Picture Post

These first few are the neighborhood cows that roam the streets. One of the biggest differences we have noticed between the dry season here in Guanacaste from the dry season in San Jose is how very, very dry everything is here- so dry that everything has turned brown and is dying off. One of the most fascinating things however, is that there are certain plants and fruits, like the mango that bloom and become ripe in this dry season. This is good for us because we have a mango tree from which we are blessed to receive its fruit every morning!

But any way, back to the cows: these cows come meandering down our road in search of something green on which to munch. This particular day they wandered into the field behind our house. It was interesting watching them and that day there were geese traveling with them. They went wherever the cows went- it was quite a sight.













Here is Izzy with her pup :)


Isabelle and Audrey playing tea party one day



Audrey and Reina


I took these pictures of this beautiful sunset from our front porch one evening.






Typical homeschool morning. Ethan and Isabelle looking at National Geographic for Kids magazines...





Ethan working on Math


Audrey standing on the boogie board


Fluffy clouds


Our sweet son


Father and son (see Izzy's new beach umbrella in the background?)


Future surfer :)

Happy 8th Birthday, Isabelle!!

Today, Isabelle turns 8! I know I say this every year, and probably will continue to say it...but where does the time go?

I remember waking up about 2:30 AM 8 years ago, knowing it was time to go to the hospital. I was ready in a few minutes, had called my mom to come and stay with Ethan, and she had gotten there. I remember sitting in the chair in the living room breathing through a contraction and my mom asking me where Matt was. So I wobbled back to see what he was doing and he was in the bathroom shaving! :) He wasn't quite sure it was time... :)

We got to the hospital about 3:30 and get all checked in and I finally get up to a room, get an epidural right away and she was born at 6:45 AM :)

Today it is her day...food she likes, things she would like to do, and chocolate cake with chocolate icing tonight :)

This morning she asked for french toast for breakfast and then she asked to go to the beach- we rarely get to the beach during the week and maybe only one time during in the morning. We usually go on Saturdays in the afternoon. So this was fun. She had asked for a beach umbrella for her birthday so she could have shade and take a nap at the beach if she wanted. (They do have umbrellas and chairs to rent but we never pay to do that). We found a rainbow swim cap and got that, too, along with a few goodies that we usually would not buy from the grocery store.

(Sidenote: you know you are a missionary when you do your child's birthday present shopping in the grocery store!)

For lunch she asked for pizza, so I made homemade pizza and tonight for supper she asked for chicken and noodles. Then we are having a few friends over for cake and ice cream. She has hardly stopped smiling all day long. Right now she is watching a movie while she rests.

Isabelle Adair McClain, Happy 8th Birthday! We are so glad God made you and gave you to us and even more so that you love Jesus!

Here are a few pictures of the day...

Weekly Prayer requests

Here is our weekly email prayer requests.

If you would like to be added to this list and receive email updates, please leave me a comment on this post with your email address and I'll gladly add you! :)

Dear Prayer warriors,

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

We write this week with three urgent prayer requests and we ask you to go before Lord with us about these three things:

1. Please pray specifically for the funding needed for the First Evangelical Presbyterian Church mission team that will be coming to serve with us on March 20 - 27. This is our home church and we are so excited to see them. Please pray as they wrap up details on their end and for Jehova Jireh to meet all needs of this trip.

2. Please pray for us on our end as we work hard to coordinate schedules with two churches, arrange food purchasing, menus and cooking with two different teams of cooks. Please pray as we are, for God's love, mercy and grace be poured out upon the people of Villareal and Filadelfia while the team is here. Pray as the next two weeks go quickly by for God to open the hearts of the people in Villareal to accept His free gift of salvation. Pray for the special events where the team will learn the culture of Costa Rica, especially that of Guanacaste. Pray that not only will the team be enriched through an entire day of culture learning, but the people we love (who the team will be spending the day with) will be enriched as well.

3. We have an urgent need and a call to fervent prayer for our financial support. We are at an all time low and truth be told, we are looking at taking an undetermined time of furlough until funds increase. We do NOT feel that God is through with us here in Villareal, however, we cannot support our family living here any longer without an increase in monthly support in the form of more committed monthly supporters. We are asking for prayer for wisdom, guidance, our faith to be increased, and for the Lord of lords to provide for our needs so we do not have to be away any longer than necessary from the harvest field which he has sent us to. Please pray against spiritual discouragement.

