Recent happenings

We've started back up with Potter's Field Kids after summer vacation. School has started and after several changes in enrollment, schol schedules and therefore, our schedule, we finally feel like we have things figured out. We have 31 students so far and have room for two more, and we are trusting that the Lord knows who those two are.

I was sick all last week with a stomach bug, then almost lost my voice due to a cough and I suppose, just over-exerting my voice with the kids all week! :)

The unseen battle rages strongly these days, which is comforting knowing that we surely are in the will of God...we are learning how to give thanks in all things, the good and the bad. It is a wonderful journey.

Some random thoughts about the past couple of weeks...

As I said, the battle not seen rages strongly these days, and when it attacks our kids, it is never easy. We are thankful for our three awesome children and thankful for the opportunity to serve here with them. They are such a huge part of McClain Family 4 Him...it is not just Matt and I on the front lines, they are too. And as they serve too, they are learning valuable lessons and growing their faith. We are thankful that tought times lead to amazing, special conversations between us and our kids.

Audrey has been especially witty these days...several times she has kept me laughing. She is sharp and her peronality continues to show itself and develop the older she gets. She is doing well in PFK and I am looking forward to watching her grow this year, especially in her interactions with other kids and in her Spanish.

Isabelle is loving her math, memorizing her verses, and 'teaching' Audrey lately. Isabelle looks through some of the extra books we have around that have and that I use for reinforcement for the girls and she prepares 'lessons' for Audrey. They have built a tent in the backyard with the help of our neighbor, Doña Elvita, and have been spending almost all their free time in it. Isabelle teaches Audrey there. She also loves helping Matt with the English class and preparing games for different days of the week. She's trying to learn to play the guitar, also!

Ethan has been reading alot lately. He just finished Journey to the Center of the Earth and he really enjoyed it. He likes things that work his mind and he continues to build with his Legos. He has great ideas for other creations and really dreams of working for Lego sometime! He is growing and changing and some days it is completely unfathomable to me how he has grown. He will be 11 in a few months! How can that be?

When I was sick las tweek, I missed church. That never happens. I don't think I have missed church for being sick since we'vve lived here. The girls told me all about everything when they got home that night and they also told me that they had prayed for me on the way home that night! Melt.my.heart!

As I said, there was a change in the school schedule this year. We found out about it last Saturday. We started Club Monday. The school director added an hour to the school day this year. So that measn that the afternoon session will not get out of school until 5:40 pm  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. There are two sessions of school each day here. One week, a student will go to the morning session all week. The following week, the same student will go to school during the afternoon session. It has always been difficult to wrok around when we have discipled youth her. However last year, we had no problem with PFK, since we started at 4:30 and the afternoon session was out at 4:20 pm everyday. This year, however, it   chnaged eerything for us, as Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were all to be days when we were running the ministry. We started Club on Monday and had about 30 kids. Not bad but we were missing half of the PFK kids, as well as half of the kids from Club last year. They were all in the afternoon session of school. About 10 - 15 kids came in about 15 minutes before we ended Club that day, in their uniforms, as they had come straight from school!

We have ultimately decided to change the day of Club and have two groups of Potter's Field. Group A comes to PFK the week they have morning classes and to Bible Club, which is now on Thursdays. When Group A has afternoon classes they can come only to Bible Club that week and have the rest of the week off.  Group B comes when they are in morning classes and when they are in the afternoon, they will be part of Thursday Club. At first the solution didn't seem like much of one...but we gave thanks to the Lord and are seeing the benefits after the first week of this schedule. We had a wonderful week with the first half of the kids and it was about the perfect amount to work with each night. We have Michaela and Sarah, two PFM interns and their help is so needed and appreciated and we have a coupld ladies from the church helping out. We had the three of us (Don Victor, Matt and I), and about three others each night and it was just the right amount of help and hands. I am so looking forward to this next week and seeing the second half of the kids!

Here are a few pics of PFK and of other random things from our lives...

Gustavo

English class

tutoring time

English class...sorry it is so fuzzy

Spanish class for the English speaking girls :)

learning to write

Tamarindo sunset

School time

School time

Audrey Ann

Happy Birthday Sofia!

Izzy and Audrey's tent

Inside the tent

Izzy's guitar lesson

Fiery red sunset this week
 (no special setting on this- the sun was literally a bright red ball in the sky as it set that night)

a day at the beach with some super special kids

LOCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Multitudes on Monday

I'm finding it harder to find time to blog these days. I have found that during my blogging years, times like these come...where it is harder and harder to find time to sit down uninterrupted to write. And other times come where I have ample time. In all times, I thank you for your grace and continued reading.

