Here we go!

Yesterday afternoon, we headed back to San Jose and finally after about 7 hours...we made it! Long trip, but fun. This morning, we will head to the ariport and wait for our flight at 1 PM...then a few hours later, we'll be in Orlando! :) Yesterday it was very difiicult to leave. Today the excitement of being on US soil (in a short little while) is setting in...and energy is high! Please pray for our flight today, that our luggage makes it to Orlando with us :) and for our drive from Orlando to Pensacola! Please pray for the next couple of weeks as we travel through the beautiful south!

I'll post as we have internet service and time permits!

My heart

God uprooted our family about three years ago and transplanted us to San Jose, Costa Rica. We struggled through learning a new language, being full-time students again years after college, adjusting to a new culture, and coping with being away from all we loved and new only to now be called missionaries, not having a clue what we were supposed to do.

Not too long ago, the Lord thought it time for us to sow seeds elsewhere. Five months later, my heart has been transformed.

Tonight, I give you a glimpse of part of what has transformed my heart:

sea snake

Today we went to our favorite beach here called Langosta for one more last swim in the Pacific before our stateside visit. While floating leisurely in the bath-like water of the shallow pool in this particular beach, Ethan, Isabelle, Matt and our friends Dave and Tamra saw a sea snake pass by. itself floating on top of the water.

Two snakes in three days in a bit much for me...maybe it is time for a little visit to the states ;)

Weekly Prayer requests

Below you'll find our weekly prayer requests sent out this morning. If you have always been on our email list, and did not receive this, please leave a comment here. We are both having major difficulties sending and receiving emails- we apologize for any inconvenance.


Dear friends,
Please join us in continuing to praise our God who provides! We received a wonderful blessing that has allowed us to purchase our return trip tickets to Costa Rica. We have booked our tickets in faith that God will continue to provide and that our time in the states will be fruitful and will reap a harvest of new financial partnerships.

Not only has God provided in the funds for our return, but also for every other need for this trip- He has provided! Our flight to the US, funds for a rental car (the cost of which way exceeded what we had anticipated, but God knew and provided for), gas money, a home to stay in while in IN, as well as a car to use while in IN, homes to stay in while traveling, even traveling expenses! God Provides! We will walk forward trusting Him who can and will and has done and will continue to do immeasurably more than anything we can ask or imagine!

Please pray for the new churches we will be visiting in Florida, northern Ohio, and southern Illinois. Please pray for the connections we will make with people in southern Georgia, as well as many other states we will be visiting. Please also pray for our time visiting current supporters. Pray for sweet fellowship and God to be glorified through our conversations. We know that God knows our needs and is already preparing the hearts of His people. Please pray in faith with us in Jesus name, for the new partnerships we believe He has planned for us with these new churches. Please pray for the churches we are still making arrangements with. Pray that God continues to direct us.

Please pray for our travel- Thursday, April 22 (leaving for San Jose) and this Friday, April 23 (flying to Orlando). After a 7 hour drive, we'll arrive at our first stop. Then on through 5 more states. Please pray for safety, protection from other drivers, no car trouble with the rental car and for sweet family time as we travel through the southern stats during one of the prettiest times of the year.

Please pray for our home and our pets while we are gone. Pray for our neighbors as they will be caring for both the house and our pets while during our trip.

Praise God for His amazing provision! God called us to Villareal without any clear understanding of the reasons, except that we were to make disciples. Now, five months later, we see fruit! We see disciples reproducing disciples! We see lives changed by the power of God's Word. We see about half of the members of First Baptist Church being discipled! We witnessed the Great Commission being taken seriously and the charge given in Calvary Chapel church to go out and make disciples. We sat in worship Sunday evening, and God gave us a glimpse of why He has called us here. Praise Him for His perfect vision, for His perfect plans, for His direction in our lives!

Praise God that Ronny will begin discipleship with Pastor Phil soon! Please join us in rejoicing for this answered prayer! Please pray specifically for Marcella and Carolina, two women who began discipleship last week with Brooke, but need a Spanish speaker to continue with them. Please pray that God raise up someone from the church to continue meeting with them.

