Update on the Elijah McLamb

HI! I am heading for bed but I wanted to post an update in Elijah McLamb, the 8 month old baby I asked you for prayer for last week. He had surgery Saturday to correct a problem in his diapragm after he had a bought of pneumonia. His parents names are John and Jenny.

Well, we praise the Lord that Elijah came through the surgery well and is recuperatinig well at home! The doectors seem please and John and Jenny are basking in the blessings the Lord has poured out on them and their family!

I have been so blessed watching this couple walk through this. Jenny is in my Monday morning prayer group and she is such an encouragement to all those around her. Watching them walk through this situation with such grace and humility before the Lord has really strengthened me in a time when the enemy has been trying to attack in full force.

I praise you Lord for working in the lives of this family and for the blessing of healing on this little boy. I pray Father for continuned healing and recuperation and that you would use this in his life for your glory and honor and praise.


Thank you for your prayers.

Would you please pray for a friend of ours back in IN that has been seeking the Lord for quite some time and has come to the point in her life where she desires a relationship with the Lord and desires to be baptized. She has no church home and I pray for God to guide her to the family He has planned for her to grow and be loved and where her faith will be nurtured and she will be discipled. Please pray for our friend that she would allow God to speak to her in the way only He can and that those she loves and cares deeply for would also seek the Lord and call out to HIm and find Him and He would hear them and they too, would seek salvation in Him.

Thank you for praying.

Birthday Fun- Costa Rican style!

Hi all! I promised pictures of Marvin and Rogelio with eggs on their heads and I deliver! It was great fun Saturday as the kids lined up to adorn the heads of both pastors with eggs in traditional Costa Rican style! What great sports!

During Bible Club in Los Guido, a special luncheon was held for mothers of the children in the new discipleship group where some 35 plus children are being discipled. This luncheon was planned specifically to invite these moms who are new to the church to Sunday services, Tuesday prayer meetings and also to be part of a discipleship group themselves. Marvin shared the bridge illustration with the moms and all who attended accepted the free gift of salvation Jesus Christ offers that day! Several are interested in being part of a discipleship, as well. Praise the Lord for these new sisters in Christ!

We continue to pray for those in Los Guido and Tejarcillos that live in darkness every day, surrounded by evil and hate and abuse and violence. There are so many, who if only they were told about Jesus Christ and His endless mercy and grace and the gift He has for all of us, no matter who we are or where we come from or what kind of life we've lived before- if only they were told, they, too, may have their name written in the Book of Life.

God has brought us to this place for this reason and we continue to plug on in school for this reason. We know that God created us to serve people who have lived lives like those that live in Los Guido and Tejarcillos. We also realize that not everyone is willing (or possibly able) to go to places like these, but to us it is as if we have been uniquely created to be there and to be with these people who have become family. To us, they are beautiful, amazing lights in a world that is so very dark. Please continue to pray for us that we might never lose the vision God has given us to share the gospel and make disciples in Costa Rica. Please pray that our eyes would never become veiled to the beauty that lies in every person that the Lord has created and that we might be willing to always be poured out like wine for our brothers and sisters in Christ but also to those that might one day walk with us in internity.

Brooke :)

Top Reasons Why Isabelle loves Costa Rica

Hi!

I had a conversation this morning with Isabelle and she was discussing with me the following reasons she loves living in Costa Rica: (in no particular order)

1. She loves Costa Rica because there are beautiful butterflies here.

2. She loves Costa Rica because there are volcanoes here and we have never seen a volcano before!

3. Isabelle loves living in Costa Rica because when e moved here we got a new kitty, Cereal.

4. Isabelle loves her teacher, Miss Lauren!

5. Isabelle likes her Spanish teacher because she teaches here Spanish!

5. Isabelle likes Miss Mimi at her school (because she has the same name as her Mimi!!)

There were many more reasons why she said she loves living in Costa Rica...

Isn't God good? This discussion comes off a pretty tough week for her and I praise the Lord that He would grant my child the peace that comes with feelings like these about living in a new place where everything is soo very different from all that she was used to.

