that’s what wash is and that’s what the water crisis is, is solving and serving to remind others that we all are all so much more than our circumstances and it starts with water. And when they have resources and knowledge and opportunity, that’s when you see a community thrive. And I get to do that full time, and I get to work with beating hearts. You know how they say that there’s goers and senders? I’m a goer. I’ve always I think I’ve been to Africa 8 times now, and I’m definitely a goer. But it is my honor to come home and speak on their behalf and tell their stories. And I get to hang out with folks, which I know you get to do this too. And it’s such an honor where I get to be a vessel and a bridge for someone that wants to do something further in the kingdom, but they’re so overwhelmed by the world’s problems that I just get to activate people’s passions and what they care about, and I get to steward just really generous people who wanna make the world a better place.
Jackie Castelli [00:13:10]:
And I get to tell about the communities that we are currently serving. I get to celebrate the communities that we have served and we’re not there anymore. And so I just get to activate really, really generous souls who that’s all they that’s all they wanna do and they don’t know where to start. And I was like, well, I’ll tell you where to start. And so, I I’m honored, but, I get to serve alongside somebody that is really passionate about, bringing bringing clean water.
Kim Moeller [00:13:42]:
Well, that’s why you’re on this podcast because you are an activator. And that’s part of the purpose of this podcast is to expose the listeners throughout the country to people like you hearing, you know, just like this unique facet of a diamond, the the the piece of the diamond that you’re called to do, and then for someone to listen and go, that is amazing. I would love to go on a trip with Jackie’s organization or, wow, I didn’t know about clean water. Maybe I can divert some of my giving funds toward an organization that supports clean water. So, you know, just I love it. It’s wonderful. And I and we’re gonna dive into your own personal story. But before we do that, one more question regarding your company.
Kim Moeller [00:14:24]:
When you emphasize living water, tell me kind of the both end of how you you you’ve explained the practical side of how you help these areas, you know, be able to have clean water, but then the living water side of it, the spiritual side. How are you are you doing curriculum? Are you teaching classes when you’re there? Or how how does that side work?
Jackie Castelli [00:14:46]:
So, that’s the right question. We, we mobilize local pastors and key ministry leaders that are already in these communities or near these communities. One of my favorite things about Never Thirst I was one of the things that I was really adamant about was I wanted to be a part of a team that didn’t, weaponize someone’s basic needs and inherent and their inherent right to get these needs in the name of Jesus. That was just something that I really I really didn’t wanna partner with. And so as I was onboarding, I really grilled them, and I really wanted to understand how does water and Jesus go hand in hand. Explain to me what that looks like. And I am such a person that values authentic relationships. And that was as they were explaining to me what that looked like, that’s all I was thinking about with gratitude of just the authenticity of the way that they are caring for their communities and the way that they enter into a relationship.
Jackie Castelli [00:15:57]:
So at first, like, I was asking, okay, is do we go in first with the water or do we go in first with the pastor? How does that work? And I got to see it in a real life. And what was really beautiful is I’ve got to, I got to connect with a pastor. His name is Pastor Godana, and he is one of the most beautiful human beings I’ve ever met in my life. But it was hearing his story that really made me understand, the way that we work. So while bringing clean water, our living water, to me, how I see it is we are activating other people who just like there are engineers and architects and implementers that are the experts that have gone to school to bring clean and safe drinking water, we are operating with pastors and missionaries who are rising up throughout their community. And so a lot of our partners that we’re already working with have these relationships with other churches, whether it be assemblies of God, that’s a really big one in Africa. But there’s just different denominations and there’s different communities of pastors where we if they are wanting to expand their mission, if they are wanting to go to these nooks and crannies to talk about Jesus, We make sure that we train them to serve alongside the WASH programs because we are servants first. We are serving this community first.
Jackie Castelli [00:17:33]:
We are listening to them and hearing their needs and walking alongside them. We are I can’t tell you how many of our pastors have been, the stories. I’ve cried just hearing some of the stories where pastors have lost their families because of the communities. They and the communities have have have killed their children saying don’t come back here. It’s dark, but they see. And so what we do is we empower just a safety for them to go in and just human being to human being and just walk alongside them. And while we’re doing that, we are equipping them and training them through curriculum, through, bible studies and certain resources that allow them to share the gospel in their language, in their culture, just the sensitivity around that as well. And then there are places where we are gathering pastors in private, and then they are mobilizing in private.