Lastly, we have a personal prayer request. Often times, missionaries, pastors, church leaders are looked at as having all the answers and having things all figured out. While this may appear to be the case in some people's lives, it is not so in our case! We are learning as we go, relying on God, who is rich in mercy and love, and who through whose grace, we pray we reflect His glory. Sometimes, we lose track of each other and get on a crazy cycle in our marriage. We then have to stop and regroup. Sometimes, our children get shorted for our attention, due to our lack of putting what is most important first. Please pray for our continued sanctification; for our daily dying to self and to our own desires. Please pray specifically this week for Audrey as she is demonstrating some disturbing behavior the past week or so. It is most likely just a phase, but she has been acting aggressively with other kids, with her siblings and with Brooke. She has been having trouble listening and obeying and has been acting unkindly in certain sensitive situations. We understand the great need our children have for our family to remain solid, strong and true to the Word of God. Please pray for Audrey, as well as Ethan and Isabelle, during times when we are weak. Please pray for God's grace to be upon them and for it to cover all of our failures as parents. Pray for Audrey during this season in her life.

Thank you for praying for all these things, for rejoicing with us.


Serving Christ 'til He comes back,
Matt and Brooke :)

Check out our family blog:
www.costaricamcclains.blogspot.com

Check out our family website:
www.mcclainfamily4him.org

email issues

We are having major issues with our email- both Matt and I. We are not receiving all messages, nor are we able to send all. Please contact us through internet phone, leaving a comment here on the blog, or through facebook. We apologize if we have not responded to an email you have sent either of us. In these days and last few weeks of preparing for our stateside trip, we understand that the enemy wishes to foil any and all plans that might bring glory and honor to our KING. Please continue to pray against these attacks.

God's Provision

As you may know, God has reminded us recently of His provision- that He always provides! We cannot count the ways He has provided for our lives, but we have begun to journal and account for them in order to preserve a legacy of faith for our children.

Today, as I continue in my ongoing study of the women of the Bible, I began reading about the mothers of Moses, Jochbed and Pharaoh's daughter. I had read the story of Moses birth many times, had done Sunday School or VBS lessons about him in the past, but somehow, I had missed what to me is a very important line in his story. What to me is the key to God's provision in this story. The heart issue of how our obedience to God done in faith of His provision, results in His inconceivable blessing.

The birth of Moses is accounted in Exodus 2:1-10. Pharaoh had issued a decree that all Hebrew newborn baby boys be killed by the Hebrew midwives in attempt to control the population. God in His faithfulness, continued to multiply. So Pharaoh then commanded that all baby boys be thrown into the Nile River, but all girls may remain alive.

Jochbed, mother of Miriam and Aaron, had given birth to a boy who was now about three months old. She had hidden him as long as she could and so, in faith that God would protect him and provide for his life, as he had with the child Isaac, she placed him in a papyrus basket, sealed with tar and pitch, and placed the baby in the basket in the Nile. Miriam, the baby's older sister, ran along the river bank, watching as he floated along. Pharaoh's daughter saw the basket and had her servant go and fetch it. She opened it and found the baby and immediately knew she would keep him and raise him as her own. Miriam, the Hebrew slave girl, approached Pharaoh's daughter, and offered to find a Hebrew women to nurse the baby. Pharaoh's daughter said yes and Miriam ran and brought her mother back, the baby's own mother, and Pharaoh's daughter asked her to nurse and care for him and she would pay her for this service.

Exodus 2:7-10
"Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?
And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother.
And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give [thee] thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.
And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water."

I am ashamed to admit that I miss this key truth in this story for so many years, but am ever thankful for God's grace and through it, this morning the Word became alive and spoke to my heart in a new and profound way. For that, I praise Him this morning!

God, in His great wisdom, provided for Jochbed's son, for the baby Moses, for the Hebrew nation in that He planned and orchestrated the care and well-being of this baby. He blessed Jochbed in an unimaginable way as a direct result of her obedience and faith in Him.

Pharaoh's daughter did not allow just any nursemaid to care for this child, but his very own mother! What a blessing for Jochbed, who knew the stories of the father's of the faith, including when Abraham was obedient to God in even being willing to sacrifice Isaac. God provided another sacrificial lamb in place of Isaac, therefore preserving Abraham's lineage and the promises he had given Abraham.

Jochbed was given back her son, to nurse, care for and raise for the early, most formidable years of his life. How great is our God!

