July Update

Dear Friends and Family,
It is hard to believe our summer mission teams have come and gone and a new school year is just around the corner. We praise God for a very productive summer. The mission teams were a huge blessing. We are truly amazed by how much each team accomplished.
Our first team, Lebanon Baptist Church from Roswell, Georgia, built a beautiful new classroom for our school, ministered through crafts and gifts at an orphanage in Mexico, and organized and held a vacation Bible School in Reynosa Mexico for over 80 children. They also helped paint student desks. In short, Lebanon was a great blessing not only to us at MCA, but also to the many children and parents they ministered to. We are extremely grateful for all their hard work and as always we really enjoyed the fellowship.
Our second team was much smaller than the first but equally as hard working. Who knew what 5 men from Heritage Baptist Church in Johnson City, Tennessee could accomplish in just 5 days? They worked incredibly hard and accomplished more than we ever could have imagined. They installed a fence around the playground, poured three new sidewalks, painted a classroom and some student desks, and helped build a large storage building which we desperately needed. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and are incredibly grateful for all they did for our ministry.

We are now eagerly awaiting the arrival of our new baby girl. The doctor says it will be any day now! We will keep you posted. Please keep us in your prayers as we adapt to parenthood and prepare for a new school year.
Sincerely,
Juan and Rachel Curling

June Update

Dear Friends and Family,

God has been so good to us and the ministry and we have a lot of exciting updates to share with you.

The school year has ended wonderfully. Our students recently returned from Flagstaff, Arizona were they competed in the ACE International Student Competition. Forty-Eight countries were represented at the competition and our students competed in the areas of music, drama, academics and sports. We are thrilled to report that the students of MCA received second place in the ACE International Academic Bowl! Also, several of our musical performances placed in the top five. The Lord truly blessed the student’s hard work and dedication and we are already looking forward to next year’s State and International competitions. The chapel speakers at the competition were excellent and the Lord worked in the hearts of many of our students. Several students dedicated their lives to full-time ministry and two of our seniors made decisions to attend a Christian college this fall. Please keep these students in your prayers this summer.

Our summer schedule is full but promising. Because Rachel is expecting and due in July, we have decided not to do any traveling this summer. Instead, we are staying here with a rather large “To Do” list. Some of our summer projects include finishing the playground and some landscaping, installing cabinetry in the secretary’s office, new carpet in the main building and windowsills in the main building, organizing the storage, building new storage space, refurbishing student desks and of course preparing for the baby’s arrival. We are excited to see what the Lord will allow us to accomplish at the school this summer. Right now we are preparing for a mission team from Lebanon Baptist Church in Roswell, Georgia. The team of thirty adults and teens will be arriving June, 9th. The adults on the team will be constructing a new classroom here at the school while the teens do a Vacation Bible School in Mexico. Another mission team from Heritage Baptist Church in Tennessee will be coming to our ministry in July to continue the construction and to help us prepare for the start of the school year. We praise God for both of these teams and their willingness to serve.

On a more personal note we would like to thank each of you for your prayers and support during this last school year. The beginning of the school year brought many unexpected challenges. The greatest, of course, was coping with the loss of our baby, Jadon Emanuel. As always, God was faithful to give us the grace we needed. That experience not only brought us closer together as husband and wife, but it also drew us closer to God. Your letters and gifts were a tremendous encouragement to us. We praise God for blessing us with family and friends who surround us in love and prayers. We praise God for you.

There are many ways in which you can pray for us. One of our greatest prayer requests right now is for wisdom in becoming new parents. Please pray that we will allow the Lord to guide us in all our decisions, specifically in the area of parenting, and that we will strive to glorify God in the way we raise our little girl. Also, please be in prayer for us as we seek to accomplish these summer projects. Pray that we will glorify God through every task. We would greatly appreciate your prayers in the following areas:

Personal spiritual growth
Spiritual growth of students and staff
Staffing needs for next school year (we need a few more teachers…maybe you know someone who is seeking a ministry opportunity)
Housing for our missionary interns next school year
Safety of mission team members
Vacation Bible School

Again, thank you for your prayers and support. You are a great blessing to us and our ministry. Please let us know if there is any specific way that we can pray for you right now. We love you and thank God for you.

