God Intervenes in Drive-By Shooting

When people hear of a drive-by shooting, they may envision a car of armed gang members looking to settle a score. But this was no ordinary drive-by shooting -- there was a drive by and there was a shooting, but that's where the similarities end.

On Friday, Feb. 28, 2014, Rafael Castro, staff pastor at Living Word Church (AG) in Orlando, Florida, was driving his 12-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, home after a visit to Sea World. Their casual conversation was suddenly interrupted by what Elizabeth describes as a loud "popping" sound.

"She felt something hit her arm, roll down into her lap, and then she picked it up," Elizabeth's mother, Esther, says. "When she looked down, there was bullet in her hand all while her arm was feeling a sharp pain."

What police would later discover was that as the pair drove down their street in the family's 2004 Pontiac Vibe, a neighbor had been showing a friend how to clean his SIG Sauer pistol in his garage -- but failed to remove the bullets from the gun. The gun fired and a .38-caliber bullet sped out of the garage door and into the street, penetrated the Castro's car door, and struck Elizabeth in the tricep (back of the upper arm).

Rafael, at first not realizing that his daughter had been shot, but knowing she was in distress, quickly drove the remaining short distance to their home, dialed 9-1-1, and began applying pressure to wound, wrapping his belt around the arm, and lifting it up to help slow down the bleeding.

"Elizabeth had been leaning on the armrest," says Esther, who is also the District Children Ministries director for the Florida Multicultural District. "She has very skinny arms, so we were so thankful that the bullet miraculously missed striking any bones or arteries."

As Esther, Rafael and a neighbor worked to get the bleeding slowed, the Castro's 8-year-old son, Andrew, began to pray over Elizabeth, loud and clear, in a way that would seem beyond his years, speaking in tongues and praying in the Spirit. "I heard him praying, and I just kept saying, 'Yes! Yes! Amen!' to all the things he was saying," Esther says.

But what Esther explains next still has officials baffled.

"The bullet went through Elizabeth's arm and through the body portion of her shirt, but stopped when it hit her abdomen skin -- just leaving a small nick," Esther says. "The police thought that perhaps the bullet had been slowed by hitting some steel reinforcement inside the door, but when we later checked with the mechanic that repaired the door, that wasn't the case."

The Castro family has another explanation.

"It was a miracle from God," Esther says. "He turned that bullet away."

While recovering in the hospital, Elizabeth was visited by a chaplain who had heard what had happened to her. He felt compelled by God to speak with her. "He gave her this amazing message and prayed over her, telling her how God had a great plan for her life," Esther says.

Since then, Elizabeth has reaffirmed her commitment to follow God's calling upon her life for missions and has pledged to go wherever God leads her. Earlier this year she received an invitation to go on a two-week mission trip to Dominican Republic and Haiti to minister to children, which she prayerfully accepted for this summer. Then recently she was invited to speak at a local weekend kids camp. "She is really on fire for the Lord," Esther says, "It is so neat to see her grow in her faith and stand for the Lord!"

Esther, who fell and broke her wrist while hurrying to help stop Elizabeth's bleeding, shares one last telling moment. "That Sunday, after going through such a traumatic event on Friday and Saturday, We were going to lay low and rest," she admits. "But it was Elizabeth who spoke up and said, 'Mom, we really need to go to church and thank the Lord for saving my life, we really do!'"

They went to church to worship together once again. It was a great decision.

Dan Van Veen

Dan Van Veen is news editor of AG News. Prior to transitioning to AG News in 2001, Van Veen served as managing editor of AG U.S. Missions American Horizon magazine for five years. He attends Central Assembly of God in Springfield, Missouri, where he and his wife, Lori, teach preschool Sunday School and 4- and 5-year-old Rainbows boys and girls on Wednesdays.