Be encouraged today, in the Great Provider, who cared enough about Jochbed, a Hebrew slave, to bless her faith and obedience, and cares about you today, to bless your faith and obedience to Him. Be faithful to Him who is rich in mercy and has a great love for you. (Ephesians 2:4-5)

creepy, crawly, slithering things...

As you know from previous posts, we live in a part of Costa Rica rich in its insect content, as well both its wild and slithering animal content.

I think I've done pretty well considering the barrage of varied insects that feel the need to co-habitate with me in my home.

This week though, we've had a number of incidents that I would have been just fine having never had experienced them.

Matt pulled down the suitcases so we could get them ready for our trip to the states. we had to decide which ones to take and then let them air out (it is really humid here and it is just good to do that before using them again). He had placed them on the bed in the morning and I did not get to them until that evening. The kids were watching a video before bed and Matt was gone to his discipleship groups. I went to open the first suitcase and I heard this buzzing noise. I grabbed the suitcase from the bed, not knowing what was in there, but feeling certain I needed to get that suitcase out of the house, I hollered "OPEN the door!!!" Immediately all three kids jumped up and them...all three of them FROZE! I ended up opening the door and throwing down the suitcase and began to weigh my options. The best option by far was to leave the suitcase there, walk to the door, go inside, close the door and leave the suitcase and its contents for Matt when he got home! :) But, I decided I could tackle it. So I carefully and calmly unzipped it and lifted back the lid and, as the sound of the buzzing continued to grow, what did my eyes find? A suitcase full of the largest flying ants I have ever seen! It was one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen! There must have been 1000 ants in that suitcase- huge wasp sized ants with large wings. They began flying all around. I ran in and grabbed the Mata Todo (Kills it all!) which, doesn't by the way, kill it all! I began spraying, trying not to ingest the fumes...and slowly but surely they began dying off and finally all were dead. After they were all dead, I left it open and on the porch, for my husband to clean out! :) Which he kindly did the nest day. What a yucky disgusting mess. It ended up being one huge nest. UUGGGHH!

About two weeks ago, Isabelle and Audrey were playing with Isabelle's tea set. They had these four little white balls- they looked like little eggs or oversized NERDS candy or something. I asked what they were and they said they didn't know. They had found them inside the basket that holds Isabelle's tea set. They were in one of the tea cups. Well, two of them were pinkish and two were blue. One of them fell as we were looking at them and cracked open . And a dead baby lizard fell out! They were lizard eggs! How a lizard got into this basket (it has a lid and a slide lock on it and was closed with the lock) and laid these eggs I have no idea. But one did. So, one baby died and it had been one of the blue eggs. So we decided to keep the others in a bowl and watch to see if they hatched. Well, a few days later, we saw the blue egg moving and so we all gathered around and eventually a baby lizard broke out of the egg! That was pretty cool! We let him go after watching him for a little bit, although Isabelle wanted to keep him! One other egg has gotten broken since then but now the final remaining egg is blue and looks to be ready to hatch any day now.

A few nights ago, Reina was barking so loudly I went outside to see what was going on. She will "alert" us to scorpions, spiders or other things that are crawling on the porch- she's good like that! ;) So, I go out there and see this HUGE beetle with these massive pincers on it. NASTY! I tried to smash it with a shoe and it didn't even phase it. I ended up repeating it about 50 times and it finally killed it. YUCK!

A few weeks ago now, I killed a baby scorpion in our sink! With a random kitchen knife and fork!

And tonight, the whopper of all experience happened! No kidding- this tops it all! Matt opened the front door to take the dogs some scraps and before he could even take the first step he saw something on the ground outside the door. He stepped over it before he realized it was a snake! It then slithered right on into our living room!!!! Ethan ran to get the machete, Matt calls for the broom and I in my ever-so-helpful nature jump on the nearest chair! :) Heeheehee...always ready to help! I did think to get the kids to close their bedroom doors so that it will not get into any of the rooms. All from my spot on the chair :) Matt grabbed the broom and swished it out the front door, which it did fairly quickly in its slithering kind of way. Eehhhh...eeewwwww......YUCK! Well, by the time Ethan found the machete and the flashlight and was outside, I decided it was safe to get down and ran to get the camera. Passed it off to Matt and back to the chair :) they were not able to catch it- it was too fast but they did get some pictures...trying to look it up...I sure hope it was not poisonous...

Really, snakes? Do they have to be here, too?