Jackie Castelli [00:18:33]:
But it’s really just us serving alongside.
Teaching Them How to Fish
Kim Moeller [00:18:36]:
And you’re teaching them, like, how to fish. You know? You’re not coming in just that basic analogy. You’re not just bringing the fish, but you’re teaching them how to fish so that you all can leave, and they can be empowered to live and be with all their gifts that they’ve already been given by God to be all they were made to be and versus that top down approach of an American organization comes to you. We’ll tell you what to do.
Jackie Castelli [00:19:00]:
White savior. This is what you need to thrive.
Kim Moeller [00:19:03]:
Yes.
Jackie Castelli [00:19:04]:
One of the things that I loved, along so hearing Pastor God Godana’s story is he it’s a lot of planting seeds, and it’s a lot of sowing, and, maybe no reaping, if not till later. And what was so cool is we were going to this community where they had built a church. He hadn’t been back in because that he’s mobilizing leaders in the community. And he had been back, and they were like, pastor, godonna. Pastor Godonna. And they had used their own resources because they had water. They were able to focus on getting their own resources, building their own economy. They built a church.
Jackie Castelli [00:19:42]:
Wow. They were showing him, we’ve built a church. We’ve built a church. And it’s just and then also, Kim, I’ve been to where we are just sitting under a tree worshiping because that’s and and people just walking near and far. And so I think what, for me, what I’m seeing when we’re providing living water is we’re just creating a safe space Mhmm. For someone to know Jesus and not beating it down and not forcing it. It’s taken time, but it’s done authentically and genuinely. And to me, because I’ve seen it done in really great ways, and I’ve seen it really I’ve just seen it done in some yucky ways too.
Jackie Castelli [00:20:24]:
I’ve seen non-profits. Even though everyone is so beautiful with the mission, you can have a really great intention, but delivery is still delivery. And I just am really proud of the way that we come alongside them because to me, it’s the way Jesus came and met me in my own story. And he came to me through serving me and serve and and with his hands and feet. So just that part is is to me how we focus on the living water.
Your Personal Story
Kim Moeller [00:20:51]:
Oh, that’s beautiful. Okay. That’s a perfect segue. And now I want to go into more of your personal story because prior to the podcast, you talked about you have learned to love others well because you have been loved well. And that was, like, no simple task, no simple journey. But through that, God has really redeemed a lot of different parts of your own personal story and made it beautiful and made the beautiful Jackie that you are today that wouldn’t be here had you not gone through some really challenging circumstances in in your life. And all of us, right, listening and myself included, have had hard things that we have we have gone through. And yet I love you know, when I think of the 5 pillars of the Generous Girl podcast, today, what we really want to camp on is the aspect of faith and friendships.
Kim Moeller [00:21:44]:
And I think you really did a beautiful job of just expanding upon the faith side of things with your job. But I know friendships have been just key and pivotal for you, and you’re a San Diego, Orange County girl, but now living in Nashville along with half the state of California.
Jackie Castelli [00:22:04]:
Everyone stop moving here.
Kim Moeller [00:22:06]:
I’m sure. I just actually read about Austin. All these people had moved there, and then now, like, Oracle’s pulling out and Tesla. And so the home prices, you know, of course, they were totally inflated, and now people are trying to sell, not able to, you know, get what they thought they would. And so my apologies for any impact California has had on the state of Tennessee. Honestly, I love it. I just say I just say
Jackie Castelli [00:22:30]:
I was here first. I’ve been here for 8 years now.
Kim Moeller [00:22:33]:
Right. Yeah. That’s right.
Jackie Castelli [00:22:34]:
I’ve been here for I’m not one of them, but I love it. Some of my dear friends that I’ve known from being really young, and I never would have guessed that as adults, we would continue to do life together. And so it’s kind of a sweet new 2 point o of Yes. Like, I have a girlfriend from home that just moved here, and she has 3 kids now. And I just like, who would have thought that
Kim Moeller [00:22:56]:
Who would have thought? Right? Yeah. Right.