Despite a rough start to the week...all in all this was a good week. God is so good and we have felt His prescense this week.

Like I said, Isabelle had a few days this week that were pretty tough. After having had time to process it all we think she was experiencing culture shock. She didn't want to go to school a few days this week- and for those of you that know her- when she does not want to do something- she DOES NOT do it with out a fight. So, long story short, we were patient with her but also realized that this was an opportunity to allow God to work in her life. We also saw this as an opportunity to allow her the chance to see that when we allow Him to, God will give us the strength we need to accomplish anything in life.

So, back to the story. Tuesday morning when we dropped her off for school she was pretty clingy, but she went in to her class fine. I got called out of my class about mid-way through to come to the office because one of my daughters had a stomach ache. When I got to the office, Isabelle was there and she came up to me saying her stomach hurt. After staying with her for the rest of the morning, I realized what appeared to be a stomach ache were really feelings of missing us and just plain nervousness about learning Spanish. So, I got her to go back to her class and things were fine.

Wednesday was not really a great day either, but we worked through it and she spent about half of the day in class. After several conversations with her teachers and the principal and the director, we've decided to make a few changes and just keep trying to get her there.

After much prayer from us and many of our classmates and other students, she has decided that she actually loves school and really enjoys learning to speak Spanish!!!

Her and I spent several hours together at school for a couple days and she spent a lot of time with Matt Wednesday morning. Her and I prayed together several times and we asked God to give her the strength and courage she needed to go to school and learn Spanish. Matt and her read through Joshua 1:9 and he discussd with her how God gives just the right amount of stregth and courage at just the right time when we need it. It was such a special time of helping her realize that when it is really hard to do something and we just don;t think we can- GOD can. She learned a valuable lesson this week about how God enables us to do things that we think we cannot do and things that we think are impossible!

Thank you Lord Jesus for working in the life of my child!

Yo tengo sueno!!!!

OK. I was rereading the last post and realized I spoke about a picture of Audrey in it and well, there is no picture of Audrey there...I really should write these posts when I more awake then at 10:00 at night! But I don't see that changing anytime soon...so again I ask, please be patient with me!!! As if you aren't used to being that way with me!!!!!

Anyway, here is that other picture I was talking about...and a few more :)

One is of a beautiful sunset that Mark took and the other is of youth group on La Finca shortly after we arrived in CR. You can see Ethan and Matt helping Marvin out during the Bible trivia game.

We love you all!

Love,
Brooke :)

Please pray on Saturday for a couple that we are in school with. Their names are John and Jenny McLamb and they have three little boys. Their youngest is Elijah and he is having surgery Satuday to repair a defect in his diaphragm. God has used them and their faithfulness to Him tremendously in my life this week. PLease pray for protection for Elijah against infection before, during and after the surgery and for the Lord to guide the hands of the surgeon and just for God to be glorified in this situation, in their lives and through the life of little Elijah- he is 8 months old.

Juevos! Juevos! Juevos!

Hola! I only have a few minutes today but I thought I'd post a few pictures from two different birthday celebrations lately in Los Guido.

You may or may not have heard us talk about the Costa Rican tradition of breaking eggs on ones head for their birthday- not just any random amount of eggs- one egg for every year of the recipient's life!!! (That is why Ethan is so excited for my upcoming 30th birthday!!!) You might be thinkging, "Does she mean they crack eggs on your head on your birthday?" Yes, that is what I mean!!! Not eggs-actly (haha!) what you may have in mind for a fun thing to do anytime, let alone on your birthday, and it is a bit loco for a tradition, but it is what it is and we love taking part in it, let me admit!!! It is pretty much eggs-citing!!! OK, no more egg jokes- I know they stink like rotten eggs...

Anyway, the kids here LOVE this tradition and here are a few pictures I thought I'd share with you. I'll be posting more soon- this Saturday we celebrate Marvin and Rogelio's birthdays- that's ALOT of eggs!!!

You can see Audrey is thinking "Why does Ana have all those eggs on her head?" She spared Ana from the torture, but Isabelle and I couldn't resist!

And Matt, well, you can see that he definetly felt no sympathy for Valeria!!!