In Christ,

Juan and Rachel Curling

Juan and Rachel Curling, April 26, 2007

Dear Friends and Family,
All is well here on the border. God is continually blessing us and the ministry. The South Texas Regional Competition went exceptionally well this year. Below are some pictures from the competition and an article published in our local newspaper.


"Hard work, dedication, and determination—the students at Macedonian Christian Academy in Donna, Texas exemplified all this and more in preparation for the annual South Texas Regional Competition. This competition helps develop students in a broad spectrum of performances, from singing and speech to athletics and academics. Every year, the 8-12 grade students each enter up to a dozen of 144 available categories, often placing in the top three. This qualifies them to proceed to the International Competition, held this May in Flagstaff, Arizona.
This year, MCA students did exceptionally well at the regional competition. Individual students earned first place in small vocal ensemble, expressive readings for both male and female, preaching, table tennis, sketching, scholastic bowl, and many other categories. At the request of the judges, students performed an expressive reading and a one-act play in front of all the contestants during a general assembly. MCA also earned the first-place position in academics, athletics, music, and drama for overall accumulation of points during the competition. MCA returned home with 100 medals, countless memories, and an eagerness to begin preparing for the International Competition."
Written and edited by Emily Zeizer


It is not over yet. On May 18, our students will be heading to Flagstaff, Arizona to compete in the International Competition. Each student is in the process of raising $450 to cover the costs of the trip. Please keep Juan in your prayers as he is heading this large fundraising project.
The last day of school is May15th so it is crunch time at MCA. Please pray for the students and teachers as we finish another year. As with any school, it is always a challenge to keep the students motivated right up to the last day.
With summer just around the corner, Juan is busy finalizing summer mission team plans. As of now, we have two churches sending mission teams down. Lord willing, Lebanon Baptist Church from Roswell, Georgia will be sending down a team of about thirty adults and teens to do construction at the school and VBS in Reynosa, Mexico. Heritage Baptist Church in Tennessee will also be sending a team to do construction at MCA and VBS in Mexico. We are so thankful for their willingness to serve at our ministry. What an enormous blessing they always are to us. We appreciate your prayers as we prepare for both teams.
Rachel's pregnancy is going well. We praise God for this blessing. Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare for parenthood. Our little girl's arrival date is now just three months away.

March 2, 2007

Juan and Rachel Curling March 1, 2007

Dear Friends and Family,

So far, 2007, has proven to be a very busy yet productive year for us personally and at Macedonian Christian Academy. In case you have not heard, we are expecting a baby girl. She is due in late July. We praise and thank God for His goodness to us in this way. We are very excited to meet the new addition to our family. Please pray for God's hand of protection on Rachel and the baby during this time.

We thank God for a full house this semester. Not only did Emily Zeizer, our missionary intern, return to minister at our school and live with us for another semester, but also we are thrilled to have Rachel's Grandparents, Bob and Ethel Sharp, visiting us from Michigan. All of our houseguests have been wonderful blessings to us.

Emily has taken full charge of preparing our students for the Regional Student Convention in the area of Drama. She is directing seventeen drams in all! Three of which she personally wrote for our students. On top of preparing for the Regional Student Convention, Emily is also writing and teaching a high school writing curriculum. We could not have asked for a more competent and motivated person in this area. We are very fortunate to have her with us this year.

Rachel's grandparents have also been a big help. Grandpa, with his experience in machine operating, has been a huge help during the installation of our new playground. He operated a backhoe and dug the holes for our new swing set. He has also been helping Juan assemble the new playground which we've included pictures of. Grandma has been a huge blessing to Rachel this semester. She helps with the cooking, cleaning, gardening, laundry, grocery shopping, and much, much more. This has really taken a load off Rachel during her pregnancy and has allowed her to spend a little more time helping the students prepare music for State Competition. Their company has blessed us.

