We have been in Oaxaca for four months now, and as we look back over the past few months, we have a lot to be thankful for. In our last update we asked for prayer for several trips that we had coming up throughout the fall. After spending time on the road, both as a family and individually, we are thankful to be back at home in Oaxaca for the holidays. We can see God’s goodness in our travels and in the times one of us was home alone with the kids.
Aside from the unusual amount of travel we have had in these four months, this initial time has been focused on getting to know our brothers and sisters of the Covenant churches in Oaxaca and the variety of ministries happening here. Our number one goal has been to observe, connect with and listen to our Mexican ministry partners as we discern a plan of action for the coming years of service here.
In November we had the privilege of having Dave and Ronna Husby here in Oaxaca for a few days. Dave is the Director of Covenant World Relief and since they partner with Fuentes Libres, the Covenant non-profit that provides micro-enterprise loans to small groups of poor women, he was here to see the ministry first-hand as well as explore other ways CWR may be able to parnter with the Covenant here.
One of the most exciting parts of his visit, particularly for us, was the Monday evening when we had 20+ pastors, youth and women leaders in our home for pizza and dessert. Beside the fellowship, they heard more about CWR and were challenged by God’s Word, as Dave read from Isaiah 58, “to loose the chains of injustice” and to “share their food with the hungry” – to be a church that is not just in the community buy for the community around them. He also shared many stories from around the world about churches that have chosen to become active outside their four walls. This is part of our passion – to see the church involved in holistic ministry in their community, and so it was exciting to hear the pastors’ and leaders’ responses that evening.
We are filled with hope for the church here and believe that God has a role for us to play in facilitating these discussions and this process with the leaders. We ask for your prayers for the meeting tonight, Monday the 5th of December, as we go the next step in this process and share with the leaders our vision for ministry. We desire that this be a time to prayerfully discern together how God is calling us to serve in Oaxaca. After this meeting we hope to share more specifically with you all about how we plan to partner with our Covenant brothers and sisters here.
Family update
The boys continue to enjoy and do well at school. Their Spanish has almost caught up with their English! And maybe the most exciting news is that we have a new member of the family! JoJo, a stray puppy left in front of a friend’s house, joined our family about 2 months ago. We’re guessing she’s around 4-5 months old now. We are all enjoying the fun – especially the boys! So far she’s only destroyed Erika’s things – her computer cord and two pairs of shoes – but we assume this is a display of affection!
We also had a wonderful time celebrating Thanksgiving with our missionary friends, and after lots of turkey, pie and football, we went downtown to the Governor’s Palace where they were inaugurating an art exhibit on water in Oaxaca, one of the paintings Matías and Lucas painted together in their art class.
Once again, and we really cannot do it often enough, we express our thanksgiving to our Father for you – our faithful partners in prayer and ministry over the years! Muchas gracias! May you wait and anticipate the arrival of our Lord Jesus with joy and thanksgiving during this Advent season.
And, if you are able and haven’t already done so, we invite you to remember our support in your year-end giving. Click here for more information.
For now, we invite you to read more about some of our recent adventures and see some pictures in these past blog posts:
Herb’s Beach Party — a Clauson family reunion
Erika’s Reflection on parenting
Always good to read your updates, now from Oaxaca, which we called home for three years. Bendiciones y saludos a los hermanos alla!
Dennis Carlson
Farmington Hills, MI
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