December is Here

December is here...Wow that happened fast! We feel like we blinked and November passed. This past Thanksgiving week was full of really wonderful things...even if we did have cereal for our Thanksgiving meal. ;)

On Thanksgiving day we had a small party at Justin's work. The students were able to have samples of the typical Thanksgiving meal we share in America and they learned about the history of Thanksgiving. Then on Saturday we helped teach the English club that I mentioned in the last post. We had three new guys come and the students seemed to enjoy learning about Thanksgiving. Our main focus throughout the two hour session was on being thankful to God for everything we have. We hope day-by-day and week-by-week we can continue to build friendships with the students at Justin's work as well as the students that attend the English club.

Our last Thanksgiving event was on Sunday. We had a Thanksgiving Dessert tasting. We made many apple, pumpkin, and pecan pies and invited the whole community. Justin and I came early and had appertivo (finger foods) with some of the people at church. About halfway through our appertivo a lady walked in. We had met her at an English film night in October. She is from Jordan and she has lived in Italy for several years. She saw the invite and wanted to learn about Thanksgiving. She brought her husband who is Italian. Justin and I spent about two hours talking to them. Our time with them was really nice and we talked about a wide variety of topics.  One thing that really made Justin's night was that her husband had worked in America several years ago. He had been to Valdosta, GA and spent a good bit of time in Jacksonville, FL. Many of you may or may not know, but Justin was born in Jacksonville and lived there as a child. So it was great for them to talk about Jacksonville and connect over the things they both had seen and experienced there. We exchanged numbers with them and we plan to have dinner with them in the New Year. Please pray for our contact with this family. Pray that our friendship would continue to grow and that we would be used a vessels for the Gospel in their lives.

We hope and pray that everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. We will be coming for a short stateside visit in December. We are thankful to our families for helping make this happen and we are excited to pass that time together celebrating our King.  We hope to see you soon!

Love,
Carli & Justin

Thanksgiving

Hello All,

We have some specific prayer requests to throw your way. This weekend we are going to be "running the show" so to speak at the English club. The English club is called MySpace and it is done twice a month on Saturdays by our pastor, his wife, and two youth for Christ interns. It typically has 10-15 kids that are in middle school and high school. We helped out and participated in one in October. The kids really enjoy it and they have several regulars that come every time. This week our pastor and a few people from church will be going around to the schools in town and doing an English lesson about Thanksgiving. During the lesson they will invite the children to the English club.  The theme of the English club this week is Thanksgiving and thankfulness.  Every English club is obviously focused on English, but it is also an outreach opportunity.  We pray that as we continue to meet and form friendships with the youth that they would see us as not only nice good people, but as people who love and live for the Lord.

Then on Sunday we will have a Thanksgiving dessert tasting event. As a church we are making several apple, pecan, and pumpkin pies.  We have invited everyone in the city to come and have a taste. This is another strategic way to get to know the people in our community and for them to hear the Gospel. Please pray that Justin and I would have the words in Italian and in English to speak words of hope and truth.  Please be in prayer for our church body as we prepare and serve. We want God to get all of the glory through our efforts. We love and appreciate you reading and praying with us. We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Hug your loved ones a little tighter this year and be thankful for the blessing of family.

With love,
Carli & Justin

November Update

Hello Everyone,

November has started really well for us. The weather is getting cooler and we are enjoying all of the fall colors everywhere. First things first... Justin passed his driver's test!!!!!! YAY!!!! We are so thankful to have that process behind us. We can now fully participate with the body of believers that we have come to know and love. Please pray for that body of believers in the city of Budrio. We call ourselves Impatto a Budrio (which means impact in Budrio).

This past Sunday we had the unique opportunity to have a service with almost all of the evangelical churches in the area of Bologna. Our focus was on praying for the persecuted church around the world. It was really encouraging to be together and pray together for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Please be in prayer for one of Justin's co-workers. She asked Justin last week if he would explain what he believes as a Christ follower and why he believes in the Bible. He had the opportunity to share the Gospel with her last Saturday and gave her his bible to read. She has many questions because she has never heard the Gospel. Please pray that God would continue to open her heart and her eyes to see his amazing love.