I missed last week's Multitudes on Monday, but I have not stopped counting. Admittedly, it has been a week full of enemy attacks, as the battle never ceases to be fierce, but God's grace is never ending and I take joy in His mercies anew every day!

Today's gifts:
#292 scriptures that wash peace
#293 hearing testimony of grace and joy in the lives of others
#294 being able to help a friend
#295 reading to my girls at night
#296 Audrey wanting her Daddy to read to her
#297 Ethan and Izzy giggles
#298 God-directed Bible study at the exact time it was needed for a hurting family
#299 listening to Matt read Narnia books to the kids
#300 Isabelle and Audrey telling me they had prayed that i'd feel better
#301 the privilege of prayer
#302 Bible Club :)
#303 kids coming straight from school to catch even just a few minutes of Bible Club
#304 giggles and laughs from all three kids
#305The Holy Spirit's healing power
#306 little girl tents
#307 surprise notes from Izzy after she'd done the dishes for me :)

Oh...and PS: yesterday I was sick and couldn't go to church. While at home, I tried to take my temperature...I got the thermometer and turned it on and it immediately started taking a temperature - mind you I was sitting directly in front of the fan. But the temperature kept bumping up- to 91.8! It was 5:30 in the afternoon and I was directly in front of the fan and the temperature in our house was 91.8!

Walking the hills of Villarreal

Finca Jerusalén

Los guilas

un día en la playa - Tamarindo Beach

Henry doing handstands

Cindy and Isa

Mateo y Brooke y los guilas (Matt and brooke and the kiddos)

Noelia, José and Henry

Hector, Leibi, and Cindy

Please pray for this special family...Noelia, Henry and Jose returned to Nicaragua and most likely will not be returning to Costa Rica. Leibi and her children are facing having to return as well, or at least having to move from Villarreal very soon, if not this week.

Please pray for this special family- as they are a big part of not just our ministry here, but also our lives. We will miss Noelia and her boys deeply, as well as Leibi and her children if they must leave as well.

Happy Birthday, Mimi!!!

Happy Birthday Mimi!!!

Tamarindo sunset a week or so ago...

We love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What If I Stumble?

Old school DC Talk

The truth remains...He is always there...despite the stumble, despite the fall. His love will never change.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg6HedZ4xGs

Multitudes on Monday

My heart overflows today as I ponder God's infinite grace. The Lord really spoke to me this week on so many levels and yet all about the same thing- His un-ending grace and love for me...and my desperate need for it.

As the Lord ushers in His joy in my life and continues to shower me with His grace, there are times when I see small beginnings of change. I feel it in deep inside. I hear it as it unexpectedly comes out in my words.

And there are times when I fail and it must appear as if I am learning nothing except how to fall. There are days when this stopping, remembering to look heavenward, and to give thanks, becomes too much- those times when I walk in my flesh. It is in those times I wonder, and I ask the Lord- When will my life reflect Luke 9:23?

I've been listening to the song, "What if I Stumble?" by DC Talk alot this past week or so and I just keep meditating on the lyrics and several scriptures the Lord has given me in recent days.

Is this one for the people? Is this one for the Lord?


Or do I simply serenade for things I must afford?

You can jumble them together, my conflict still remains

Holiness is calling, in the midst of courting fame

Cause I see the trust in their eyes

Though the sky is falling

They need Your love in their lives

Compromise is calling

I've been reflecting on Jeremiah 17:9, 10: "The heart is decetiful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind."

and also, "Therefore let him who thinks he stands alone take heed lest he fall." 1 Corinthians 10:12

The truth is there is a battle that rages inside me- that exists between the Living, Breathing, Holy Spirit of God who resides in me, whose ways are not mine...and the dirty, selfish, desires of my flesh who resist the beautiful surrender that needs to happen in order for me to grow and be transformed, renewed by the work of the Spirit.

The truth is that my heart is deceitful, but often I listen to it and ignore the Spirit. The truth is I often succumb to pride, sometimes so very willingly, thinking better of myself and so little of others.

I can't understand it. I don't want to fight the battle, because I know I will fail. I have failed. every. single. day.

Holiness is calling, in the midst of courting flame...

And so my heart screams...

What if I stumble, what if I fall?


What if I lose my step and I make fools of us all?

Will the love continue when my walk becomes a crawl?

What if I stumble, and what if I fall?

The question is not really "what if" but "when?"