Jackie Castelli [00:22:58]:
Yeah. So
Kim Moeller [00:22:58]:
And my friend well and I had moved away from California then then moved back about 4 years ago and still have this, you know, group of friends that we raised our kids together just years ago, and now it feels like. But, you know, now we’re in, like, the 3 point o stage with, you know, kids having kids, and it just it’s so fascinating and wonderful, like, when people do know your history and they know your story, and then they just jump in, and it feels like no time has passed. And so last time we met, and and we’re all on this journey together, and friendships really family’s so key. And, again, that’s one of the pillars. Of course, all of us, you know, hold family dearly, whether it’s one relationship or many relationships. But the component of girlfriends and friendships, I can’t imagine doing life with without that because it’s so, like, they’re walking through that season that you are in with you, and they know you. So let’s have you unpack a little bit about, you know, like, that side of your story. How did you get to the point where now you feel like you can say that you’ve been loved well and that allows you to love others well? Because that’s generosity.
The Generous Girl
Kim Moeller [00:24:09]:
Right? I mean, we always talk about the generous girl and living a generous life. But I think when you have people that really are there for you and listen, it’s not about them, but they’re there meeting you where you’re at. Maybe it’s generosity of their time. Those people are so, so valuable. You cannot even put a price tag on a friendship like that.
Jackie Castelli [00:24:30]:
Yes. Yes. I I think that I was telling you earlier before we started recording, grew up in a a loving home, grew up in suburbia. I had really, really fun friendships. I had really beautiful friendships. And as I was getting older, I was just realizing that I think I valued quantity over quality. I think I value I didn’t know what I valued. I think I was boy crazy and loved being popular.
Jackie Castelli [00:25:04]:
I was a high school cheerleader. I was a troublemaker. I went to 4 different high schools, and I just was kind of a hot mess all over. And as I was as I was getting older
Kim Moeller [00:25:14]:
And look at you now.
Jackie Castelli [00:25:19]:
As I was getting older, I think one of the things that I was really learning was, okay, I have felt loads of rejection and loads of abandonment and so much insecurity. And even though I grew up with such beautiful friendships who made me feel like I fit in, I just wasn’t feeling like I fit in. And as I was getting older, I, I also, like, I had attended a lot of funerals, when I was in my early twenties while I’m having kind of this who am I, which as we do every 5, 10 years, who am I crisis, I was also going to a lot of funerals and I was losing people that I loved. I was losing people that really marked my life in one way or another. And then I was also losing people where the ones they left behind, watching someone else suffer and feel helpless, and I couldn’t do anything other than to just see them and love them and be there for them. Because you’ve learned you’re not gonna say the right thing and you’re not going to handle something the right way. And really what my early twenties taught me was I wanted to learn a life and live a life of ownership, of vulnerability. I liked myself, but I wanted to love myself.
Jackie Castelli [00:26:51]:
I was extremely passionate about a lot of things. I was emotive about a lot of things. And I was very active about a lot of things. But I had something to say, and I also felt like I felt the Lord was whispering beginnings of my calling of just seeing other people and loving others well. And I’m in my early twenties, so much loss, so much heartache, figuring out who I am, desiring for my identity to be activated. There’s nothing more that a young person wants than to know who they are and why why why they’re here. And as I’m figuring this out, it was becoming really lonely because I was, and not in a harmful way. I was just distancing myself from some people.
From OC to Tennessee
Jackie Castelli [00:27:43]:
I was also I’d grown a lot. And so I was born and raised in the same county for 29 years. I went to college there. I’d been all over the world. And I was learning new things about self, what I was good at, what I wasn’t good at, what I was insecure about, what I was passionate about. And so I felt the Lord just kind of whisper and, like, let’s hone it in. Let’s start learning about yourself, and let’s go to therapy. Let’s have some awareness.
Jackie Castelli [00:28:13]:
Let’s turn those emotions and those reactions and that passion. Let’s find your voice so it’s taken seriously and with respect. And while I’m going through that, like I said, it started to feel lonely. And I was questioning, you know, where do I fit in a community? Where do I fit in my church? Where do I fit? And the Lord just kinda stripped it all away, and it started with just propped my lap. You’re here. And then meeting friendships. That’s where I I’m bringing it to my girlfriends. And I started meeting new people who were in the messes of their life, and they were saying, this is, like, all I have is the Lord.