Update Baby Emma

From Emma's Caring Bridge update site:

"It's hard to believe we've already been home almost a week. Overall it has gone really quite well getting adjusted to Emma's schedule and having her home. The real test comes tomorrow when the boys come back from Iowa. I decided this week that to have only one baby is a piece of cake after the twins. I can't even imagine what having just one baby who's healthy would be like!

Emma really is a good baby which helps. She really only gets upset with dirty diapers and when she loses her pacifier. We had a rough night her first night home because she was pooping way too much and was just uncomfortable. That resolved by mid-week and she has been really happy since. It did take her a couple days to not get frightened when she woke up. I think she would forget where she was when she didn't see 4 yellow walls around her and a warmer above her. Now she really likes to play on her activity mat with her toys or just look around and watch what's going on around her when she is awake.

Feeds are going pretty well. We've got the quirks of the pump figured out and are still working on oral feeds during the day. I've only had one mishap with the pump feeds so far and of course it was in the middle of the night. She feeds continuously for 8 hours through the night but the bag and tubing has to be cleaned out and more formula added after 4. One night I didn't realize the medication port popped open when I re-inserted the feed line so formula pumped out into her blankets for an hour and half instead of going to her. Now we check the med port before hitting run on the pump every time=)

One of the biggest changes from the boys is that Emma actually sleeps 6-8 hours at night without waking up. It's so different than the 18 months we went being up a third of the night attending to one or both boys. I'm sure this won't last, but we'll take it while we can!

Hopefully the boys can come home tomorrow and we all get adjusted quickly. It will definitely be a change for them to have Mom, Dad, AND Emma home at the same time. I'm excited to see how they react to being big brothers all the time and not just for a few hours each weekend. (And also praying it's a long time before they think Emma needs to go for a ride in the back of their big dump truck!)"

Praise God!:)

God provides!

...a car for use for our family in Frankfort! Praise Jesus! Thank you for praying!

Prayer for special friends

Please pray today for special friends of ours, Mike and Sharon Druley. Mike has been diagnosed with cancer and it has been determined serious. Mike and Sharon are extremely strong prayer warriors for our family as well as for many others. Mike emails me every month and has done this consistently for as long as I can remember through our time in Costa Rica. PLEASE pray as they await the biopsy results, face the future, and determine course of action. Please pray for patience, wisdom, peace and courage as they move forward in faith, following the God that Provides.

Weekly Prayer Requests/Praises

Please join us in praising our God who provides!!!

Dear friends and family,
We write you this week to ask you to join us in praising God who provides, always and abundantly more than we could ever dream or imagine!

Praise God with us that we have been given the use of a large home during our stay in Frankfort. Praise God with us for this wonderful blessing for our family! Praise God for the way He plans and uses His people! Praise the God that provides!

Praise God with us for the ways in which He is providing for our financial needs. We are now able to purchase our return tickets to Costa Rica because of the generosity of God's people. Because of the willing obedience of God's people, we have received generous donations and formed new monthly partnerships that will help to ensure our ability to continue serving and ministering in Costa Rica. Praise the God that provides!

Praise God for several baptisms on Easter Sunday during the sunrise service for Calvary Chapel! Two women, a young teenager and our Isabelle were baptized during the service held on Tamarindo Beach. A husband and wife (Jorge and Marcella) met good friends of ours through a tragic event that took place right outside the hotel were they work. After several minutes of talking with our friends, Jorge and Marcella said they needed to be in church again and the next Sunday and each one since, they have been in church. Marcella's daughter accepted the Lord Palm Sunday and they were both baptized Easter Sunday. A woman named Maria was also baptized. She found her way to Calvary Chapel, where she found Pastor Phil. Maria wanted to end her life- she felt there was nothing to live for anymore. It was during her time talking with Pastor Phil and his wife Rebecca that Maria found the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE found only in Jesus Christ. She was baptized a few days later on Easter. We had had several conversations with our Isabelle about baptism and what it meant. She has told us several times she was ready to be baptized. The night before Easter Isabelle told Brooke she was ready and did not want to wait any more. She walked forward and Matt and Pastor Phil baptized her on Easter Sunday in the Pacific Ocean! Praise God for these public professions of faith and obedience. Praise God that both Maria and Marcella are beginning dicipleship. Please pray for God to provide someone to continue with Marcella, as Brooke will start with her this week, but will not be able to continue until we return from the states.