Would you like to partner with us financially?
The quickest and easiest way is to go to www.christianlightfoundation.com and click "Online giving." There you will find instructions on how to give from the website of our sending agency.

Would you like to visit with us while we are back in the states on our furlough in May to discuss future partnerships with you, your family or your church? Would you like for our family to share at a gathering in your home or in your church? Please contact us at mateomcclain07@aol.com or anastasiamcclain@aol.com

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us through email or by phone through our Vonage phone number which is a US phone number that reaches rings to us here in Costa Rica: 765-807-5063.

We trust that God WILL provide and truth be told, He always has. We believe in Jesus' Name that He will make our paths straight. Please join us in praying and believing in the King of kings to do great things.

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

Please continue to pray for Baby Emma

t seems that Emma has a few good days, then has a little setback...and so she goes a few steps forward and then several back. It is just taking her so long to heal because she loses so much ground on these setbacks. Please keep praying for this precious little girl. Also please pray for her older brothers, Tyler and Caleb, too. Caleb now has an ear infection (as you can read below) and this will be tough for Mom and Dad as well. Please pray for their parents, Chris and Steph.

Here is the latest Caring Bridge update:

It's been a long couple of days. Caleb has yet another ear infection. That 3rd set of tubes might be becoming more of a reality than just speculation. He still has another month or so to prove he doesn't need them, but this is his 3rd antibiotic for ear infections in 2 months. His body seems to like having ear tubes as much as he likes coumadin. His INR results were still low and we had to up his dosage AGAIN. One of these days it seems like he's going to be on so much he's going to bruise if you touch him! After not getting much sleep all week and with him waking up a lot Thursday night I was too tired to write last night. I had good intentions of posting an update this morning, but just when you think things are moving down the path they should be you get thrown a curve ball.

Emma ended the week showing improvement with feeds. She had taken her maximum of 29cc from Angie and even took 25cc from Chris last night. We had a great plan from talking with Angie yesterday to continue working with Emma throughout the weekend in hopes of getting her to eat around 30cc at every feed in order to delay the decision of a g-tube. But then last night Emma's diapers starting having blood in them. After 3 progressively worse diapers we had the doctors analyze them. They did an xray about 10 and decided that she should not be fed any longer. An IV was put in her foot and she was put on IV fluid to see if the xray would look better this morning.

The morning xray did look better, but another team was called in for consult. They said the xray was definitely abnormal and recommended stopping all feeds and switching any meds that could be to IV for a week. Her intestines are irritated and could possibly be due to taking aspirin and/or the 27cal formula. We may never know the true culprit for the irritation. Unfortunately TPN and lipids cannot be given through the IV put in her foot last night so the decision was made to have another PICC line put in. The radiology team does not regularly work weekends so a team had to be called in to put the line in. Luckily for Emma the procedure was quick and she did well through it. She seemed happy tonight to see all the little blinking green lights again on the IV pumps.

It's disappointing see a PICC line have to go back in after just getting it out Monday. However she was acting tonight like she wanted a bottle and not just her pacifier so maybe she will do really well eating once she gets to again in a week. Until then we just go back to waiting, this time for her intestines to heal and then see what new surprises the coming week will bring.

Thank you for praying for this family.

Restoration

The following is a story of trash to treasure:

Recently, we were given an old bookcase found by a friend in our neighborhood. It came to us in pretty bad shape, but with a little TLC and a few coats of paint, we thought it would be perfect for our school room.





Lots of old, yucky paint to chip away. Then, much sanding will need to be done to make a smooth finish.

After assessing the situation and discovering the beauty and potential that existed in this old, thrown-out bookshelf, the crew went to work.







First the wiping down, getting off all the dust and grime. Then the chipping away- this part is by far the most difficult. Pretty cute, crew, though, huh? :)

Then, the clean-up begins of the mess left behind...


Then follows a period of rest, in which time a choice color of paint is found (Hot Dog Blue to be exact!!)

And the beautiful painting begins...