We hope that everyone is doing well. As Thanksgiving approaches we encourage you to reach out, be a little uncomfortable, and show Christ's love to someone who needs it. Remember that God uses ordinary things and ordinary people every day. Be His vessel.

We love you,
Carli & Justin

October Update

Hello,

We are doing well. We have three big praises to share with you. Number one being...our upstairs neighbors. We made them cookies and introduced ourselves a few weeks back. They invited us in and we talked for a little bit. They are from southern Italy, but they have lived in Bologna for several years. It is a mother and two daughters. The girls are very sweet and they love English. We hope to have dinner together soon.  Our prayer is that they would see Christ through our lives and our friendship with their family.

Number two...we got a car!!!  With some help from supporters we were able to buy a car. Of course you may be thinking...can Justin legally drive it? The answer is no, not yet. He will take the driving part of his test next Thursday. Please be praying for him. Like the written part of the exam, the driving part of the test is difficult. We will let you know how it turns out.

Number three...we found a church body. There is a new church plant that is about 25 minutes away. It has just recently started in the Spring. It is led by an Italian pastor from Bologna. He is married to a really sweet woman from the U.K. We are excited to see how the Lord uses us and develops this body of believers for His glory.

Thank you for always praying and supporting us. We are praying for you.

With love,
Carli  & Justin

Autumn is here

It is hard to believe that autumn is already here. We have been in Bologna for one month and every day we are getting more familiar with our new area. We are going to take this post to tell you a little about the town we live in. We live in a small town that is a suburb of Bologna. The town is called San Pietro in Casale. It has about two stop lights and lots of flat farming land. It reminds us of south Georgia. There are around 11 thousand people living here. Last Sunday we walked to the park nearby and saw many families spending their afternoon there. Like us, most of the people here commute to Bologna for work. We hope that in the coming months we will begin to know our neighbors and build relationships.

Speaking of neighbors we are getting some new ones this week. The house that we live in has an upstairs area that has been empty since we have been here. We learned this week from our landlord that there is a mom and two girls moving in upstairs this week. We are excited to meet them. Please be praying for all of our new relationships here.

This month we had a couple of great opportunities to spend time with Justin's colleague and his wife. They are a really sweet couple from the southern part of Italy.  They have been so open and welcoming to us. We have explained some of what we believe as believers and they are very curious. Please pray for them. Justin works closely with him every day. Pray also for Justin that he would allow the Lord to work though him at his job.

Carli has enrolled in an Italian language school and she will begin lessons the second week in October. She is excited to meet her classmates and teacher. Her hope is that through this class she would be able to build relationships that lead to the sharing of her faith. She has also been blessed with three families with children that want English lessons. She began those this week and they went really well.

We are praying for you and your impact where you are. Please pray for us. We believe so strongly in the power of prayer. There is no doubt in our mind that God will provide for us and use all of us for His kingdom.

We love you,
Justin & Carli

Bologna

Hello Everyone,

The last part of August was really wonderful for us.  Carli's parents and aunt came over for a two week visit. Together we were able to relax, encourage, and love on one another. We consider this a huge blessing and we are so very thankful for that time together. Like when Justin's family came to visit, Carli's family also had the opportunity to spend time with our friends we have made here.  It was wonderful to see their hearts for our friends. We were even able to spend the afternoon with Justin's language exchange partner and her husband. We could tell that it meant a lot to them for our family to spend time and talk together. This is a picture of that afternoon together.