Macedonian Christian Academy is a busy place right now. In January, we took the Juniors and Seniors on a trip to South Carolina to visit Bob Jones University. We also visited the Georgia Aquarium and went snow skiing in North Carolina. Many of our students had never been skiing before and they had a blast. We praise God for his provision and safety during our trip. Although we broke down three times, the Lord provided a way for us to reach our destination every time. He also allowed our van to be repaired three separate times by three separate ministries! We are so thankful to all those who helped us. The student had a wonderful trip.

As soon as we returned from the Junior Senior trip, we had a Mission team of five men arrive from Faith Baptist Church in Linden, Michigan to begin construction on a new classroom. They built this beautiful twenty-four by twenty-four foot classroom in just seven days. The same mission team also blessed us with beautiful landscaping at the entrance of the school. Last Friday, after the carpet was installed, Rachel's Jr. High class moved in and they love it! This new room has allowed us to divide the high school into two separate rooms whereas before, they were all packed into one room with very little space to stretch. We are extremely grateful to Faith Baptist Church for giving of their time and money to build us this new classroom.

Just Days after the mission team left Juan began installing the new playground set. We praise God for the generous givers who have made this playground possible. The excitement level among our students is amazing right now. After about a week of digging and assembling, our students are finally able to enjoy the new playground! We still have to install the swings and finish a few details, but the students are having a wonderful time playing on the completed portion. Again, we praise God for this huge blessing.

On top of the building projects, we have also been preparing for the ACE Costal Plains Regional Student Convention. There, our students will be competing in music, drama, art, academics, basketball, volleyball, archery, photography, poetry, sewing, woodworking, and the list goes on. The convention begins March 5 and will go through March 9. Please be in prayer for our students as they seek to do their best. This can be an awesome time of spiritual growth and development for our students.

As always, God has been good to us these last few months. We have seen the school grow and change in ways we never thought possible. We especially praise God for the spiritual growth that is taking place among our students and staff. Please continue praying that God's will be done in all we say and do at Macedonian Christian Academy.

In Christ,
Juan and Rachel Curling
P.O. Box 206
Alamo, TX 78516

Hospital history

Tags: Rachel and Juan
Posted by at 01:47 Permanent Link Comments (0)
Aug. 30th, 2006 -God's Continued Goodness to Us
All is well here on the border. School is underway and we have been going one hundred miles per hour! Rachel has had her ups and downs emotionally, so please continue to pray for her.
We have been able to get our floors fixed and walls dried out from the flooding and are happy with the new carpet! We have a fantastic group of students this year and we have the best staff to help us disciple them too! Please pray for the continual Spiritual growth of all the staff, students, and parents.
It is interesting how the Lord keeps us looking up to Him. Leaving the hospital without little Jadon was very difficult. 3 days after leaving the hospital our car broke down and I took it to the mechanic. Two days later, our older car, which we had never had any problems with, decided to shut down too. After 3 days with no cars, we were able to pick up the black Intrepid. The gray car will never run again. It has literally been one thing after the other. I have continually praised the Lord for His goodness in our lives, for a wonderful wife, a great brother and sister-in-law, a Christ-centered ministry, and a great church. In life we all go through circumstances where we cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is then, while in the darkness, we must cling tighter to the hand of our Heavenly Father who desires to lead us along.
I praise the Lord for His faithfulness to us, for His love, and His peace that passeth all understanding. We know He is perfecting a work in us and He is up to something good in our lives…always.
We are blessed to have our first “Intern For Christ” here this semester. Emily Zeizer has come down from Linden, Michigan. She has been such a HUGE blessing already. She is putting a writing curriculum together for us and helping everywhere else she can. Please pray for her as she has a lot to accomplish in a short time.
Thank you for your friendship, and all your prayers. Until next time...
Tags: Rachel and Juan
Posted by at 01:16 Permanent Link Comments (0)