Praise God for providing our neighbors who will care for our home and our pets while we are gone. Please pray for our animals- we are really going to miss them and pray that they will be fine while we are gone. Please pray for Lucy as she continues to deal with skin irritations. Please pray for protection for the animals as well as for our home.

Please pray for our disciples while we are gone. Pray that they will continue in God's way and will not stray from His word.

Praise God with us for Helga, from Filadelfia. On March 10, a mission team was serving with First Baptist church and Pastor Nelson under the leadership of fellow CLF missionary, Ron Droke. The team walked the streets of Filadelfia sharing the gospel door-to-door. Members of this mission team knocked on Helga's door, in hopes of sharing the gospel with her. Helga came to the door and listened to the North Americans and then began to share her story. She had accepted the Lord only days before, alone in her home. But despair had overcome her in the days that followed and that very day, just before the knock came at her door, she had been standing in her kitchen holding a knife, ready to kill herself. She had learned that she had cancer and the pain and effects of the disease were physically and emotionally wearing her down. She wanted to end it all. Then the knock came at her door. God provides! Since that day, Pastor Nelson and Matt have followed up with Helga each week during their weekly discipleship groups in Filadelfia. When First Evangelical Presbyterian church came and served with us, the entire team visited with Helga and her family and prayed over her. Helga is fully aware of those of you who are praying for her in the United States. Last Friday, Helga reported that she no longer feels any pain from the cancer, she no longer feels the lump that was once in her chest and she feels like a new person! Helga truly believes she has been healed by the Lord. Even though she is still waiting for the results of the biopsy that was done over a month ago, she believes God has taken away her cancer. Please join us in praying for Helga!

Praise God that Ronny has committed to beginning discipleship with Matt. We shared a special time with them in their home last week, simply showing them Christ's love through a simple way we could help them. It was the first time they had invited us into their home and we sat and shared with them. Ronny opened up about his struggle and we shared that God is working in his life. Ronny said he understood this and could see it. This past Sunday, Ronny came to Calvary church, along with Dinora, and their two boys, and Elvita. Please pray with us for this family. Please continue to pray for Ronny's salvation, because he has not yet accepted the Lord. Please pray for this family while we are away. We know fully well that everything that has happened with this family has nothing to do with us- but everything to do with the Lord and His glory. But even so, we find it very hard to be leaving them in such a crucial time in their lives. Please pray for these friends that we dearly love.

Please continue to pray for our marriage. We've been going through a series of DVD's called Love and Respect together for some time now. These DVD's have helped us see what is actually happening when little things suddenly become big things between the two of us. We are beginning to understand how our words and actions are interpreted by the opposite spouse and therefore can build the other up or tear them down. Praise God for these DVD's that were lent to us. Please continue to pray for us as we continue to grow in our relationship with the Lord and as a couple.

Please pray for a vehicle for our family to use while in the Frankfort area the dates of May 9-June 15. God in his majesty, being the ultimate provider, already knows this need and has sent the response as we have asked him to provide.

Just got this WONDERFUL update about Baby Emma!


We are all in the Jeep going HOME! Of all days the interstate was completely backed up getting out of Milwaukee so Emma gets the scenic route for her first trip. So far she has been happy and is now taking a nap. Now if Walgreens shows up with all our formula and g-tube supplies we'll be in good shape to get settled in at home.


PRAISE THE LORD!!!! Please keep praying for this family and Emma's care at home :)

Please continue to pray for Baby Emma

We've been asking for prayer for Emma for about three months now. Emma is the granddaughter of our dear friends, Tim and Sue Wolfe. Emma was born with a severe heart defect and had an operation to repair and rebuild what was missing from her heart at three days old. She has been in Riley since her birth. Emma's older twin brother's both had their own share of difficulties when they were born three years ago. Her brother Caleb had a serious heart defect as an infant as well and had surgeries of his own as well. He is now doing well and bot he and his brother Tyler love their little sister Emma and can't wait for her to come home!

Emma was to be released from the hospital today (this was one of many release dates she has had) but will not be going home today. Please read her Caring Bridge update below and pray for this little baby and her family.

What a busy and somewhat chaotic week! Most of Monday was spent trying to get checklist items done or scheduled for later in the week and learning the in's and out's of the g-tube. Tuesday Emma had her scope to check her left vocal chord and the verdict is.... still not moving. The ENT said she is just a genius at compensating with her right. As long as her cry continues to stay this loud and she isn't developing further issues swallowing we do not need to follow up again for at least 6-12 months.