While her parents were here we made our move to Bologna. We have taken this first week of September to unpack and set up our new home. Justin started his new job on Monday and he's learning many new things every day. We are excited to see how God will use both blessings of a home and a job for His glory. Carli is looking for a job and for a place to take Italian classes. Daily we are trying to see all of the difficulties and challenges of changing and transitioning into a new area through a Gospel lens. We are trusting in God to provide our every physical, spiritual, and emotional need. Our prayer is that God would use us as clay vessels for His kingdom and that we would rely on Him to guide us.  We hope to get plugged into a community of believers here soon and see how we can serve.


Love,
Carli & Justin

August Break

Hello everyone,

We are alive and well despite the weather as of late. This summer has been much more tolerable for us in our apartment since we haven't seen 100 degree temperatures like we had this time last year. Carli and I have been free for the last two weeks after my training finished in July. We have taken this opportunity to rest and study up for the beginning of this next school year.

 Since many of you might not yet know, we are moving the end of this month to Bologna, Italy. I have received a new position at the school where I currently work, and this new position will be in the city of Bologna, which is just north of Florence by 60 miles. Our mission and purpose does not change with this move, however we had to make a choice for the stability of our family since it has been very difficult financially to live in Florence even with both of us working. Also, as many of you know, Carli has not been paid on time at her past job. So, the last 6 months we have been praying that the Lord give us guidance on where and what we need to do. We believe that He has given us some direction.

 Please pray for us as we make this transition to another city and region of Italy. Also, pray that we find the right church in that area where we can work and serve. We are currently looking at two different churches in the area that we are moving to. We'd also ask that you pray for a job where Carli can work but allows her to continue her Italian studies and outreach opportunities with our new church home.

We will try to continue to keep you all up to date as things change but we want you all to know that we have an incredible peace about this move and we realize that practically this move gives us more freedom to have an impact in people's lives so that we can live out our mission for the Lord's kingdom.

Thank you all again for your support and prayers and please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to know more,

In Christ,

Carli and Justin

Summer Update

 The last three months have been busy and very productive. We have been blessed by many visitors and look forward to more visitors in the next months. It has been so encouraging and refreshing to have friends and family come and see our home here. We have been able to share with them face to face the relationships that the Lord is building here. We hope that our visitors are able to experience more than just the beautiful art and history. Our desire is that they are able to go back to America with a heart that is burdened for the lost here in Italy and that they pray for God's Gospel to be spread globally. 

Last week Carli finished her job at the preschool and she is searching for a new job. She has seen the Lord's hand in her work at the school and she is ever grateful that God provided that job for her. In the meantime she is working hard to improve her Italian. In addition to taking lessons she is doing something called language exchange.  During these exchange sessions she meets with two ladies and "exchanges" English for Italian and vice-versa . As you can imagine it is also a great way to build friendships. 

The church body that we have been meeting with is continuing to strengthen as a core group of believers. We are weekly encouraged and challenged by this diverse group and we pray that the Lord will continue to mold this body.  Please be praying for Justin as he is preaching the last two weeks of July. Pray that the Lord would continue to use us a vessels for His kingdom.

Yearly Update

Hello Everyone,

We just wanted to let you all know that our ministry video is finished thanks to our dear friend Giosue. We hope that through this, you are able to see how the Lord is using us here and also to pray for the ministry here in Florence. We have uploaded it to youtube, but we ask that you do not upload the video to Facebook for right now.

Thank you all for your support and prayers,

Justin and Carli

link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE0L4yoEWIs&feature=youtu.be

March Update

These two pictures are from last weekend in a little city outside of Florence. We spent the weekend with our friend Clotilde. She is like an aunt to us and we are always so thankful for her kindness towards us. Our hope is that through our time spent together she would be curious to know more about this amazing hope we have in Jesus. It was refreshing as a couple to breathe in the fresh air that we often miss living in a city. We were also able to spend time in awe of the beauty of creation. As we looked at all of the trees and flowers bursting forth with new life we were reminded of our hearts' desire to see that newness of life in the people here as well.

Hello Friends and Family!