Doing Life Together
Jackie Castelli [00:28:59]:
And I started meeting people where, oh, we are all hurt people trying to love other people, but the only person we trust right now is Jesus. Mhmm. And we need to speak in to, like, we need to grab each other’s hands and walk their healing together because we’re meant to be doing life together.
Kim Moeller [00:29:20]:
Yes.
Jackie Castelli [00:29:20]:
And
Kim Moeller [00:29:21]:
And And it’s a both and, you know, because we totally need that reliance on the Lord, but he never designed it where we were just gonna be these lone rangers living our lives. So but the challenge, obviously, as you know, comes in with who can you trust. And when you’re a leader, sometimes those people feel far and few between
Jackie Castelli [00:29:42]:
Yes.
Kim Moeller [00:29:42]:
Who you can actually talk to. And that careful balance of, you know, finding those safe advisors, whether it’s your therapist, your pastor, but then that safe circle of girlfriends that you know that you they have your back. And if they say or you say to them, please, this is confidential. Keep this here. You know they will over their life.
Jackie Castelli [00:30:05]:
Yeah. And I really when I started beginning kind of these soul sister friendships, I realized that I desired I’m a wedding designer at this time, so I’m very creative. I care a lot about the way things look and feel. To be. Yes. So I I was forming this desire where I want to be and create safe havens. That has been something that anytime I’m going after a job or I feel called into a ministry or just how I serve my family or my friends or people. It’s in my being or creating a safe haven.
Jackie Castelli [00:30:48]:
And it was through really, 3 women back in Orange County that created and were safe havens for me. And when I realized how much I needed that in that exhale, finding healthy leadership, learning but where it started was me learning that it’s okay to say I don’t know. Mhmm. It’s okay to say I’m not okay. It’s okay to say I’m having a hard day. And it’s okay to say I really want to be better in these areas. I am struggling loving myself well right now, so I don’t know how to love others well right now. And my favorite friendships will tell me things that are they’re still if if if if you are still in my life today, it is because you will tell me something that I don’t wanna hear.
Jackie Castelli [00:31:40]:
You will not leave me before, during, or after you tell me. And you will also remind me that in the grief, there is joy. And in the joy, look how far you’ve come. Look how far we’ve come. And so that’s really just the activation of female friendships really began this safe space. But I had to get healthy to be there. Right? You attract. Sure.
Jackie Castelli [00:32:06]:
You are
Kim Moeller [00:32:07]:
you you know? That’s right.
Kim Moeller [00:32:09]:
That and that that power of that group of people around you, you wanted to be the right kind of people because you will become very similar to them. Yes. Mhmm.
Jackie Castelli [00:32:20]:
And I wanted to be around people that worked hard, played hard, inspired me, motivated me, asked God really hard questions. So I just did an inventory through the people around me and what I needed. And then it really started with, okay. Well, argue that. Like, you need to exceed that. And doing that for depression and doing that through anxiety and doing that through sadness was something that I’ve really struggled with. So to do something imperfectly around others who love you unconditionally was really activating for me. And it was it was then that really made me believe that it was because you go through seasons where you don’t feel like it’s possible to heal.
Jackie Castelli [00:33:10]:
Or you don’t feel like, impossible becomes your favorite word. And I knew I never wanted to become that. I loved God too much and I knew him too well to say the word impossible.
Kim Moeller [00:33:22]:
Mhmm.
Jackie Castelli [00:33:23]:
And so it was walking out of my shame while others were willing to walk with me in my shame was what taught me. It’s just feeling seen and known, and how that morphed into the work that I was doing. Because I kept coming home from these trips where people just didn’t feel seen or heard or known. And I especially, I remember so I while I was in Orange County for the 4 years before I left to before I left to go to Nashville, I served in a homeless ministry in close Mesa. And I became a lead where it was this check-in center where people experiencing homelessness would, they would drop at night, they would drop off their, like, their job interview clothes and their daytime stuff and then they would pull out of their lockers, their sleeping bags, and their tents and their nighttime stuff. And so for 4 years on Friday nights, I got to hang out with the homeless community. And I would ask them questions, and you could just tell they just wanted someone to talk to you. But I will never forget it.
Jackie Castelli [00:34:40]:
And this Like
Kim Moeller [00:34:40]:
you said, see them. To be seen.