Tuesday evening I went home and picked up the boys and Grandma Cindy who came to stay at RMH until today. It's been an adventure for everyone. The boys had a little trouble listening and following directions and we were often finding ourselves chasing them in circles around the CICU or RMH. They really enjoyed spending some time with Emma and doing art therapy at RMH. It was nice to spend some time with them, but they had really worn out their welcome when I took them home tonight.

Now for the disappointing news of the week. Emma had her going home echo yesterday. There is a pressure difference across her aortic arch which is increased from her echo 6 weeks ago. Due to this she is going in tomorrow am for a catheterization to measure the pressures internally across the arch. The coarctation (narrowing of the aorta) they are seeing in the echo is in the area where her aorta was reconstructed and due to scar tissue. This is something that sometimes occurs after the Norwood and is nothing that was missed previously or could have been prevented. They will take images of the area and then decide whether or not they need to balloon the narrowed area. Emma would have needed a cath prior to her Glenn anyway which would have required coming back in for an overnight stay so this will also take care of that requirement.

We pray that if the docs do see a coarc that needs addressing tomorrow they are able to take care of it with the ballooning. I was told that 80% of the time this works. The alternative is repeating the Norwood and going in and rebuilding the aorta again. Needless to say we are not going home tomorrow. Now it is likely Sun-Mon. Sorry Heather you're going to have to put up with us for another weekend, but you might be the one who gets to finally kick us out :)

Sorry this is already a pretty long update today, but I ran across something this week as I was cleaning out our room that someone had given us during our stay and I wanted to share with everyone. I have read this before on other sites and I think it really helps give perspective on what our experience has been like having kids with heart defects.


"Welcome to Holland" By Emily Perl Kingsley

"I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this....

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills...and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss. But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ...about Holland."

Weekly Prayer requests

Below is our weekly prayer requests email sent out this morning. Please join us in rejoicing and praying.

Dear loved ones,
We write to you this week asking you to rejoice with us over several small things, but things we feel are answered prayers and therefore significant!

Yesterday in Brooke's discipleship group with Elvita, Ana, and Dinora, the ladies came to a very real understanding of how the Word of God acts as a double-edged sword, cutting out the sin in our lives and replacing it with the Word of God, living and active. Dinora's husband has been sober about two and a half weeks now. Dinora has the date noted in Lesson Two of the discipleship book when she began praying for him and his salvation. Yesterday, she realized that it had been only a little over ONE MONTH of praying specifically for him that Ronny quit drinking. During this time, she has begun to read her Bible daily, both alone and with him when he would. They are now reading it together every morning- one chapter a day- and Dinora finds herself drawn to the Word of God when she has down time. Little by little, these three ladies are coming to an understanding of the power of God working in their lives. Yesterday. Elvita burnt her youngest son's lunch because she was trying to finish reading a chapter of 2 Samuel and trying to fix his lunch at the same time! Please pray that God continues to reveal himself to them in unmistakable ways.

Also, yesterday, Elvita opened the group time in prayer. She has not been willing to pray in front of us since we started the group, which is totally her decision. Brooke has had many discussions about prayer and how to pray. Elvita was fearful that she would cry if she prayed, to which Brooke explained that the Holy Spirit works for us in prayer, praying with us, and praying for us. Many times, Brooke herself becomes overwhelmed with the presence of the Holy Spirit, with who God is, and what Jesus did for her while praying that she cries as well. It is normal and actually a beautiful and special moment to share with your Creator. Brooke had not asked her again however, although Ana and Dinora each week ask her. This week, again the other two ladies asked Elvita. Dinora said that before beginning discipleship, she had not prayed nor had she known how, but that Brooke told her how and now she does, all the time. She began to say, : Gracias, Senor..." and Elvita repeated it and then began praying on her own. It was one of the sweetest moments I have ever been privileged to be a part of. Elvita is 60 years old and yesterday was the first time she has ever prayed out loud with other believers. Praise you Jesus!!

Will you continue to join us in praying for this family. Continue to pray for the salvation of Alvaro and his two sons Marcos and Ronny. Continue to pray for their desire to be discipled. Please continue to pray for our deepening relationship with this family.