Wow March is quickly flying by. We are so thankful that the weather is starting to feel more like Spring. We are both staying very busy with work and language study. Carli is already beginning to see improvement with Italian and it is very encouraging for her to be able to communicate better. Justin has been studying very hard for his Driver's Theory Exam that is quickly approaching. Please continue to pray for him as this test is frustrating and difficult, but we know that with the Lord's help he can pass. On to the issue of immigration. Justin was able to send in all of his documents for immigration, but we had an issue with Carli's. It is a long story and we won't confuse you with the silly details, but we hope that by the end of this week we will have everything in order and we can send off for Carli's renewal also.  Through all of our frustration we know that we serve a God of faithfulness and He has promised to care for us.

We feel like in this season we need a lot of prayer in all aspects of our lives. That being said please pray for the spiritual warfare here. We know that our God is not a God of confusion, so please pray for us to have direction in our ministry here. Please pray that we would stay in His will and in His word.  We are thankful that we are seeing signs of a small community of believers growing from the church plant we are a part of. Our hope is that through our community we would always be focused on building God's kingdom here in Florence. That is our challenge for you as well. As you read this we hope that you are encouraged to step out of your comfort zone right where you are and search out ways to build His kingdom. We know that no matter how difficult and frustrating life can be at times we are here to have joy in God. We remind each other daily to live in the moment of today and give thanks for everything.

Lastly please pray for this country and its people. We smile because we are often asked, "Don't you feel like you are living in a movie in Florence, Italy?". Sadly it is quite the contrary.  We do not deny that it is a blessing to live in such a beautiful place rich in art and history.  However once the newness of these things fade away your heart is burdened for the people who live here.  They are in desperate need of the truth of the Gospel.  It is our hope that as Easter approaches their eyes and hearts would be opened to the freedom and grace found at the cross.

Thank you for your support and prayers,
Carli & Justin

End of February

We can hardly believe February is almost finished and March is quickly coming. As we have written previously, February was busy but very fruitful.  We have had so many opportunities to meet new people and open our lives and home to encourage them.  Justin has had several opportunities through his job to share the Gospel and we are so thankful that the Lord is opening the relationships. We ask that you pray for continued opportunities to share the love and hope that we have in Christ Jesus with the people we work with and see weekly.

We are excited that as the Spring comes we will have more daylight and warmer days.   We are hoping to use this time to learn more about the city we live in through our friends.  It is also a great time for Justin to prepare for taking the Italian drivers exam.  The exam is very intense and difficult even for Italians.  This is something that everyone can help us with. Please pray that Justin has the discipline and concentration to study for the theory part of the test. It is a forty question true/false driving theory test in Italian.  He is only allowed to miss four questions. His test date is set for April 23rd. Over the next few months please pray for Justin and for all of the red tape involved to be removed.

Lastly our visa renewal appointment is quickly arriving. On March 7th we will go to renew our visas.  We are thankful for God providing jobs and resources that should make this process go smoothly. We will keep you updated on how it goes.

Thank you for your love and support!
Carli & Justin

Update from January

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to update everybody on how the month of January was for us. First of all, we are thankful for how we were able to transition into the New Year. This past month, we both have been sick because of the viruses that have been going around. Carli, more so than me. I am still getting over a cold but Carli seems to be feeling much better. Thank you for all of your prayers while we have been getting over our sickness.

The weather has still been pretty rainy and cold. We know it's not as cold as the States, but when it rains everyday 35 degrees is feels cold. We are still fighting our humidity problem because of how rainy it has been. Our dehumidifier is working really well though. The humidity has dropped from 95% to 65% in the house so it is able to stay dry. We ask that you guys pray that our landlord can fix our ceiling this week and the other leak that has started. Don't worry though the house isn't falling apart : ) It's just maintenance.

On another note, Carli had her interview on Wednesday and she will be going back for a second interview on Friday afternoon. Please pray that the Lord gives her clarity with her job change because of how it will affect our future for the next couple of years.