Jackie Castelli [00:34:43]:
And I will never forget it. I asked somebody, what’s the hardest thing about being homeless? And he says, you’re invisible. Nobody makes eye contact with you. Nobody acknowledges you. And that changed my life in a way, even though I was so focused on serving locally and I was serving overseas in different ways, that became such tunnel vision for me because I have felt invisible. All of us feel invisible. I’m always looking for the common theme in what human beings experience because we meet each other. Like I said earlier, we meet each other.
Feeling Seen
Jackie Castelli [00:35:23]:
And so if we don’t know how to talk to each other or see each other, that we need to do that first. And it was the fact that a human being felt invisible. I was also seeing that in Guatemala. I was seeing that in El Salvador. I was seeing that in Africa. I was seeing that in Europe. Like, I was seeing that in our in our own you know, all over the United States. And it’s I’ve realized everyone’s problems feel so overwhelming in their own lives that they’re they can’t even look at someone experiencing something harder than them because it’s too much.
Jackie Castelli [00:36:01]:
We weren’t created to know all of the world’s problems all at once, But because of technology, we do. And so just that was something of, like, how I was going through in my twenties, figuring out who I am, asking the lord why I’m here, but also experiencing really beautiful healing in a small community, getting still getting rejected. I mean, the whole piece of this as well as I’m actually switching industries. I’m applying for jobs. I have this killer resume. I used to say, how hard is it to get a job in a nonprofit? Like, you know, and so I’m overqualified.
Kim Moeller [00:36:44]:
Hire me.
Jackie Castelli [00:36:45]:
So I’m but I’m experiencing rejection and neglect, and I’m experiencing relational loss. So I’m also, you know, I’m through a divorce. Like, I’m also experiencing just loss and rejection and not feeling seen and not feeling known. Mhmm. So much grief. But then just the extension of someone else seeing me, it that just clicked for me, and it just became my whole mission where whether it is my family going through something, me seeing them is can be generous. Me not making someone feel invisible is generous. Me knowing that just giving them $40 to an organization will change their life forever by providing clean water.
Jackie Castelli [00:37:34]:
Oh, and a bonus, Jesus Christ will also, like again, he’s already been there, but he’s also, like, gonna be activated through this ministry for them to find like, to meet him. Like, I could do that. Because once you know like, for me, I always say, like, once you see poverty or hear about poverty, like, you can’t unsee it and you can’t unhear it. And so it gets so overwhelming when when you feel the world’s problems, especially when your world feels like it’s a mess and it’s chaotic and it’s lonely and and impossible. And I’ve just learned that by being my authentic self, by acting like I don’t know everything, for showing up to whatever the Lord has for me in in each day to day, even if that might be different, and just being present with the assignments and calling that he’s asking me to show up to. That’s how I either am trying to see people, trying to know people, trying to give, or trying to activate. Because I’ve been so blessed by girlfriends that have done that for me. Cut to, I’m in Nashville, go went through a divorce, don’t know anyone, left my community, left my safe girlfriends and my soul sisters, ready to just embark on a bigger dream that was not going smoothly and it was not going overnight or happening overnight.
Jackie Castelli [00:39:09]:
And for me to just show up in this California hot mess of especially in the south, everyone has to have it all together and there’s the the stigma on the South alone. It’s real. It’s here. Like, you just feel inferior the minute you step off the plane. But there was something so beautiful in Nashville is there’s a lot of people that are not from here, and a lot of people have a lot of life, and they’ve lived a lot of life, and they’ve lived a lot of pain, and they’ve lived a lot of loneliness, and they lived a lot of sadness. And it was like just a bunch of freshmen showing up to their 1st day of college not
Kim Moeller [00:39:46]:
knowing what to do. Analogy. Mhmm.
Jackie Castelli [00:39:49]:
And that’s how I once I got permission from, hey. You’ll actually have it more together the more you accept that you don’t have it all together, then your people come. You attract there’s there’s there’s a safetiness. So anyways That
Kim Moeller [00:40:04]:
is my way too.
