May is the hottest month of the year in Guadalajara with the temperatures averaging in the 90´s by the afternoon.  It is a dry heat, for which we are grateful.  It has also been a bit of a noisy month this year.  Besides the normal daily sounds of cowbells to announce the garbage truck, bicycle horns to let us know the ice cream man is on the street,  pan whistles to advertise the knife sharpener, car horns to announce the arrival of car poolers, we have also heard the dog down the block barking all night, the construction workers´ radio that plays 12 hours a day, and the delightful sound of birds welcoming the dawn.

Updates from the church “La Gracia de Dios”

Each year Mexico celebrates Children´s Day on April 30th.  As a church we decided to plan a party for Sunday, May 2nd.  There were 4 times as many children present as on a typical Sunday.  The planning committee did a great job.  The kids were offered lunch, then they could visit several activity booths including painting plaster figures, decorating cupcakes, playing games and interacting with a clown.  It was a positive, fun event.

We are excited that there are new people in every small group of the church.  The new attenders include a nurse who cared for a member of the church while she was in the hospital, an aunt and grandmother of a young man in our church, newly discovered relatives of one group leader, and a boyfriend of a young lady.  We are praising God.

Lynn was asked to officiate at the wedding of a young couple in the church.  They were married by a judge seven years ago.  Now, as new believers, they wanted to renew their vows in a church wedding.

It is that time of year again when we prepare to send two young people to Minnesota to participate in the ministry of Calvary Church of Roseville in the town of Pelican Rapids.   Please pray for Jose Antonio and Mercedes. They will be leaving on June 9th and returning to Guadalajara on the 27th.  Ask God to use them in a significant way.

Updates on the Marriage and Family Training Center

April 30th brought the end of our reporting year for Converge World Wide.  This past year Lynn had a total of 251 therapy sessions seeing 48 different clients.  He conducted 17 presentations on marriage and family issues in five local churches and the ministerial alliance.  He taught 12 monthly classes of the family therapy training course for pastors, covering 6 of the 7 modules.

Speaking of this course, it was begun in February of 2009 and there are just two sessions left.  Graduation will be held in August.  The students are busy finishing up the course requirements of teaching workshops on family issues and completing 100 hours of counseling.

Prayer requests:

Lynn has been invited to speak in July at the annual Pastoral Counseling Course offered by the Mexican-American Hospital in Guadalajara.

Lynn asks that you pray that he would have the “wisdom of Solomon” concerning a very difficult counseling situation.

Please pray for this young woman, as                      representative of the women that Barbara meets with.

Please pray for this Saturday´s meeting of the wives of pastors for the purpose of mentoring and encouragement.

Thank you for your caring for us through prayer.

Lynn and Barb