The church plant is going really well. We are praying over the next weeks of how we will transition into Italian in the services. This morning there were 41 of us. The Lord is really showing us His grace through each and every day. Please pray for the Lord's guidance with our small group and how we should go forward with Italian.

We also sent out our Visa Renewal Packet. Thank you Union Baptist for your help in this matter. We sent out our request for a two year visa and are waiting for our appointment with the immigration office on March 6. It will be great to have our visa renewed for two years so we don't have to worry about the process.

Carli has also started Italian private lessons on Monday and Thursday. One of my students is an Italian teacher and is a blessing with helping our Italian. Pray that Carli can have an impact on Anna's life as they meet twice a week.

This Saturday I am going to Rome to pick up a car. We have some missionary friends from Rome who have to return to the US for 6 months. They have asked us to help them watch their car for the following 6 months while they are stateside. This is a big blessing for us because while I am studying for my Italian Driver's License I can practice with this car on the roads. We also are able to go out the big market to stock up on food for cheaper prices. My American License will expire in May so I will let you know how the process starts with my new License. It may not sound like much, but an Italian license usually costs about 750 dollars and takes about 2 months to complete. The test is all in Italian so that doesn't help. Pray for this guys so that I am prepared.

Carli and I are continuing investing in the friendships that we have. Please keep a couple in mind when you think of us. They are Francesco and Eliana. He is Italian and she is Brazilian. As far as we know, she is a believer but he has some reservations with church. We had them over Saturday night and we had a really good time.

Thank you all for your love and support as we have gotten back to routine. Please keep in touch with us as you are able. It really does help hear from you all.
Love You all,
In Christ,
Carli and Justin

Prayer Request

Hey Everyone,

We are writing to ask that you pray for Carli on Wednesday. She has an interview with a Preschool here near our house. It would be a great answer to prayer if she gets this job. It would save her 10 hours a week of commute. Thank you for your prayers and support,

We love you all,

Justin and Carli

Be Still

Hello All! I am keeping this post short. I just want to share a few thoughts with you all from this week.
  
Some days I feel like the world is all turned sideways. I feel like everyone else is going about their normal lives and I am the only one who notices something is off. Then I get a chance to stop and take a step back and realize I was looking at the picture wrong.  That is what this week has been for me (Carli). I was out of work for the latter part of this week because of sickness.  I am so thankful for this break, because it gave me time to think. I think it is easy as humans to get so caught up in things that we have to get done in the day that we sometimes miss what God's purpose for the day is. I know I often get so caught up that I forget to slow down and just be still. This is something that Justin and I both strive to be better at this year. To be still and know that He is God. Everything else fades away in those moments, but what if they were not just moments? What if they were more than just moments and actually began to make up our whole day or week? It is something that we pray for ourselves and for you.  We pray that God will help you to slow down and focus on Him. To take every day captive and through this we could see the bigger picture of our purpose on this earth.

Moving on to my next thought... Justin wrote a little poem the other day and I thought it was very beautiful. (I may be a little biased.) I thought some of you might enjoy reading it too.

"The day shows hints of spring, beauty that has not yet arrived. The light waits on its time. It must wait still until the blossom of the bud. Still those who stay in darkness know not of the grace which has already shown its splendor. It shows not with hints and glimmers; as if to be holding back in secret. The light of this passing world shone brightly but was forgotten. All was but lost and yet the light, yet faint began to grow however many do not see or hear. Spring comes to those who love it, not just to those who enjoy its beauty."


Thank you for reading and praying for us. We are so thankful!
Carli & Justin

A few prayer needs:
*Justin is preaching at Mosaico Church on Sunday
*Carli starts Italian language classes this week
*Continued direction about ministry opportunities here

Winter 2014

Justin & Ryutaro

Hey Everybody,

We can't believe we are over half way through January. We both worked more than usual this week which was good and challenging. Carli struggled at work this week. She knows that she loves working with kids, but ever since she has returned to work she has not had a peace about the situation.  Please pray for direction in this area of her life.  If there is something else she needs to be doing, we pray that it would be made evident.

