October 2009

Variety!

The last two months have been packed with activities of refreshing variety.

Lynn continues to teach his monthly class in counseling preparation.  There are 14 students representing a variety of backgrounds and professions.  A doctor, a dentist, a hospital chaplain, a psychologist, a secretary, a youth leader, several pastors and   homemakers, just to name a few.  We hope to increase the number of students to 20 by January 2010.

Vacationing with our kids was a blast!  We held our new grandbaby, camped near corn fields, ate Iowa sweet corn, watched a soccer game at Valparaiso University in Indiana, cheered on the Iowa Cubs baseball team, had a chuck wagon dinner and enjoyed a rodeo in South Dakota.

Believing that healthy missionary marriages result in healthier ministries, we as the Central Mexico Converge Worldwide team along with two other couples hosted a Marriage Enrichment Retreat the weekend of September 18 – 20 here in Guadalajara.  We invited John and Becky Leverington of Wycliffe/SIL to guide us.

From the comments on the evaluation sheets we received, we believe it was a success. One of our activities was to pray for each other:

On October 13^th we held an “international” strategic planning meeting in our dining room with our colleagues Jami Strandberg, Dan and MeLinda Nelson, and the soon-returning-to-Mexico, Eric and Janet Johnson via SKYPE.  We discussed the needs in Mexico, what we as a team can offer, and new personnel we would like to recruit.

For Lynn´s 60^th birthday, Laura and I conspired to bring him a birthday surprise….and we succeeded!  She traveled from Chicago to spend the weekend with us.

And so, we have had an eventful two months.  And the months ahead promise to be the same.

We are so grateful for your partnership in ministry.  Your faithful prayers make a huge difference.  As we look forward, would you join us in praying about the development of a new opportunity that would connect the Marriage and Family Training Center with an federal agency here similar to Health and Human Services .  This government agency is looking for the cooperation of evangelical churches to assist them in confronting family violence, abuse, divorce, and addictions.  This project is just in the infant stages and we need wisdom and insight to determine what our role will be.

Besides the counseling Lynn offers and the class he is teaching, he has received several invitations to speak:

• Hombres de Valor (Promise Keepers)
• a young professional´s small group
• a meeting of Pastors
• Sunday morning preaching.

Thank you for your concern.

In Christ´s love,

Lynn and Barb Conner

Converge Worldwide

Guadalajara, Mexico