Jackie Castelli [00:40:05]:
Tangent of that. I am learning so much in therapy right now about humility versus the fear of humiliation. And when you walk in humility instead of walking being fearful of being humiliated, that is when your identity is activated, and that is when your true soul is seen and known. And I’ve been hurt by that, but it was so worth it to be learned how to be loved by that. And I will now say that the girlfriends that I have from home to the few friends that I have here, the way they have surrounded me and have activated me and have been, like, go for it. Go after the dreams. That why not mentality. Why can’t someone overcome poverty? Why can’t we end the water crisis? Why can’t someone, like, get over a grief and learn how to do both end of that grief and joy? Why can’t someone overcome the impossible? Why can’t someone have the their dreams come true? Whatever that may look like for them.
Why Not You?
Jackie Castelli [00:41:12]:
And just this I think it was Annie F. Downs. She said this, years ago about on her podcast where she was saying something about, you know, Lord, why me? And I loved what she said. She said, and then He told me, why not you? And so that’s, like, that aura that has just kind of loomed over me in hearing those words. I’ve gotten to create and step into friendships that have made me more in love with Jesus and human beings and life and love and why more than any other heart, has taken away has taken it away from me.
Kim Moeller [00:41:54]:
That’s so, so beautiful. And I love that you have intentionally taken responsibility for growing. And whether it is hiring the therapist or whether it’s memorizing being in a bible study, getting to know, you know, your pastoral staff, I think that we all carry that. Like, when we, let’s say, go to college and we think we’re gonna take certain classes, that’s fine. But if we don’t take responsibility for our overall, how are these classes gonna fit in our career and how are we growing as an individual? Like, it’s the same as our health. You know? Like, when we look at the pillar of that, and fitness, no one does that except for ourselves. So if we just decide to leave it off our list, it is not gonna happen. And so I love that God, like, gives us that responsibility and wants us to be balanced, wants us to grow, but He also gives us the charge and the directive of, like, you with my help, like, you need to take the necessary steps.
Kim Moeller [00:43:02]:
And sometimes it is just like that one thing, take that next step that’s ahead of you. And sometimes, obviously, there’s so many areas that we can focus on, and we wanna,
Kim Moeller [00:43:12]:
you know, grow in this area
Kim Moeller [00:43:13]:
and that area. And sometimes, I think I’ve heard the idea of just for 30 days. Like, think of one of those areas, whether it is spiritual or emotional or physical, financial. And just for 30 days, set one goal and make that be your focus. And it’s possible. And then you the 30 days or sometimes it’s 90, and then go to the next one. But sometimes it can be paralyzing and overwhelming. So I just I wanna commend you just for taking those steps.
Favorite Bible Verse, Book, and Bargain
Kim Moeller [00:43:44]:
And I I just thought you did a beautiful job of just sharing just you know, we talked about your organization at the beginning, and then we talked about your own personal journey with friendships. But just how the Lord brought the job that you have right now as you were still kind of growing, figuring out your own calling as it was, but yet putting together this real core element of noticing those who feel unseen and wanting them to be seen just as you felt unseen. And and we all feel unseen, you know, at times. So, I feel like we we could talk forever, but we’re already almost at time. So I wanna make sure that we wrap up with your favorite book you’re currently reading, a bible verse, and any recent bargain. And in terms of a bible verse, the one that kept coming to my mind as you were talking was just the verse about, you know, and the poor will always be with us. And I know with my global travel that I’ve done, you know, throughout my life, sometimes I can come back from those really challenging places in that 10:40 window and feel like I’m just carrying this whole huge heavy backpack of sorrow and the things I saw, and and I can’t solve it. And it feels totally sometimes I don’t wanna say debilitating, but you just feel like, wow.
Kim Moeller [00:45:06]:
I’m one life. It is so overwhelming. I went on this trip. Did I make a difference kinda thing that I really have to trust that the Lord had me on that trip, and so he wanted me to see what I saw. And now with the resources, with my talents, time, and treasure, what is he asking me to do with my one life that addresses what I saw? Because that’s really all that’s in my control in your control.
Jackie Castelli [00:45:28]:
1000%. I am a big Ryan Holiday fan. Do you know who that is? Yeah.
Kim Moeller [00:45:33]:
From Saddleback?
Jackie Castelli [00:45:36]:
No. But I do know him. Okay. Ryan Holiday is an author. He actually writes a lot of books about stoicism, so I always go in Jesus’ name because I really like his language. But, he talks about when it’s so overwhelming. You know, discipline is freedom. So when you don’t know what your next step is, it’s just chop wood and carry water.