And now this once piece of trash is now a restored treasure for our family to hold our small library of books for homeschool and personal enjoyment.

This may seem like a simple project for a dad and his kids, but for me it has much greater significance.

I know what trash I have been. I know the layers of old yucky grime that needs to be stripped away. I can see the mess that I leave behind.

And yet day in and day out, I have a loving, kind, compassionate Father that loves me. He has washed me clean once and for all, with the death of His Son on a cross over two thousand years ago.

And today, he chisels away at my core, getting rid of the junk that has crept in since that initial washing 11 years ago this month. He chips and chips and then He rests. He prepares me for the paint- the beautiful paint that is part of a picture so big it is beyond my imagination, but not His.

There are many examples in the Bible of Jesus restoring health in the sick, sight in the blind, life in the dead, and physical abilities in the disabled.

In my life, Jesus Christ has restored me from dead to living. Daily, as I decide to follow Christ, deny myself of my fleshly desires, die to these desires and live for Him, and demonstrate my devotion to Him through these things, He restores me, He changes me, He carves away at me and forms me into who He created me to be.

As this bookshelf is an example of a piece of trash restored; I am an example of a worthless life restored. In Jesus Christ I have become priceless, yet bought for a price far too high.

May you search your life, seek your Restorer today, and become restored.

March 2010 Prayer letter

Below you'll find the text to our March 2010 prayer letter. If you'd like to receive these by email with pictures and more, please email contact me and I'll add you to our list.

If you'd like to view the newsletter with pictures, please click on our family website:

School uniforms
We praise the Lord for a generous offering from Hickory Grove Church to purchase school uniforms for children from both Calvary Chapel and First Baptist churches. Every child in first grade through high school received school supplies during Sunday School as well. We are thankful for special offerings that meet real needs in tangible ways. Thank you!

First Evangelical Presbyterian Church Mission Team
“And these things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” 2 Timothy 2:2

Please be in prayer for the FEPC Mission team from our home church this month. Please pray that the result of the evangelistic efforts would be much fruit in the form of disciples who make disciples. Please pray for God to open the hearts of the lost in Villareal. Pray that these new believers become disciples who go on to teach others. We are so very excited to experience our first team, enjoy their fellowship and see God work through them here in Villareal.

Seeking New Partnerships
Please pray for new partnerships with churches for our ministry to continue and grow here in Costa Rica. We are asking God to allow us to form partnerships with churches of current supporters, as well as new churches and will be contacting many soon, in faith, that God will lead us to even more fruitful partnerships. We will be traveling to the states in May 2010 and are seeking families with which we can share as well as churches to visit. Would you like for us to visit/partner with your church or family ? Please contact us soon!! You can call us at the US number listed below and we will receive your call in Costa Rica! You can also call us on Skype or email us at either of the addresses listed below.

Please pray specifically this month:
Families separated, struggling, and broken due to alcoholism and drug abuse.
Pray that as the church leaders finish book 1 of the discipleship series, they’ll take seriously the command to go and make disciples and repeat this process with new believers and others in the church who have never received discipleship.
Pray for the disciples in Filadelfia to heed that same command and be spurred on to make disciples as they near completion of the first book also.
Pray for Dinora and Ronny, our neighbors. Please pray that Dinora would trust in the strength of the Lord. Pray that Ronny would allow Dinora to continue to come to church with us. Pray for God’s Holy Word to be alive and active for Dinora and for her to receive freedom from the years of following Catholic traditions.
Please pray against times of discouragement in our lives.
Please continue to pray for our marriage.

Cutting down a tree- life lesson

This morning we stopped all 'formal' book school to watch what for me was a real life lesson, and I hope it was for our kids, also. As I type, each of us are sitting in our own space re-telling the story with pictures and in our own words.

Here is my version of the story...later I'll post their stories :)

We were finishing up breakfast and we heard something going on outside so we went out to see what it was. There was a small group of guys gathered around the old dead tree in front of our house. One man had already climbed up the tree and was being passed a chain saw as we began to watch this drama unfold.

I went to grab the camera, and breakfast now forgotten, we all pulled out chairs and sat down to watch. the kids ran to grab their nature notebooks (I love my kids :] ) and started drawing pictures.

