Clausons in Monterrey

New Cycle of Activities

The last week of August saw the kickoff to the new year of activity at the Family Foundation with a new emphasis on community programs serving the low-income areas around our location know as “Dos Cerros.” The activities include:

The "English Club" that meets once a week for children ages 8-12 to practice the English they are learning in school. With more than forty participants, this club has maxed out the space of the Foundation. Fortunately, we are now able to count on several volunteers who are helping to teach in the club as there is more and more demand in this area.

The "Youth Club" that also meets once a week with the adolescents between 12-18 years of age. This group also practices English, but includes time spent sharing in Spanish with an emphasis on developing values such as servant leadership (in fact several are already helping organize the club of the younger kids.)

The Arts & Crafts program for the women gives the moms a chance to meet on a regular basis to learn new skills. The short term goal for this program is for the women to put on a Christmas Bazaar to sell the items they make with the proceeds being reinvested in purchasing new materials and keeping the program going. If you or a group from your church is interested in helping us make extra crafts for the Christmas bazaar, please email Erika.

As part of this program, a Bible study has also grown out of the ministry to the women. Meeting twice a month, the women have studied topics such as self esteem and servant leadership from a Biblical perspective. This semester they will be studying the book of Mark looking specifically at the life of Jesus.

In addition to the Dos Cerros activities, the Healthy Family courses will also kickoff later this month. It appears that there will be two parenting classes, one in our building and one at an elementary school. We are also hoping for a group to participate in the marriage enrichment class.

Project Down continues to grow as new families come every month with new born babies with Down syndrome. In October, the second “Monterrey Down Syndrome Congress” will be held at a downtown hotel. This international event that expects to have more than 1000 participants is not specifically a Project Down event, it has been organized by participants of Project Down who have taken the concept of community building and are now sharing it with many others.

Praises and Prayer Requests

Thank you for praying for our very first youth day camp with the kids and teens from the English Club that was held in July. And, a special thank you to all those from Christian Layman Church who came to serve and share your lives with us and the families from Dos Cerros! God is at work in these families and through the dramas, songs, stories and especially the love demonstrated through new friendships and fun, many have come closer to Christ and desire to know Him more. Praise God! Pictures, click here.

We send a huge thank you to God and to the mission team from DeKalb and Moline who helped tile our basement floor! It looks awesome and we are really enjoying it! If you’d like to see Pictures, click here.

We also praise God for a fun and restful family vacation where we visited three beautiful, colonial cities in Mexico’s interior. Pictures, click here.

Matías is loving the preschool he attends and Lucas adores our neighbor Patty who takes care of him three mornings a week so we can both go to work at the Foundation. We are overwhelmed by the blessings God continually gives to our family.

Please continue to pray for our family, for always putting God first, good health, good communication and time for rest and fun. Life is busy now as Erika is coordinating the English and youth clubs and Nils is involved in most all activities as interim director of the Foundation.

Thank you

Thanks again for the many ways you partner with us in ministry here in Monterrey! We feel your love and prayers each day as we seek to serve the One who gave everything to save us. May we all respond to the love we have received by worshiping Him alone in all that we do this day.