Jackie Castelli [00:45:57]:
And so what I just wanna encourage you that when it does feel debilitating, chocolate carry water. And That’s good. I I love that stuff. Take the next step
Kim Moeller [00:46:06]:
as Elizabeth Elliot would always say.
Jackie Castelli [00:46:08]:
Mhmm. Yes.
Kim Moeller [00:46:08]:
Okay. What’s your favorite book?
Jackie Castelli [00:46:11]:
Okay. So oh, gosh. My favorite book? I would say right now that I just put down that has been rocking, and I a couple girlfriends and I, read it kind of in the same time. It’s by Marianne Williamson called The Power I think it’s The Power of Love. Have you heard of it?
Kim Moeller [00:46:31]:
No. Uh-uh.
Jackie Castelli [00:46:32]:
Return to Love. Return to Love.
Kim Moeller [00:46:36]:
Return to Love. Got it.
Jackie Castelli [00:46:37]:
By Mary Anne Williamson. It is all about love versus ego. And one of the things that is just rocking me is we all are either everything that we do, feel, say, it is either coming from a place of love or for a call to love. So it really helps you deconstruct and identify what’s your ego and what is the genuinely just the holy spirit within you. It rocked my world. I have told everyone about it. It gets a little boo boo towards the end. I’m not gonna lie.
Jackie Castelli [00:47:15]:
I stopped reading the chapter. But the language, it is just to detach from ego and to return to love and return
Kim Moeller [00:47:24]:
to what your motivation is. Mhmm.
Jackie Castelli [00:47:27]:
Oh, it’s so beautiful. So I absolutely love that book and I hope everyone reads it. It was I couldn’t put it down.
Kim Moeller [00:47:33]:
Okay. I will definitely add that to to the list.
Kim Moeller [00:47:36]:
And then what about bible verse?
Jackie Castelli [00:47:39]:
So my favorite bible verse that just again and again is just my just safe haven is Isaiah 464. And it is, I have made you. I have I will carry you. I will sustain you. I will rescue you. And no matter what I’m going through, no matter what I see someone else going through, it’s just been a promise that no matter Mhmm.
Kim Moeller [00:48:21]:
So good for you and for all the people that you see in these places. Mhmm. Mhmm. Okay. And finally, your bargain. Okay. Well, my daughter worked at Amazon many years, so I’m loyal also. No.
Kim Moeller [00:48:43]:
She doesn’t work there anymore. So good. No. Amazon is amazing. I was in a, like, UPS store, and now they have this, like, blue and yellow stand. And this girl is, like, returning all her clothes and doing her business and the it was just an Amazon place in the UPS store. I thought they are literally everywhere. Well, wow, I’m not surprised.
Kim Moeller [00:49:14]:
Well, you’re you’re amazing and love, the time with you. Love your story, love the redemptive side of how God has you know, he really wants you to be known as he wants each of us to be known. And so I want to just end by encouraging the listener. If you don’t feel seen, if you don’t feel known, like find a community locally. And if you don’t love the first community you find, like, look in another church and keep like, don’t give up, Don’t quit because those like minded women are there, and they will be alongside you in the journey. And it is so important to find people that we can do life together with and and live that generous life. So thanks for all that you do. Thanks for your role, your exposure of, you know, introducing donors to this world that they’re not accustomed necessarily to seeing and just taking the next step.
Kim Moeller [00:50:10]:
So I would love to meet you sometime in person in in Nashville or if you’re out here in California. Let me know.
Jackie Castelli [00:50:17]:
I’m gonna be in town next month. So we’re gonna stop. There we go. Alright.
Kim Moeller [00:50:20]:
Yeah. Alright. Well, god bless. Thanks so much, Jackie. Thank you.
Jackie Castelli [00:50:23]:
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So much for having me. Love talking to you.
Kim Moeller [00:50:26]:
You’re so welcome.
Kim Moeller [00:50:29]:
Thanks so much for joining us today on the Generous Grill podcast. We’re so glad that you’re here. And if you know of someone that you think needs to be a guest on this podcast, please reach out to us. New episodes are released every other week, and you can follow us on YouTube and on all platforms. Thanks for being here, and we’ll see you next time.
