Hello Everyone,
Well, another month has passed and it sure has been busy for the both of us. Carli is still in Marsala Sicily, working for an Italian family there. She will be coming back next week. She is doing very well and is ready to come back home to Florence. We talk several times a day and she has told me several stories of how she was able to share with this family what we believe as Christians and the differences between the catholic tradition and what it truly means to be a Christ follower.
I have been working at the school and this next week will be the last week the school will be opened for the summer. The school will be closed from the 3rd of August until the 25th I believe. So, in this period, I have been working on other projects for work so that I can earn some extra income so that August isn't so bad. This is also why Carli is working in Sicily. We are grateful that the Lord always provides and are excited to give you guys some great news for the month.
As many of you know, one of our pastors here, Pietro, who suffered a brain hemorrhage is now recuperating at his home with his wife. He is still unable to walk for a very long time but is making a lot of progress. We are so thankful that the Lord has answered the prayers of his people to heal Pietro and we hope and pray that He will continue to give Pietro the healing he needs to preach and teach the Word once more.
We also have informed some of you of a couple in our church from Albania. Leo and Ela are their names. They are missionaries with Campus Crusade and are here in Italy for the next few years due to Ela's health problems. She will have an operation this Wednesday to try and get rid of a tumor that has been growing in her body for this past year now. We are praying that the Lord gives her a fast recovery and that He provides for their every day needs since Italy is much more expensive to live in than Albania.
For the last few weeks, I have been praying for starting a men's bible study with a few guys that I know. I have been ready to dive into the Scriptures with a group of guys and I also see that there is a great need for discipleship as well. So, I asked some friends of mine here to think and pray about that idea, and last night we had our first study at our house. It was incredible. There were four of us. Raoul (Italian) Leo (Albanian) Ryutero (Japanese) and myself. It was so amazing for us just to come together and pray for each other and this city in our native languages. We will be starting to read more in-depth these coming up weeks through one of the epistles of Paul. Please pray for us and for God's work in all of our lives and marriages.
Another praise we have is for a student from my school named Simona. She is Romanian and has been studying English this past year. I have invited her to our Sunday service after hearing that her Father is a believer in Ploesti Romania. I do not think that she is a believer even though she was raised some in this culture. She came this morning to church and really enjoyed the service. We are praying that Carli will be able to start meeting with her and that the Spirit of God would convict her and lead her to Himself.
That is about all for now. We will try to keep you updated more often and let you know how things are going. Thank you all again for your continued support and prayers,
Carli and Justin