Anyway, have a great day!

Love,
Brooke :)

Hi! Let me first say that I really did spell check the last post, however, as goes the saying I've been using lately "My brain is so soggy from school, it sometimes just doesn't work outside those classrooms!" Anyway, all of you who are spelling checkers- just ignore the mistakes please!!!

So, the pictures are from outside our apartment. The one of the kids is on the first day of school! And yes- they just keep getting cuter! Moving hasn't changed that!!! :) The one with just Isabelle is the full view of our apartment and Mark and Meg's. Since we have the outside gate, the kids can play in the courtyard. They play soccer alot. We don't really have a yard, as you can see. But we also can open up the garage door and they can hang out in there and use bubbles or sidewalk chalk. It isn't perfect, but they don't seem to mind too much! The last picture is from a park nearby. It is very beautiful as you can see and pretty well kept up. There are several parks around us but this is the only one we've checked out so far. This weekend we found one with basketball goals and a soccer field that is nicer than the one at this park so we'll be checking it out soon. (No, we don't have a basketball- NO WAY could I have fit that into any of the suitcases, but the thought is nice!)

So, we've narrowed the names for "gatita" down. We've been calling her "Finca" influenced by La Finca in Los Guido- the land we are praying fervantly for that God has given us to use for the ministry. The name seems to work, although Audrey's choice of "Cereal" kind of fits her, too. So, we'll see :) Some of the other top choices from Audrey were (in no particular order): "Audrey" and "Dora". Yes, quite the creative one we have here...trying to name the cat after herself! I'm thinking she's thinking that would have been the perfect out every time she gets in trouble...but we vetoed that choice! Isabelle rang in there with "Belle" and "Princess" as you might guess from her...Melinda had lovingly been calling her "Norbit", which Ethan, Matt and I liked, but we were afraid we'd give her a complex...

So, for now she answers to Finca! And it will be a miracle if she survives Audrey. Her and Isabelle already have been "dancing" with her and I am waiting to see her carried around in one of their purses!

It was good timing for her to arrive in our family and she keeps us laughing, which is pretty important these days. We're thankful for her!

Back to school tomorrow!

Blessings,
Brooke :)

Please continue to pray for the ministry here as well as the ministry team. Near the end of the month, Alex Fine will be joining the team and will begin an intensive month long course (pray for him for that in itself- I'd hate to see what an "intensive course" is...) in October. God continues to bring workers into these ripe fields! The Price Family also will join us here mid December- pray for them as they continue to share what God is doing in CR and build partnerships in the States. But pray specifically that as a team, whether here in CR or back in the States, that we may keep our eyes on Jesus Christ, the author and perfector of our faith. The One who created us and made us who we are. The One who knows everything about us and yet still chose each one of us to call HIS.

It is because of Him that we are who we are today and that we do what we do!

Dios te Bendiga!

New addition :)

Hola! Como esta Ud.?

AHH! See we are learning something here in language school!!! We should be for all the hours...and I mean HOURS of homework we have every single day! You may wonder why we haven't posted in nearly a month...well, maybe because we are parents in an intense schooling situation and have three young children...I don't know...

We truly enjoy learning and really do see huge imrovements from when we even first arrived in Costa Rica a little over a month ago. Sometimes we are seeing week-to-week improvements. But, you really can pray for us because it is TOUGH to be in school again. For both Matt and I, our previous school experiences have not been fueled with much enthusiasm to learn. Now, some many years later, however, the Lord has lit a fire in both of our hearts and we desperately want to learn to speak the language. So, that is our motivation. But there are days when it is really tough, when we each have four hours of homework, the kids have homework, dinner to cook, showers to be taken...the list goes on and on.

Praise the Lord for our friend and house help, Lucia. She is from Los Guido, Costa Rica, which is where we are serving and comes to help us with household things, cooking, homework, caring for the kids while we study and just to spend time with us. She is fantastic and we love her! She comes three times a week and is a true blessing!

We are making friends at school (not in replacement of all of you...but what a blessing they are to us here) and we have even met several that are staying in Costa Rica- which is really great!