Thursday August 17, 2006
Thursday, August 11, 2006
Thank you for your continued prayers.
I thank the Lord for His goodness in our lives. The love that has been shown to us has been unbelievable to say the least. Our church here, Faith Baptist Church, has gone beyond the call to make us feel loved. We are daily receiving your cards in the mail. I personally have been doing fine, but Rachel has had her ups and downs. She had a real hard time leaving the hospital without the baby. Please continue to pray for her as she prepares for the school year. Only God can heal broken hearts. I do not want you to think she is depressed and crying all day, nor do I want you think she is all smiles. She is doing well, but she needs your continued prayers.
Since we have been home from the hospital, we have worked at the school a lot. We have been blessed with volunteer workers to help us on the school grounds. We replaced the damaged flooring in the house and also fixed the walls. We still have a long list of projects to do before school starts, but we are knocking them out one by one.
I cannot tell you how much we appreciate your prayers and your comments on this blog. We will try to update it often.
Tags: Rachel and Juan
Posted by at 20:52 Permanent Link Comments (7)


Friday August 11, 2006
Friday Morning, August 11th, Last Day
I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to us by Christ Jesus.
Rachel was going to be induced last night, but during the beginning of the process she went into labor. She went into labor at approximately 12:00am, and delivered the baby at 2:59am. The Lord blessed us with a baby boy, Jadon Emanuel Curling. Jadon means thankful, and Emanuel means God with us. We were able to spend three hours with him. Jadon weighed close to 11 ounces, and was approx. 13 inches in length. He definitely had his mother’s lips and his father’s eye brows. The three hours we shared together were more special than I ever thought possible. We had a short ceremony with my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, and my brother. We cried, laughed, and prayed together. Our God is an awesome God, and His grace is sufficient. Rachel has no sign of infection now. Praise the Lord!
You all have been a great source of encouragement to us and to each other. We are thankful to our awesome God who is the giver and sustainer of life. He is the great physician, and he has healed Jadon in a way only he can.
Our Blog says “we have reached our limit of transfers per month.” If you would like to leave a comment, please email us at j.curling@mcalions.com . We will update this BLOG periodically. Please continue to pray for Rachel as this will be an emotional time for her. We love you and thank you.
Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. II Thes: 3:16,18

PS: Click on the Photo ALBUM on the right to see some new pictures of us and the baby. If you cannot see the pictures today, you should be able to tomorrow. We have upgraded the blog where there are no transfer limits.
Tags: The BABY!
Posted by at 12:55 Permanent Link Comments (18)


Thursday August 10, 2006
Thursday Morning, 8/10, Day 10
Rachel feels ok, but her blood test this morning shows another increase in her white blood count. Please keep praying that her white blood count goes down soon.
Grace to you,
Juan and Rachel
Tags: The BABY!
Posted by at 11:50 Permanent Link Comments (22)


Wednesday, August 9th, day 9
Please pray that Rachel’s white blood count goes down tremendously. She is at risk of becoming septic, and the possibility of losing her uterus. Please pray that the Lord will intervene tonight so her body will begin to recuperate.
I write this with tear-filled eyes. My baby is healthy, but my wife is more and more at risk.
1. Please pray that the white blood cell count goes down.
2. Please pray that I will have wisdom and peace about what to do.
I only wish every one of you will one day feel as loved as Rachel and I do right now. The Lord is good, and his blessings are new every day. Thank you for your love, and please continue to pray.
Juan
Tags: The BABY!
Posted by at 00:01 Permanent Link Comments (14)


Tuesday August 08, 2006
Tuesday Evening, Day 8.
Hello Friends,
Rachel is doing well. She had a good day. We gave her a sponge bath and she got all cleaned up. Her mom braided her hair and Rachel couldn’t be happier. She was having some severe pain in her side, so they quickly drew some blood and tested it to see if the white blood count had increased too high. The pain went away after 15 minutes, and the test results came back an hour later. Can you believe the white cell count actually went back down to 19! The doctor assured us yesterday that this would not happen. The fact that the infection went up after 7 days of being on constant antibiotics did not make the future seem positive. The doctor’s exact words to us last night were “there is no hope for this baby. You are going to have to make a decision here soon.” I know God is in control of this, He is the great physician, and He will do what He knows will bring Him the most glory. Please pray that the white blood count will continue decreasing.
“My God is so BIG, so strong and so mighty there’s nothing my God cannot do.”
We love you and thank you for your prayers!!!

