December 9, 2002

On November 6, 2003, after a time of witnessing, a group of King's Castle members, part of A/G World Missionaries Don and Terri Triplett's King's Castle program in El Salvador, were involved in a two-truck accident. Four people involved in the King's Castle program were killed and a number were hurt, some seriously.

Recently, "A/G News" received contact from the Tripletts. They included their five updates they had sent out to supporters. The letters communicate not only the heart of these "warriors of the faith," but how God has used this tragedy to reach the lost.

Following is the communication received from the Tripletts at "A/G News" in its entirety (some slight editing has been done for clarity):

Dan [Van Veen]/Isaac [Olivarez],

We are sorry that we haven't gotten back with anyone from the "Pentecostal Evangel" office about the accident with the King's Castle team. Don tried to call on Friday [December 6]. We were out of the country for a couple of weeks, and then we started PK [Pastors' Kids] Retreat last Monday with 640 PK children. This has been a busy week. We start our PK Youth Retreat on Monday, December 9th.

We are going to visit the injured Castle members on Monday. We haven't seen them since the first week of the accident. Don and I wrote several e-mail messages to our supporters during the first week of the ordeal. I thought I would write up a news release, but instead, I thought you could capture it best by reading what we wrote when it first happened.

Normally, the local newspaper never prints up anything positive about evangelicals. But this story caught their attention – to God be the glory. The writer covered it for 2 days with full-page pictures and articles about the people involved in the wreck. It was in the most read newspaper – "La Prensa Gráfica." The writer and the paramedics were so impressed by the young people. The continued praising God, even when they knew members of their team were killed and injured. Don was quoted in the second article since he preached at the funerals, but they don't mention his name.

If you still want to talk with us or hear another update, we would be glad to talk with you.

Thanks for your interest in these incredible warriors of the faith.

Blessings,
Don and Terri Triplett

First e-mail, November 7 (accident happened on November 6)

I was awakened this morning with an urgent call from Brother Angel, our guard at our King's Castle office, telling me that there had been a tragic accident involving 13 of our King's Castle Warriors, where four had been killed. One of them was Rev. Moisés Rivera, one of our beloved second year Master's Commission students. Moisés was serving our ministry as an Evangelist this year in the Sonsonate Zone and raising his funds to go to Ecuador as a Missionary Intern next year. Also, Rev. Abby Vega (one of our Master's Commission graduates) lost her sister Rebecca in the accident. One of the other girls that died, Rosibel Cruz, was a Pastor's kid (PK). Her dad was the presbyter for that zone – Brother Juan Cruz Sandoval. The other young man that died was Miguel Castillo, a member of the Castle team.

The other eight King's Castle Warriors are still in the hospital. Only two conscious, and one is in critical condition.

I am going to face all these grieving family members since Moisés had taken these kids to do a Castle Outreach yesterday evening, and on their way home the pickup they were riding in was rammed in the back by a small fruit truck. The pickup our team was riding in lost control and rolled over.

The wake will be tonight, and the funeral will be tomorrow. These are difficult times, but we are assured the Lord will bring triumph out of tragedy. I will fill you in on the details after the funeral. When tragedy strikes, you are the ones who lift up our arms in prayer, and we love you for it. Our hearts are heavy today as you can imagine.

I spent last weekend with Moisés at the Prayer Fortress. His hands were on the wall in the upper room where he had written his top prayer requests for his zone and his country, Ecuador. He prayed a long time and then came over to me and threw his arms around me and wept for the nations. He was such a prayer warrior, and I will always have the picture in my mind of him praying for hours for the country of Ecuador, which he had adopted as his mission field. His mom was a single mom and had raised him in a very poor home. In his earlier years, he was involved in a gang, but now his mom was very proud of him and what God was doing in his life. When Moisés became the Evangelist of Sonsonate this year, he brought the zone back to life, training new teams all over the zone. His teams of warriors could hear Jesus when he talked. They followed him and started a King's Castle A/G church in Armenia, they had fully self-supported TV and radio programs weekly, and they were training teams all over Sonsonate. In fact, last night they were visiting a church doing a program for them and arranging to train a New Castle team in the San Isidro church, one of the first churches we rebuilt after the earthquake last year.

