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Couple Prepares for Ministry in Mexicali, Mexico
By Craig Pinley
CHICAGO, IL (August 27, 2002) - A lost youth group, a pastor in Mexico and a
heart for community development are three reasons why Erika and Nils
Clauson are heading for Mexicali, Mexico, to work with the Department of
World Mission of the Evangelical Covenant Church.
The Clausons are among three missionary couples working as part of a new
paradigm for the Department of World Mission. Lisandro and Patricia
Restrepo of Berkeley Covenant Church in Berkeley, California, are headed to
Monterrey, Mexico, while John and Etsuko Martin of Peninsula Covenant
Church in Redwood City, California, are going to Odawara Christian Center
in a suburb of Tokyo, Japan.
Currently those wishing to become full-time missionaries in the
denomination must serve as short-term missionaries for two years and raise
all of their support for that period, including the Clausons who are trying
to raise their support before heading for language school. Then they will
head to Mexico to engage in community development efforts in border towns
in and around Mexicali.
In recent months, the Clausons have spoken at churches in Southern
California and will speak in churches in Northern California in September.
Earlier this month, they attended the Covenant Institute of Community
Transformation in Encino, California, an event
co-sponsored by Compassion and Justice Ministries of the Evangelical
Covenant Church and the Pacific Southwest Conference.
"It's been a good experience visiting churches and sharing what we want to
do," said Nils. "Hopefully, the fruit of building those relationships will
come in the future."
"We're the only Covenant missionaries in Mexicali, so we're hoping our
support base is more than just financial, especially from the San Diego
area Covenant churches since they will be so close to where we will be
ministering," said Erika. "We're excited about what God is already doing
through many Covenant churches involved in border
ministries. We hope that by living in Mexicali, we can help unite churches
on both sides of the border to look strategically at ways we can minister
to the physical, social, economic and spiritual needs of people living
along the border."
When the Clausons begin their work in Mexicali, they hope to partner with
several independent congregations that have been planted by evangelist
Carmen Villarreal. She originally made inroads with University Covenant
Church in Davis, California, whose
youth and adult groups regularly take mission trips to the area.
Erika saw a healthy community development system when she served for a year
(1998-99) as a short-term missionary in Oaxaca, Mexico. Nancy Jo Hoover
helped start the association Fuentes Libres. One of the projects with which
the team works involves community banks, which assist women with loans to
start or invest in already existing small businesses in the area.
"The women we worked with weren't able to receive loans from regular banks
because they didn't have the assets or collateral or, sometimes, just
because they were women," said Erika about Fuentes Libres' community
banking project. "The loans were given for investments in a woman's small
business so she could generate more income for her family and repay the
loan. Those who had been given money would repay loans in small portions
each week. They would also meet for Bible study and prayer, which helped us
reach them in their spiritual lives."
Nils earned a sociology degree from North Park University, playing four
years for the school's basketball team. Nils visited Erika while she was in
Oaxaca and when the two married in the fall of 1999, they began considering
how they could partner in ministry.
During the past two years, Erika served in the Department of World Mission
and was enrolled in North Park Theological Seminary's Master of Arts in
Christian Ministry
program. Meanwhile, Nils has managed a number of work training projects for
a variety of cultural groups in Chicago, including Bosnian refugees,
Mexican immigrants and a large homeless population in the West Loop area of
downtown Chicago.
"I've learned how to be a good trainer, lead classes and relate to other
cultures," said Nils. "The biggest thing has been taking the time to get to
know the clients, not just standing in front of them and teaching, but
building relationships with them."
While the Clausons complete their preparations, University Covenant will
continue to support local churches in Mexico. In recent years, the church
has been sending mission teams as often as four times in one year. Groups
from University Covenant have built a daycare center and helped construct
or repair other buildings as well.
The Clausons believe God will provide what
is necessary for their work. After all, they observed, University Covenant
would never have partnered with Villarreal without God's providence.
"The youth group came down with Azusa Pacific University and got lost,"
said Erika in explaining how University Covenant met Villarreal. "They ran
into Carmen (Villarreal) and asked for directions to the church they had
been assigned to. She didn't know where the church was located, so she
invited them to partner with her. Now they've been in this
partnership for more than 15 years."
For more information about the future project in Mexicali, email the
Clausons at erikanils@peoplepc.com or call them at 773-728-8308.
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