And here is the truth in the words of the song...

I hear You whispering my name [You say]


"My love for You will never change" [never change]

Un-ending grace. Spirit-filled. JOY.

Looking to HIM first. Giving thanks. always.

My heart a mess. Broken. Just the way things should be.

Still counting...

#216 a day so good, full of work and play, I fall asleep the minute I lay my head on the pillow
#217 "HUGS Blessings"
#218 delivering school uniforms
#219 thankfulness from moms and kids for uniforms- the chance to go to school
#220 hugs and kisses in thanks (Henry, Cindy, Jose, Hector)
#221 boy, freshly showered, waiting, hands in lap, for his new school uniform (Joel)
#222 girl, despite being sick with a fever, jumping up and down with joy because of our visit and her new uniform (Keilin)
#223 the miracle of multiplication- God stretching the offering for uniforms to allow some 13 more children to be helped
#224 girl movie night- "Hello, Mr. Darcy!"
#225 swimming in the ocean with my girls
#226 Michaela and Sarah :)
#227 arepas :)
#228 playing hard and sleeping good
#229 manta rays in the ocean- WOW!
#230 worshipping in Spirit and in Truth
#231 girl movie night 2...(5 hour A&E version of Pride and Prejudice ROCKS!!!)
#232 the gifts of the Spirit
#233 young kids brought together studying God's Word
#234 surprise return of Karina and Hellen- nightime reunion and sweet, sweet hugs!
#235 never-ending grace
#236 encouragement from godly women- email and blogs- from all over the world

...still counting...watching grace grow...

February Prayer Letter

Below you'll find our February Prayer letter.

Cast your burden on the Lord and he shall sustain you.” Psalm 55:22

Potter’s Field Kids (Las Manos del Alfarero)

Praise God with us for His provision and for Potter’s Field Ministries, who work to find and provide resources for the ongoing ministries around the world! We are thrilled to announce that PFM has sent us two interns to serve in the ministry and church here for the next two months! We are excited to introduce to you Sarah and Michaela . They already have been busy working on several projects and behind the scenes preparation work, as well as serving in several ministry connections with Calvary Chapel Villarreal. They have served four months in practical field training and biblical study at the Potter’s Field Ranch in Montana. We look forward to seeing what God has planned for their time here and are blessed and thankful for their service.

We have been preparing for the start of this year’s Potter’s Field Kids program and Bible Club for weeks and are excited to begin. We will be studying through Genesis 1-11 this year in both PFK and Bible Club. We are excited to have a solid curriculum that will provide a rock-steady foundation and establish a biblical world-view for the children in Villarreal. Please pray for the 33 children we will have in PFK this year. Pray for God to open their hearts to His Word. Please pray for those children who were regulars to Bible Club last year to return. Pray for them to become strong faithful followers of Jesus. Please pray for us as we prepare and study God’s Word in order to teach the children. Pray for us to always be guided by the Holy Spirit and for Him to speak through us. Pray that we be united in vision and in mission as a team. Please pray for us as we finalize both the Bible Club and discipleship curriculum as well as the English curriculum to use in PFK. Pray for good time management, that we never stop praying through all things, and always give our burdens to the Lord and allow him to show us what we need to do and only what He can do. If you’d like to pray for a specific child or become more involved in this ministry, please contact us. For more about PFK go to www.pottersfield.org.

We ‘d like to thank our home church, First Evangelical Presbyterian, Rossville Presbyterian Church, and a special family we met in language school, as well as individuals, for generous donations that have enabled us to purchase a uniform for every child from last year’s PFK program as well as other children from the church. None of the mothers expected such a gift and all were filled with such joy and smiles lit their faces when we shared with them the blessing the Lord had provided. Praise God for this answered prayer and provision! Praise God for the FEPC mission team currently organizing a school supply drive and who will deliver these supplies when they come in March! Praise God for His mighty provision for the children of Villarreal!

We want to thank those of you who contacted us to let us know you are praying for us. The McClain Family Prayer team is growing and we give thanks to the Lord for each one of you. We feel your prayers and see their effect in our daily lives. If you’d like to join in praying for us more specifically and more regularly, please contact us! Please pray this month specifically for our marriage and for consistent, quality time as a family .


We are thankful for our prayer and financial partners. Please make checks payable to:


Shepherd’s Staff Mission Facilitators, PO Box 53640, Albuquerque, NM, 87153-3640

Please include our missionary account #4208 on all checks or correspondence

If you'd like to receive these monthly updates by email please contact us by email or leave a comment on this post.