Pray that God will get the glory for this. Pray for us to be able to comfort the families. Pray for God's healing touch for the eight in the hospital. Pray that souls will be saved at the funeral. Pray that all the logistics of the day will be done and that we will be able to make a difference. Pray for Ecuador and the needs that were in Moisés heart for that country. Pray for all the 500 Warriors of the Sonsonate Zone. Pray for the church Moisés was pastoring. Pray for Master's Commission. Pray for Guidance and Peace as the Holy Spirit speaks to us all about Eternity.

Thanks for standing with us today. Moisés had a favorite drama, and it was "I can only Imagine." Today, he is in the presence of the King of Kings and has no need to imagine heaven anymore. If he could only tell us what it is like in eternity, we would all want to join him in eternity. I know one thing for certain, soon I will be with him and you will, too, so let's make this life count so we can enter Heaven with no regrets.

Second Update

Don has called me several times giving me updates on the condition of the injured. Some are in surgery even as I write. A couple of them have pressure building up from their head injuries so they in surgery to relieve the pressure. We have no idea what the final outcome will be for them. It is very sad.

Don has visited all the hospitals. He went in to see Henry, one of the injured Castle Warriors, who was still unconscious. He told JC to just talk to him. Henry was his assistant in the zone. As he was talking to him, Henry came to. He couldn't open his eyes because of his injuries, but he could talk. He said, "I know some of them have died, but they won't tell me who they are. They should tell me. But I just want you to know. They were warriors; they were warriors."

Rosibel, the PK who died, has on her Club Castillo T-shirt and her diploma (from completing the Instituto de Guerrero cinto negro level) is in her casket. Moisés' mother wanted him to be buried in a suit. I'm sure if he could have decided he would have had on his Castle T-shirt. His Castle ID is beside him in the casket. Abbie's sister, Rebecca, was only 16. Abbie is being strong today, riding around with Don, and giving comfort to the injured in the hospital and comfort to their families. All the parents seem to be proud of the children, in spite of their sudden loss.

Please continue to pray. We will keep you informed.

Third Update

Yesterday, the "Prensa Gráfica," the local newspaper in El Salvador, ran a story on the accident that killed four King's Castle team members, including Moisés Rivera, the second year Master's Commission student who served as the Sonsonate zone evangelist.

The article tells where the accident occurred, identified the victims (Rebeca Esther Vega, age 16; Rosibel Cruz, age 27; Moisés Rivera Cáceres, age 25 – later Miguel Castillo died); and tried to piece together what happened.

Then there is a subtitle that reads, "Alabando al Señor en el dolor" (Praising the Lord in Pain).

Here is the translation of that part of the news article:

The group of young people, residents of the Colony Sensunapán, Sonsonate, had attended a religious service of preparation en San Isidro, Izalco.

There they had shared with other young people from other parts of western El Salvador. The majority of them were preparing to go on an evangelistic mission to Nicaragua.

At 9 p.m. that night the service ended, and they said goodbye to their religious brothers and boarded the pick up transporting them back to Sensunapán.

On their way they began to sing praise and worship songs. This was what was happening when the accident occurred.

Two young ladies died instantly, while the other wounded were in pain and bleeding. Even with this, they didn't stop singing.

A group of neighbors arrived to help the victims, and along with the police they helped transport them to the hospital in Sonsonate.

"It is incredible, but these young people (another died at the hospital) with fractures continued praising the Lord," said a paramedic. [End of story quote.]

Yesterday, all four were buried. Two are still in critical condition in the hospital. Please continue to pray for them and all the families.

Last night, the Bible School had their graduation banquet. This morning I'm leaving in a few minutes to attend the Bible school graduation. Moisés would have graduated this morning. The team is still planning to leave after graduation for the mission trip to Nicaragua. Please pray for them. Several from their team are missing, and they really miss them.

Fourth Update

When Rebecca's mom heard that her daughter had died in the accident a week ago tonight, her first response was, "Vida por Vida (Life for a Life)." At the funerals on Friday, we learned a lot about these amazing warriors.