Tags: The BABY!
Posted by at 23:53 Permanent Link Comments (19)


Tuesday Morning, Aug 8th-day 7
Dear Friends and Family, Juan has been reading your comments to me and I can't tell you what an encouragement they are. It is so comforting to know that so many prayers are with us at this difficult time.Last night the Doctor told us that there was no hope for the baby. His words broke my heart but my thoughts were instantly turned to the truth that so many of you have shared with me over the past 7 days..."this is God's perfect plan for us." That doesn't mean I don't mourn the potential loss of our first born, for my heart aches at the thought. But in all this I have truly found "a peace that passeth all understanding."Although my body is growing weaker each day due to infection, it is amazing to see that our baby continues to grow and develop just as he should be. His heart is strong and healthy and I feel him moving more each day. So, even though we are given no hope by the words of men, our hope remains in the Lord. He is the God of miracles. Weather our precious baby is born today and goes to be with the Lord or weather he is born many weeks from now and miraculously lives, God will be glorified. What a comfort it is to know that God is in control.Thank you for your continued prayers and words of encouragement.Sincerely,
Rachel Curling
Tags: The BABY!
Posted by at 14:50 Permanent Link Comments (10)


Monday Evening, Day 7
This is Joel, the brother-in-law, blogging for Juan who has no internet connection at the moment:
Rachel's white blood cell count has been rising, and the Dr. said that if this trend continues, they will have to induce. The ambiotic fluid has also been decreasing, and is down to 0.91 cm. It has been slowly decreacing over the past few days. Rachel has felt better today than any previous day, and they praise the Lord for giving her some physical comfort. Juan and Rachel rejoice again today that the Lord is allowing them to go through this.
As always, Juan and Rachel thank you for your continued prayers and comments
The Curlings (via the Campbells)
PS-This is Joel again. If you have time, leave a comment. Juan is reading the comments to Rachel every day, and they have been a great source of encouragement to them.
Tags: The BABY!
Posted by at 00:18 Permanent Link Comments (12)


Sunday August 06, 2006
Sunday Evening, Day 6
Rachel has felt better today than any day thus far. This day was filled with visitors and phone calls. The Doctor told us the baby has gained weight! We consider ourselves blessed to be going through this. We listened to two sermons by Danny Brooks (the Pastor from our sending church in Greer, SC). What a blessing. Rachel and I are thanking the Lord for allowing us to go through this together. Many Christians have had to go through much worse. This is our cross right now, and we praise the Lord for it. Please continue to pray that the Lord's will be done through us. Thank you for your many prayers and comments. I would like to share this passage God gave us today:Romans 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Tags: The BABY!
Posted by at 23:44 Permanent Link Comments (20)

Life after the hospital...

All is well here on the border. School is underway and we have been going one hundred miles per hour! Rachel has had her ups and downs emotionally, so please continue to pray for her.
We have been able to get our floors fixed and walls dried out from the flooding and are happy with the new carpet! We have a fantastic group of students this year and we have the best staff to help us disciple them too! Please pray for the continual Spiritual growth of all the staff, students, and parents.
It is interesting how the Lord keeps us looking up to Him. Leaving the hospital without little Jadon was very difficult. 3 days after leaving the hospital our car broke down and I took it to the mechanic. Two days later, our older car, which we had never had any problems with, decided to shut down too. After 3 days with no cars, we were able to pick up the black Intrepid. The gray car will never run again. It has literally been one thing after the other. I have continually praised the Lord for His goodness in our lives, for a wonderful wife, a great brother and sister-in-law, a Christ-centered ministry, and a great church. In life we all go through circumstances where we cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is then, while in the darkness, we must cling tighter to the hand of our Heavenly Father who desires to lead us along.
I praise the Lord for His faithfulness to us, for His love, and His peace that passeth all understanding. We know He is perfecting a work in us and He is up to something good in our lives…always.
We are blessed to have our first “Intern For Christ” here this semester. Emily Zeizer has come down from Linden, Michigan. She has been such a HUGE blessing already. She is putting a writing curriculum together for us and helping everywhere else she can. Please pray for her as she has a lot to accomplish in a relatively short time.
Thank you for your friendship, and all your prayers.

This is our first Blog.
After many requests, and a little twisting of the arm...here it is!