Today there have been many celebrations around the city and country because tomorrow is the Costan Rican Independance Day. It is just as big of deal as the Fourth of July. But a little more crazy...On Friday nights, I go to 2 discipleship groups with Mark and Meg. First, I go to Sector 5 to Ericka and Ana's, then I go with Meg to meet with Luz and Jorleni. Tonight, we get to Los Guido after being in traffic almost an hour (the trip is usually about 20 minutes) and there are no kids there except Ana. The others were required to stay at school for a parade throught the city. This was actually a requirement and part of their grade! So, they missed discipleship group and we headed off to see about the second group...same situation at the next one. So, back to San Francisco. The traffic was so intense- it always is but it was exceptionally so tonight. Then, we got behind the start of the parade in Desemaparados. Think the Olympic runners who carry the torch- that is what this part of the parade was like. So it takes us almost as long to get back home...Craziness...But that is part of life here...we're getting used to it.

You may have heard us mention once or twice about the random power outages or water outages that occur at no particular set intervals. This is also just part of third world living...Well, here's a neat memory I'll share with you...We took the kids to the McDonald's last night that is near our apartment. (BIG NEWS as part of this story- Matt drove there!!! We borrowed Meg's car and ventured out- He did great!!!) Anyway, I needed to study and we just needed to get out! So, the kids got Mickey D's and got to play in the playground while I studied and Matt watched. Just after I ordered (successfully obtaining the food that we desired - by-the-way!!!) and paid, the power goes out! What a crazy thing! They lock the doors because they cannot use the register, drink fountains, anything. So they chain off the entrance and lock the doors so no one else can get in. We eat in the dark! Maybe the humor of this doesn't pass through the airwaves (or however it is that the internet is transmitted) but to us it was so funny. The cool thing is how totally normal this all is beginning to feel! Praise you, Jesus!

All that to say, don't think we are not experiencing culture shock. It is very hard still to be away. I went to my first Wives Club meeting (every Mondays at school, wives meet to share prayer requests and pray for each other- and for all that know me you know this is something I'm totally into and totally LOVBE- praying with and for others!) Anyway, I totally cried- imagine that- ME crying! Can you believe it? I know, it is hard to believe. But anyway, I was just sharing how very hard it is to be away from all of you back there...to know that life continues on without us there and more so that you are not able to see our daily lives here and the great things God is doing in this place! Because He truly is sweeping through Costa Rica! But what encouragement I gleaned and was blessed with from this group of women. I look forward to every Monday with these new prayer warriors God has given me to share this stage of life with.

Well, it is late and I need to get some sleep (Actually, I am not sure I actually remember what that is- but I CAN tell you how to say it and conjugate it in present tense in Spanish!!!)

Anyway, our love flows to you all.

More importantly, may His love pour continually from us.

Love,
Brooke :)

PS: Thanks for all who have prayed for the recovery of my hand and for recovery from the sickness that has bombarded our household. A couple of weeks ago, I cut my habd while preparing dinner bad enough for 7 stitches and a trip to Clinica Biblica (ER). What a great experience!!! My hand is healing well, and I got the stitches out on Tuesday. Doctors orders for Matt to remain doing dishes for another week or so, though ;) And we have had a run of strep that started with Audrey, jumped to Ethan (actually tonscilitis with him), then passed to Isabelle and me. Pray now that it will not hit Matt. The symptoms are lingering with me, but the meds seem to help. No more fever or achiness...just a bad sore throat. So, thank you for your prayers!!!

AND: I almost forgot! The "new addition" in the title of this post? Melinda found a stray kitten today at school that had been dropped off outside the gate. She kept her close all day, but knew she couldn't keep her because she already has her own little kitty at hhome. So, she brought her by to show Mark and Meg and us and wondered if we might want her...It didn't really take much persuading- so, yes, we now have a teeny tiny little Tico 'gatita' living with us. She is adorable and has already proven to be Isabelle's kitty. Isabelle has decided that she should be the one to care for 'gatita' and has so far proven to be able to handle the responsibility! We'll see how the future days go...but for now- we'll keep the little sweetie. I'll post pictures soon :)