Just before the four who died hopped on the back of the pick up, they prayed with the pastor's family in San Isidro. I thought it was just Moisés, but all four were there for that family. The two teen-age children of the pastor had been living in rebellion. This caused marital pressure for the pastor and his wife. Moisés prayed with the pastor, Rebecca prayed with his wife, Rosibel (the PK) prayed with their daughter, and Miguel prayed with their son. As the rest hollered at them to hurry to the truck, they spent their last moments ministering to a hurting family. That family will never forget them.

I had a picture of Moisés that I enlarged and framed for his mom. When I brought it to the wake Thursday night, she just hugged on it. Don brought her a flag of Ecuador, which they draped over his casket. He already had his support raised to go there as a missionary. Master's Commission did the dramas, "Is There a Heaven for Me?" and "Thank you." They brought his mom to the platform and sang "Thank You" to her. They hugged on her and she hugged on them. When they buried Moisés, the Master's Commission students laid a signed Castle T-shirt across his casket.

I thought this group was going on their mission's trip last Saturday. Only Master's Commission left on Saturday to minister in Guatemala. All the warriors are planning a mission's trip to Nicaragua to work with the Miskito Indians in just about 2 weeks. The injured are telling everyone that they are still going.

Some of our team went to visit the wounded ones last night. Lucy is the only one left in the hospital. Her shoulder and arm were crushed. Another young man lost his memory, and they aren't sure about his head injuries yet. They are running more tests on him. Another girl, who is recuperating at home, was literally skinned from her shoulders down to her legs. She can only lie on her stomach. Mario Moran asked her how she was doing. She raised her arm up and said, "I'm going forward with the banner of the Lord held high!"

Most of the young people on the team attended the same church. We heard that the church had a powerful service on Sunday morning after the accident. The pastor gave an altar call, and all the youth ran forward.

We all are wondering, "Why?" We don't have answers. But a common response from the warriors who work with Castillo del Rey is, "I'd gladly die for Christ – Vida por Vida!"

Final Update. Sent Thursday, December 5

A lot of people have been asking about the young people injured in the wreck a few weeks ago. Here is an update on the injured:

One of the girls, Lucy, had surgery on her shoulder. She is now at home recuperating. Six of the injured had head injuries and were given brain scans. All but one is okay now. The one young man, Heber, is a brand new Christian. He has regained consciousness and is responding, but he still has no speech because of all the swelling on the brain. He needs a miracle.

Each of the students are in counseling to handle their grief. Henry, the Castle regional director, needs new teeth because his teeth broke out of his mouth in the wreck. Cecelia, the girl who scrapped her back, also broke out some teeth and one tooth bent back inside her mouth. She will need braces and caps on the broken teeth. She has an infection in her mouth because of the damage and is still on antibiotics. She was the one when asked how she was doing, raised her hand up and said, "Going forward with the flag of Jesus Christ held high." A dentist in their local church is doing the dental work for them.

JC, the supervisor for the Sonsonate zone, said that the local secular radio station, 97.3, is raising money for all the team. The team was doing a radio program on 97.3, and the week of the accident they were going to start a TV program.

Just three members of their Castle teams went in their honor to Nicaragua for the missions trip, but none of the ones in the accident were able to go. The three members weren't in the wreck.

We are going to honor the team at the national King's Castle vigilia (all night prayer meeting) on December 13. Don is preaching. We are bringing all the students in that were in the wreck, and they are going to testify and do a drama during Don's message.

Please continue to pray for them and the four families who lost their children.

Master's Commission is in their week of prayer at the Prayer Fortress right now. Last Saturday night when they began their week, Don showed us the writing on the wall in the upper room where he had last prayed with Moisés, the weekend before he was killed. When people go into the upper room to pray, they write many of their requests on the walls. Moisés had written on the wall, "Pray for success on radio 97.3." He also had prayer requests for his missions year in Ecuador, prayer for his family, prayer for his zone and prayer for the King's Castle church he had started and was pastoring in Sonsonate.

Don and Terri Triplett
King's Castle Ministries

Assemblies of God News & Information Service, (c) 2002

Web site: http://www.kingscastle.org/