October news about our mission to Guatemala with Rocsana's Hope.

ISSUE NO. 2 | October 2018

... and my heart is breaking! Try to picture this and then I believe you will understand what I mean. You are a little girl and your daddy is doing everything he can to make ends meet. Then one day something happens, and he dies. There is no life insurance, savings account or government assistance and you and your family are thrust into complete poverty. Your mom starts bringing in any man she can find so that the rent can be paid and a little food can be put on the table. You yearn and pray for another daddy but all that comes are “monsters”. You are forced to work like a slave instead of being able to go to school or play with your friends and are beaten if you don’t work hard enough or don’t collect enough money begging from the people on the street. You are abused by these “monsters” in your home every day, physically, mentally and sexually for years.

Then, when you are twelve years old, it is found out what is happening and some strange people come to your door and take you away from your home and family. You are taken to a strange place with a lot of other kids. Strangers there tell you that everything is going to be alright now and you don’t have to be afraid anymore. What is going on? Where is my momma? Can I believe these strangers? Can I trust them? What kind of monsters are they going to be?

You are very scared at first, but you begin to see that they aren’t lying to you, they aren’t monsters at all. They feed you and provide for you, give you new clothes and shoes to wear, they show you what true love is and really care about you. You finally get to start school, what you have always dreamed about. You start to experience what it’s like to be a kid, going to school, playing with your friends and having a safe and loving home. There is hope…

Several years go by and while you are so grateful for everything that has been done for you, you become accustomed to it. You have become accustomed to three meals a day, clean clothes and good shoes, a safe place to sleep at night, all your needs taken care of by loving people and being able to go to school. But then one day, you are told that you are going to have to leave, everything is going to stop, you are going to lose it all and your hope is shattered, all because you have turned a certain age. It doesn’t matter that you weren’t able to start school at the right age so that now you only have a 6^th grade elementary education, it doesn’t matter that you have no one else you can turn to for help, none of that matters, because the rule is that once you turn 18 you have to leave and no more support will be given to you.

How terrified are you? How desperate do you feel? How will you finish your education? What are you going to do? How will you survive? Where will you live? How long before you are forced into the same situation as your mother or worse? How much hope for the future do you have now?

I can’t tell you how many girls in Guatemala have this exact story or something very similar to it right now. Way too many… I think of my own beautiful daughter, Nikki, and I can’t bear it. What if this would have happened to her? It breaks my heart to think of it, it brings tears to my eyes and actually makes me feel nauseous!

When Stan shared with me the vision the Lord had given him about starting Rocsana’s Hope this realization came to me and it is a driving force for me! Now that I have been over there and have met some of the girls and seen the situation first hand, it’s stronger now than ever! There are so many that are living this reality right now and it is killing me not being there to do whatever we can to help. Along with Stan and Denise, Esther and I are determined to get over there as fast as we can to start helping as many as we possibly can! I know God’s timing is perfect and I am BEGGING Him for that time to be now! Please pray for us…

Our trip to Hong Kong and Thailand was planned several months before we felt the call that God wanted us to go to Guatemala instead of Thailand. So, we thought this trip was just going to be visiting family and friends in Hong Kong and a vacation for just the two of us in Thailand but the Lord had other plans!

In Hong Kong, we were able to spend a lot of time with Esther's mom, family and friends. It was such an amazing time for her. The amount of encouragement and support from our Hong Kong family and friends was mind blowing! The Lord used so many to bless us on this trip and for our ministry! It was truly an amazing time. Esther shared about all our day to day travels there on her Facebook timeline (If you are not her friend, please mention this newsletter when sending the request). The Lord answered so many prayers on this trip. From providing the provision for the whole trip, even for things that weren't planned for, new partners that joined our ministry, wonderful reunions with family and old friends, to even helping us find a 27 year old inactive bank account that we were able to reopen. We are so grateful!

We had a fantastic time in Thailand as well. The Lord helped me see that Guatemala is where He wants us and to give me closure on moving to Thailand... for now. :) He led us to meet a special couple on our very first night there that are also missionaries from Nevada. We had a great time sharing our visions and ministries with each other. I am so excited for them to come visit us in Guatemala with a group from their church in the future.

Thank you so much for all your prayers for our recent trip to Guatemala! Praise The Lord, He answered everyone one of them and more!!! Here are some of the results, these are not listed in any particular order...

First, we prayed for the Lord to lead us in meeting and networking with other ministries in the area - Answered! We had an amazing time sharing with several orphanages, ministries and churches and everyone of them were very encouraging and excited about our vision and mission for Rocsana's Hope! They share valuable advise, great insight and offered to help us in anyway they could.

Second, we prayed for guidance in finding a home for Rocsana's Hope - Being Answered! We were able to look at one house for rent that would work for our ministry with some friends of the caretaker of the Airbnb we stayed in while there. We are praying about this location and asked them to keep looking for more to show us. Also, we met Pastor Saul and his wife Karyn at the church we decided to attend on Sunday. They are amazing and we spent the whole day visiting with them. They have such a heart for God and are very excited about our ministry there. The Lord used them to answer so many of our prayers, first in helping us find a place as well. Karyn was having a meeting later that week and contacted us later that several of her friends are also searching for places that might work for our ministry!

Third, we needed a contact for a lawyer to help us with all the legalities of moving to Guatemala - Answered! Who are these friends of Karyn's that are helping us look for places there? Just a couple lawyers and a Judge!!!

Fourth, one of our prayers is to eventually be able to start a youth rally on Saturday nights for the youth of San Lucus and have the girls help us with this ministry. Pastor Saul and Karyn have such a heart for Guatemala's youth. They have opened up their church and all their resources to us and they have a fantastic property with a large auditorium. I know they would be behind our youth rallies 100%!

Fifth, we already have short term mission teams wanting to come down to help us get started, with one actually scheduled for March! We need a place to house them while they are here. - Answered! The second church we met with shared about the fantastic ministries they have along with their church. They have a school with over 600 students, ministry to the poor in 14 different communities and... an AMAZING Mission Home! They took us on a tour of the facility called La Mision and it was exactly what we needed and more! They have invited us to use it for our short term teams and even have a staff to provide meals!

These are just a few of the answers to prayer and there were so much more! It was so wonderful to finally meet Rocsana and Paola and be able to spend the week with them, get to know them and be a blessing to each other.

God is so GOOD and He is on the move with Rocsana's Hope!!!

As we inch closer and God continues to provide for us, we ask that you join us in praying about these next steps:

If the Lord leads, you may now give online from the button on this newsletter or directly from our website, godsaidgo.com. All gifts will be going through Rocsana’s Hope so they are tax deductible. Simply click the Donate button or the link above to see the different areas of need. You can complete your gift right there on the site. Our online giving platform is very secure and one of the most widely used online services for ministries.

To send a check through the mail: You can now make your check payable to “Rocsana’s Hope.” IMPORTANT: Because of tax laws, do not write our names on the check, instead write “RH Account 1002” on the memo line of the check. You can mail your gift to the following address:

Rocsana’s Hope – The McClarans
1110 North 1st Street
Blue Springs, MO 64014

If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at mcclarans@godsaidgo.com or call us at (816) 600-1042.

Ministry Partners Report

In This Issue:

I Can't Stop Thinking About It...

Hong Kong & Thailand

Our Guatemala Trip

Next Steps...

How to Give