I tried to capture everything in pictures.

So, one baefoot man in the tree, makeshift rope pulley to raise and lower chainsaw to man in tree. Wooden 7 rung ladder to get up in tree, extra rope to use as needed to help hold chainsaw in tree and four or five guys down below to catch falling parts of tree and assist in pulling down limbs as they break loose.

I'll let the pictures tell the story for a few minutes. What a fascinating site!





























































Now, I know many of you might say, "Brooke, how can you possibly make a lesson out of watching a tree being cut down?"

Well, the truth is this plain and simple...We let too much of ordinary life pass by without allowing the time to talk about what we saw, to process the event, to look at it through the eyes of our Creator. Too much time is wasted on our personal entertainment (ie: watching tv, playing ,
video games, etc) and we simply have forgotten to take time to watch the birds, talk to our neighbors, learn about the simple things, like how do you cut down a tree. I believe firmly in giving my kids the opportunity to grow and learn from every day experiences. I love that in homeschooling I can do that. I have decided that school is not and should not be all about preparing for a test, taking the test and then moving on to something else. I believe much more is learned from watching, processing, listening, writing down (taking notes), and re-telling what happened. I also believe much can be learned and processed through historical fiction books. We read so much in our school days, some fun things and some more serious things. But all of it we write down notes, talk it through, and then re-tell either through drawings, copywork or re-telling through narration or story telling through writing.

I'll be 32 years old in a few weeks and I have never seen anyone cut down a tree like this before. I think I've only seen a tree being cut once or twice before actually, but it was the city cutting the tree down. It was a really cool experience to watch. How easy it would have been to say, "Nope, gotta forge through this lesson." and miss the whole experience. Or to say, "This is wasted time. Come on kids let's go." I truly believe they learned something and it gave us the opportunity to have a memory together that I've never had before.

Both Ethan and Isabelle have documented the event by writing the story in their own words and drawing a picture, which I will share in separate posts following this one.

What we all found fascinating was how the man cutting stopped and pondered each cut before he made it. He moved around the tree as if he was walking on the ground. He was very graceful and had amazing balance. We all commented on how he had to think through each cut in order to ensure a space to lean on or to use for footing for the next cut. It was really interesting.

After he had cut all the large branches and only the trunk remained, he sat for a moment to rest on the trunk. I am sure he must have been exhausted. Our neighbor, Elvita hollered over that he needed a picture to remember the moment. Then, she saw all of us sitting on our porch and told me I should take a picture. So, I walked to the gate and told him to give me his best smile and snapped a photo.
Then, I came inside and printed off a couple sheets of pictures and we all walked over and gave them to him and met the group of men.

The man's name that cut down the tree is Sirvio (Sear-vee-oh) and another man thee helping to drag the logs away was named Elias (El- ee-us). We stood and talked with him for a few minutes and gave him the pictures. I am not sure he's ever had a picture like that before. He had a huge smile on his face! We asked him why he was cutting the tree down. He said that it was a dead tree and it was dangerous for it to remain there because it could fall on a child or a woman or any person for that matter. He did not want anything like that to happen, so they made the decision to cut it down. He's been sutting trees down since he was very young he said.

Labe: orphaned at 5, mother to 12, forever a daughter of the King

Today begins the first of what I hope to be an ongoing series on the lives of the different people we serve here in Villareal. We've decided to make a concentrated effort to visit those in discipleship with us, as well as those in the church who have impacted us greatly. We desire this to be a ministry for our whole family, as we will pray for the families we visit throughout the week and work on a small gift (something handmade, cooked, or drawn by a member of our family to take to them when we visit.

Yesterday, we began this new aspect of our ministry as a family. We visited with Labe ("Lay-bee") and her family. Labe and her family are Nicaraguan immigrants living in a small wooden home. Labe and her six brothers and sisters were orphaned when Labe was about 5 years old. Labe's dad got sick and when her mother realized that her dad might not get any better, her mom split, leaving the kids with a sick dad and no one else to care for them. Her dad did recover from the illness, but became depressed that his wife had left him and abandoned the children and began a life of drugs and alcohol. Labe's oldest sibling was about 13 when this happened. They had no place to go so they would wander to a friends house and play for a while, and then just hang out there until they were told they needed to move on. This is the life they lead for many years.

