Clausons in Monterrey

“Every good and perfect gift comes from above…”  James 1:17

 This Christmas we praised God for two very special gifts – the coming of Jesus, God with us, and the birth of our second son, Lucas Eric!  If you haven’t seen Lucas’ birth announcement, click here.  Lucas was born in Monterrey, Mexico on Friday, Dec. 22^nd, sharing a birthday with Erika’s sister Brittany.  Erika was very happy that her mother could be here for the birth and to help take care of Matías while we were in the hospital.  And, as we were leaving the hospital Christmas Eve morning, the nurses surprised us by bringing Lucas to us in a Christmas stocking.  We thank God for the two healthy, beautiful boys that God has blessed us with!  Mommy, daddy, and the boys are doing very well.  Thank you for your prayers for us during this time of transition from a family of three to a family of four.

We are so thankful that both of our parents were able to visit us during this special time and help us out by taking care of Matías (which can be a lot of fun and also very tiring as he’s running around all over the place these days), washing dishes, cooking, doing a lot of laundry, and many other things.  Click here to see pictures of the family and Christmas time.

We enjoyed participating in the parenting class at the Foundation for the first time in October and November.  Besides learning a lot from the readings and the experience of the other parents participating in the class, we were able to get to know other couples with children around the same age.  Please pray for the next cycle of classes that will begin at the end of January.  Pray for the couples that God would bring to participate in the marriage enrichment, parenting and conflict resolution courses.  Pray that He would touch and transform their marriages and families and bring them one step closer to Him.

We ended the year celebrating with the women of La Campana and their families all that God has done in and through us as individuals and as a group.  Although this has been a difficult year in reaching our goal to increase participation in the core group (there are about six women who’ve been faithfully attending), we recognize that God is working through the relationships we’ve been able to form with these six women and that much of what the women have learned and experienced also affects their families and communities both directly and indirectly. 

We also closed out the year with a party for the teenagers that have been participating in the youth program.  It was a chance to recognize their achievements studying English and guitar and enjoy some good pizza.  As we head into the new year we also hope that this part of the program will continue to grow and offer positive alternatives and hope to the youth in this troubled community.

God is working in amazing and unexpected ways through Gualterio and Angelica Valencia, the pastors we called to help with the cell church plant.  Although we were hoping to work closely with the Valencias in planting a church with the cell groups we already had formed through the ministries of the Family Foundation, God has led the Valencias to a new part of the city, about an hour away from the Foundation, where many people are coming to know Christ.  They have now moved to that part of the city and have at least 10 small discipleship groups with these new Christians.  We praise God for the ministry He has given to Gualterio and Angelica and ask that you would join us in prayer for this family and this Covenant church plant.  We also ask that you pray for God’s guidance as we decide how to move forward with the cell groups that continue meeting on this side of the city.  We lead one of those groups where two families and their children are faithfully attending and all are new Christians.  We are praying about the possibility of focusing our cell group time on discipleship.  Please also pray for decisions regarding where and when to meet as well as childcare so that we can have quality time discipling these two couples.  Click here to see pictures of our cell group from the past year.

As we enter this new year, we are so thankful to the Lord for his many blessings to us, including you.  Thank you for your faithful prayer support, without which we could not be here nor could we be sharing this wonderful news of God’s work in Monterrey!

May God richly bless your family in 2007,

Erika, Nils, Matías and Lucas