Clausons in Monterrey

As you know, our work here is tied to the Foundation for Family Development.  We have taken this assignment seriously and are vigorously working at developing our own family and are excited to share with you the news – we are expecting again!  We have been given an approximate due date of Dec. 29^th.   We praise God for this amazing miracle and blessing!  Please pray for good health for baby and mom.

In May we celebrated Erika’s and Matías’ birthdays and were blessed to receive visits from Nils’ parents (Herb also celebrated a birthday while here) and Erika’s sister, Brittany.  Click here to see some photos of this time.

And finally, in early July both Nils' oldest brother, John, and youngest brother, Dave, were engaged to be married.  John and Deanna don't have a date yet, while Dave and Carrie are wasting no time getting married on August 6th. 

Conflict Resolution Class

On June 27th, Erika completed the final session of the course she was facilitating with John Kerl on conflict resolution.  Seven couples and one single woman participated in the course and all are very grateful for the tools they now have in positively resolving conflict.  Thank you for your prayers for this course and Erika as she was taking the lead for the first time.  (This photo is of Erika with the participants that attended the graduation dinner.) 

The Marriage Course

On Monday, June 26^th, we had the privilege of traveling to Austin, TX to attend a training seminar on “The Marriage Course.”  This course was produced by the creators of the Alpha program and follows a similar format to our courses at the Foundation.  We were encouraged to see that the major themes coincide with the themes of the Foundation’s marriage course.  At the same time there were many aspects of their methodology and other details that were new to us and we are excited to incorporate some of them into what the Foundation is already doing.  We also were grateful for a chance to spend some time with our good friends Nate and Arizbe in Austin…and thanks to them for helping with Matías during the seminar!

Community Transformation

On Saturday, July 8th, the women in La Campana and Burocratas began a six week arts and crafts workshop at the Foundation.  We hope and pray that through this project more women would come to know the Foundation and participate with the women’s group on a regular basis.  During this time Erika and others will work on adapting and contextualizing the conflict resolution course to better address the issues of the women in these communities.  We plan to start the course in one or two women’s homes in September. 

Please pray for wisdom and God’s direction in the adapting and contextualizing of this course and that the women’s group will grow numerically and as a community.

After two months of planning and seeking God’s direction as a team (Marisol, Saul, Monica, Nils and Erika), we are finally ready to begin a youth program in Burocratas!  We are inviting the youth and their parents to come to the Foundation on Wednesday July 19^th to share the mission, vision and activities of the program as well as invite all who are interested to register.  Our first activity we will be guitar classes, along with a weekly youth formation time.  During this time we will lead participatory discussions and activities on a variety of values by addressing different topics the youth have identified.  The first few weeks will be focused on drug addiction and prevention. We also plan to offer soccer and English as activities in the future.

Please pray for the youth that will be participating in this program, that they would quickly form community and unity and that ultimately God would touch their lives and transform their relationship with him and others.  Pray also for Nils as he is working on putting together the English program.

All Mexico Covenant Missionary Retreat

We praise God for the opportunity to fellowship and connect with Covenant missionaries in Mexico and for the wonderful blessing of having the Director of Covenant World Mission and his wife, Curt and Marty Peterson, present to minister to us.  We thank the Lord for safe travels and for the time of renewal and relaxation.  We also really enjoyed a short but amazing trip to a small mining community called Real de Catorce on the way home.  Click here to see some pictures from that trip.

Cell Church Plant

This Saturday, July 15, we are excited to be welcoming Gualterio and Angélica and their son Carlos, the church planters who are coming to join our team! 

Please pray for a safe and smooth transition from Mexico City and for relationship building among the team as well as with the current cell group members.  Continue to pray for God’s guidance and direction to be clear to them and the whole team in regards to the cell church plant.

We praise God for you, our faithful partners in ministry!  Thank you for remembering us and lifting both our personal and ministry needs to the Lord.  We think and pray for you often.  God’s richest blessings!

Nils, Erika and Matías