Labe became pregnant with her first child at 13. She went on to have 5 more children with this man. At some point, she made her way to Costa Rica with her children to find work. She stayed in Cost Rica for some time and then went back to Nicaragua. She met a man along the way, and has had six more children with him. He lives with her and his name is Hector. Labe's oldest child is about 27 and her youngest is a seven month old baby boy. Labe is about 41 years old.

Labe lives with her husband and six of her children, including one grown daughter, Noeheli. Noeheli has two children of her own that live with her as well as the father of her two boys.

Eleven people in a home about the size of one of your bathrooms. They live in a beautiful area, surrounded by fruit trees, open fields and beautiful vegetation of Costa Rica. But they rent the lot their house is on. They own all of the materials of their home, but not the land their home is on.

In the city of San Jose, the land not owned privately is owned by the government. A person has squatter's rights to a piece of land after they have had a residence on it for 90 days. What we've discovered living here, is that most land has an owner and therefore those squatter's rights are not applicable. For this reason, land is coveted and expensive to purchase, as more and more buyers from more developed countries continue to migrate to this area and build more and more expensive homes that are used for a fraction of the year.

Labe and her family are facing homelessness in the future because their landlord is right now marking off lots of the property Labe and her family live on to sell. The owner told Labe the sale price was "Very, very expensive."

If there is one thing we have learned from working and serving the poor, it is that those who are truly destitute, who lack basic resources, who live the best they can using their little resources to make the best life they, often are the most content, happiest, and fulfilled people.

The flip-side to that is those who are desperately poor, have little resources, but the world and the desires of the flesh have gotten ahold of them and they use their resources in ways that do not meet their basic needs, but do meet their material wants. They often seek more and more from others around them who they believe have what they too want. They never seem content.

Either way, the poverty of their lives is evident, it is real, it is unmistakable.

We've seen both sides to the story. We've prayed though difficult times with people whom we love who live both ways. Neither one is easy. No matter what, is is devastating to see the depths of poverty that exist in the world.

This isn't a post on they way to live, decisions you should make, or how to use the resources you have been given. Although we are called to live holy, pleasing lives and are called to use our resources in a manner glorifying to God.

Labe is one of those truly humble people who works hard to provide for her family in the best way she can. She always has a smile on her face, and I'm not joking- always! She works almost every day from about 3 PM until about 1 AM. She also cleans the church every week with her family, without ever seeking any recognition from anyone. She is content with her life, despite literally having nothing. She is not worried about where they will go if their lot is sold- she said she trusts in the Lord.

Her family (her bothers and sisters) no longer keep in touch. In fact, she does not know where some are living now it has been so long since she last talked with them. There was a hint of something missing from her life in her voice as she told me that. The same as when she spoke of her parents. Yet, the Lord has magnified her joy in her life with the blessing of her children. She admitted to me that her life has been a hard one, yet the joy she has in her life from the blessings of a big family are unmistakable.

I know what my thoughts would be if I were living Labe's life. I know my flesh. I get tired and worn down with three children (whom I love with all my heart...). I have the blessing of a husband who loves me and cares for me and loves our kids and helps me in life. Labe has had twelve children - a physical feat in itself. But emotionally, something I am sure I am not strong enough. Labe's husband has no steady job.

We had a wonderful visit with Labe, Noeheli, her boys, and some of the kids. School started here about two weeks ago, but Labe's daughters Vanessa and Josselyn have not yet started because they have no teacher yet for their grades. They were hoping to be able to start today because they had been told that a teacher was being sent from San Jose. Even though it is no fault of their own or any other student, each student is responsible to make up the work they have missed these last two weeks (and for however much longer it is until a teacher is found). There is no system of ending the year a little later (as in the snow day system of the states). The curriculum is not adjusted to make up for this lost time- the student simply has to learn what would have been covered, despite not having been properly taught the material.

We were able to help this family with school supplies this year thanks to the offering we received for school supplies. Praise the Lord!

It is an honor to serve the Lord with this family and to be part of the family of God with them. I have learned much from Labe already and am sure that my learning from her example will continue.

Please pray for Labe and Noehli and their families this week.