Thank you for paying!

Serving Christ 'til He comes back,
Matt and Brooke :)

So, I am soliciting help with an idea I had to take back small gifts to new churches and our supporters in the states. We are heading back in 3 weeks for a 6 weeks support raising furlough and we wanted to bring something significant of where we live in Costa Rica as a reminder of our ministry and our family.

This year, we wanted to take something with a beachy theme maybe using a little sand a few shells but am having trouble coming up with something that will travel well.

I would love any ideas that YOU ALL can come up!

(Sorry to ruin the surprise for those we will be visiting!) :)

Please leave a comment with your ideas! Thanks so much in advance!

April 2010 Prayer letter

Here is our April 2010 prayer letter. If you'd like to receive these letters in pdf form through email, please leave me a comment and we'll add you to our list. If you'd like to read them in richer font with pictures and graphics, please go to www.mcclainfamily4him.org and click on current newsletter.

Answered Prayer
It is with great joy that we write to you this month to share with you the ways in which God is answering specific prayer requests. We’ve asked you to pray many times for our neighbors, Dinora and Ronny. Ronny is an alcoholic and their relationship has been very strained since we have known them. Brooke has been discipling Dinora for two and a half months. Dinora constantly asks for prayer for Ronny to quit drinking. One week ago, the entire family was at a local fair and Ronny, who had been drinking, spoke with an acquaintance who advised him to quit drinking, go home and make things right with his wife. He later found his sister, Ana, who Brooke also disciples, and told her he needed to talk. The result of this night is the answered prayer of Ronny making the decision to take action to quit drinking and get his life right with the Lord. Ronny is now attending local Alcoholics Anonymous classes, has stopped drinking and has separated himself from his old ways and old friends. Yesterday in their discipleship time, Brooke, Dinora, Ana and Elvita discussed the absolute certainty of God’s hand in Ronny’s life. Not by chance, good luck, or coincidence has this change occurred in Ronny, but surely it is a response from the One True Almighty God. We ask you to pray specifically this month for Ronny to not only continue to go to the AA meetings, but to also give control of his life to our Lord Jesus and to seek Him. Please pray for Matt and this opportunity to begin discipleship with Ronny. Please pray for God to give Ronny the strength to resist the many temptations to turn to alcohol and drugs. Thank you for your prayers for this family!

FEPC Mission Team
What a joy it was to serve with our home church here in Villareal! The team brought special gifts for each of the disciples in the church groups as well as our own personal disciples and was able to spend time getting to know the leaders of both churches as well the members through special church dinners, visitation, the discipleship groups, and special activities, as well as time with a special family from Calvary Chapel. We shared a sweet time of worship and communion together as a church family, along with playing games, preparing food, and of course, the beach! We thank the Lord for sending FEPC and for the blessings they brought our family and Villareal. We thank God for you, FEPC!!!

Raising support
At the end of this month,, our family will be entering a time of furlough to raise support. Our level of support has dropped to below half of the monthly amount we need to continue living and serving here. We praise God that He has already sent the response to our prayers and we wait in faith for the response to arrive. We are seeing His hand at work as He opens doors for potential new partnerships. We currently have plans to fly to FL and then go through GA, TN, KY and IN. We will be also travelling to northern OH as well as southern IL. We do not yet know when we will return to Costa Rica, although we hope to be back by mid-June. Please pray for us to be able to return quickly to Costa Rica and continue ministry here. Pray for new partnerships. Pray for safety as we travelling. Pray for our home and pets to be protected while we are away.

Prayer
for protection from enemy attacks against our marriage
for the innocence of our children, especially Ethan as he grows into a young man
for us through times of discouragement and uncertainty
for our relationships with our disciples to grow stronger

Easter 2010

Praise the Lord! He is RISEN! Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday 2010. We enjoyed a beautiful sunrise service on Tamarindo Neach with Calvary Chapel church. It was such a special way to celebrate Easter and so awesome to see people come off of the beach, sit down or stand in the back listening and singing along. What an awesome witness, with the gospel going strongly out- complete boldness- JESUS LIVES!

We will never forget the day, as it held something very special for our family!
Isabelle made the decision to come forward and be baptized, publically declaring her faith and decision to follow Jesus.






Isabelle Adair, 8 years old, follower of Christ, baptized in the Pacific Ocean, Tamarindo, Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

God is so good!