Last Sunday at church we learned about what church looks like as a community. It was very challenging and insightful.  We as a church hope in the coming months to begin two community groups.  One will be for the large amount of college students that study abroad in Florence.  We have been so encouraged by the steady flow of students each new semester brings.  Most of them have an eagerness to serve and learn. The other group will be for long term residents of Florence.  In both groups we will be going through a series on the basics of the church. Our prayer is that in the coming months our core group will be in one accord and grow in strength.

Now that all of the Christmas and New Years festivities are complete we are beginning to see our friends with have been ministering to on a regular basis again.  Please pray for these relationships to continue to grow and that God would continually give us opportunities to share Him with them. We may have mentioned them in past blogs, but here are four of them: Clotilde (retired lawyer and Justin's student), Sergio (native Florentine who we eat with every week), Ryutaro ( young Japanese believer searching for direction in his life), and Simona (young woman from Romania who is searching for truth).

Thank you for your prayers and love.

Justin & Carli

A New Week

Hello everybody,

We hope that you all had a great weekend and Epiphany. We are back at work and going about our week as usual. Last weekend, we had a great dinner with some friends who aren't believers. They wanted to have us over to recap from before Christmas. We have had some good discussion with them about spiritual things and have made a good friendship with them. We also took our time cleaning our house this past weekend because we have a little mold problem. Since many of the homes in Florence don't have dryers, we have to dry our laundry indoors. This of course, causes moisture and leads to things like black mold. We finally broke down and bought a dehumidifier, (thanks to New River) and hope to have a much dryer house in the coming days.

Carli and I have been searching and praying for a solution to Carli's job problem. She enjoys where she works, except she doesn't get paid on time. I spoke with someone in Florence at another school about Carli's predicament and so we sent her Curriculum Vitae over for the director of this school to look over. Please pray for this job that she potentially may get. We need her to be closer to home and not work so much so that she can devote more time to the ministry needs of the community.

Finally, please pray for our spiritual direction. We feel like we are where we need to be, but we are asking for clarity with how we can be used in this new church plant. We are willing to serve as much as we can, we just want it to be God leading and not us trying to make something happen. Our core group of believers is small but is united when it comes to making much of Jesus in this city. This is our prayer for our neighborhood, communities and nations within these city walls.

We wanted to post a picture of our square near our house. This square holds lots of people each and every day. The "Piazza" is something that we are unfamiliar with in the US but is part of the Italian culture. Tons of people from this section of town meet here throughout the day. Older people come to talk to life long friends in the morning and hundreds of young folks gather late into each night talking and smoking pot. This is where community happens for so many who are lost in Florence. Do we as the bride of Christ have a real community? This is a question every one of us should ponder.

Thank you for your support and prayers as we all work for His Kingdom,

Carli and Justin

Welcoming the New Year

Happy New Year everyone!

Carli and I just returned to home after taking a Christmas break with our families for the last two weeks. We really enjoyed our stay and are grateful to everyone who blessed us with all the good food and company. We are excited to get back to work and ministry here in Florence. The Lord has given us rest and we are praying to stay faithful and obedient this new year with His plans for our lives.

First please pray for Mosaico Church.  It is a recent church plant here in our neighborhood. If you would like to check it out here is a link to the website: http://mosaicochurch.org/ We are praying that the Lord raises up long term leadership in this church plant. Next we are praying for Carli's current job situation. Her contract will end in June, so in the coming months we will begin searching for a new job. Please pray that the Lord shows us where she needs to be working. We ask that you pray for Justin as he starts back work tomorrow. Pray that he can balance both work and studying for his driver's license in the next few months. Finally, we ask that you pray for our visa renewal. We hope all goes smooth this next month with immigration so that we can continue to stay in Florence. We are trying to get better at blogging so expect us to write more often this year and please take note that we have changed the name of our blog.

Thanks so much again for your support and prayers.

Carli and Justin