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Update from our Missionaries in Mexico City

Here is a August Newsletter update from Janise and Tom Kelly, our missionaries serving in Mexico City. They will be visiting Hope Covenant Church, Sunday, September 23. Please continue to keep them in your prayers. 

Dear friends,

Thank you for your prayers during the past few weeks!

  • Four of our Central District North churches held summer vacation camps. Attendance at the various churches ranged from 50 to 120 children. Many of them were first-time attenders. Church leaders will be following up on the contacts that were made.
  • One hundred twenty young people attended the biennial youth camp held in Oaxaca. Today we heard three young people share their testimonies about how their camp experience encouraged them in their walk with Christ.
  • On July 1 Enrique Peña Nieto was elected president of Mexico. He is set to be sworn in to office on December 1.
  • The Covenant church member who ran for mayor in a city in the State of Mexico won the election. Tom and I remember praying specifically at a mission staff retreat nearly 28 years ago that, sometime in the future, a committed Christian from a Covenant church would hold a significant government position. Please pray for God's guidance and wisdom for Pablo as he soon will begin his mayoral responsibilities.
  • Paul De Neui, Professor of Intercultural Studies and Missiology and Director of the Center for World Christian Studies at North Park Theological Seminary did an excellent job at our mission staff retreat, providing us with new insights and understanding to help us improve our skills in working cross-culturally.

UPDATE ON PASTOR ANTONIO

Thank you so much for your prayers for Pastor Antonio. At a recent appointment at the Cardiology Institute, his pace maker surgery date was moved from November to August! He is now scheduled for pre-surgery testing on August 22. If all is well, he will have the pace maker implant on August 23. Please continue to pray for Antonio, his family, his church and the doctors and nurses who will be caring for him.

JOHN CLAUSON
John, 42, brother to our missionary colleague Nils Clauson, died of leukemia on July 25. Please keep John's wife Deanna, their 5-year old son Kai, and the extended Clauson family in your prayers as they grieve the loss of John.

August has gotten off to a good start and promises to be a busy, interesting month! Will you continue to pray with us?

  • The Nicolás Romero mission, which has now been designated as a church, has begun construction on the property next to the house where they have been worshiping for the past two years. The congregation has outgrown the small living room/dining room area and is more than ready for a larger meeting area. Please pray as they take on this new building project while they continue carrying on their many ministries.
  • There still is no word on the whereabouts of Alma's sister Pina. Please continue to pray for Pina's protection and safety and for her family as they persevere in looking for her.
  • August 15-18 Annual meeting of the Covenant Church of Mexico The national Covenant Church of Mexico will be electing new officers at the annual meeting in August. Tom is presenting a workshop on Pastoral Ethics. Short-term missionaries Andrew & Christy Mark and I are presenting a workshop on the interrelated problems of domestic violence and abuse, pornography and sexual exploitation.
  • Hechos 29 (Acts 29) Young people from Sweden, Mexico and South America will gather together in Mexico from September to November for training in discipleship, mission and leadership. Please pray for the leaders and students in their preparations for this important experience.
  • Home assignment Tom and I leave on August 27 for a three-month home assignment. There won't be time to visit all our ministry partners, but we look forward to seeing many of you. Meanwhile, there are lots of details that need to be taken care of before we head north.

We hope that the summer has brought you rest and refreshment. You are in our prayers.

Blessings, Janice and Tom