Gifts fit for a King

During this advent season, I've been pondering the significance of the gifts that the wisemen brought to Christ. These men travelled a great distance in order to honor Jesus and worship him. The Scriptures tell us that when the wisemen arrived to the house where Christ was, they, "fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh." (Matthew 2:11)

Now, when I think of these gifts given, I think of the value that they brought. However the value of those gifts added nothing to the title and person of Jesus. No person would ever go to an earthly king or queen and offer up monetary gifts to somehow bribe or add to their personal wealth. This type of action would probably dishonor the monarch. The apostle Paul gives us another look into the authority of Christ when he tells the crowds in Athens that God cannot be, "served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything." (Acts 17:25)

So, if these gifts did not serve any purpose in adding to Christ' kingship, why do they give them to Jesus? Well, I think that the purpose in giving these gifts was primarily to convey their tribute, love and joy for the child. The gold, frankincense and myrrh were given to show that the wisemen's true treasure was not found in those objects but in Christ. The point of this was to show their allegiance to Christ as King of the Universe for who he was and not what they could get or receive from him.

In the same way, I as a follower of Christ have the tendency to not give my life, time and money to Christ for the sake of magnifying his lordship but to somehow buy his favor in my family and future. From the outside it may seem as if the things I do for the Gospel are selfless but it becomes evident that the more I "sacrifice" the more I look to Jesus to meet my desires, my affections and priorities for my joy in my life, not his kingship. My prayer this holiday season is that we as his children do not forget that the gifts we bring him are not to bribe or add to anything to Christ, but that we as the wisemen remain infatuated in him for Jesus alone and not for any other motive.

Carli and I pray that you all have a Merry Christmas and that the gifts you bring Jesus show that He is your treasure and not the gifts.

The Joy of Advent

Hello Everyone,

George Mallory was the famed mountain climber who would have been the first person ever to reach the top of Mount Everest. In the early 1920’s he led a number of attempts to scale the mountain, eventually being killed in the third attempt in 1924. His body was found in 1999, well preserved by the snow and ice, 27,000 feet up the mountain, just 2000 feet from the peak. Give up he did not. His body was found face down on a rocky slope, head toward the summit. His arms were extended high over his head. His toes were pointed into the mountain; his fingers dug into the loose rock, refusing to let go even as he drew his last breath. 

In 1922, when Mallory was asked why climb Everest this is the reply he gave:

“If you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you won’t see why we go. What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to enjoy the joy of life.. That is what life means and what life is for.”

We pursue joy like George that we can never keep when Christ took joy at a cost unimaginable and gave it to us as a gift. This is the meaning of Christmas. That what is good and precious in your life need never be lost and what is evil and undesirable in your life can be changed. The fears that the few good things that bring you joy are slipping through your fingers, and the frustrations that the bad things you hate about yourself or your situation can’t be changed. These fears and these frustrations are what the advent of Christ came to destroy. These frustrations that we face are always there because that fight and struggle for joy never leaves us. Why not stop fighting for something that you will never achieve and take eternal joy as a gift? 

As Carli and I are spending this Advent season with friends and family, we pray that our joy is in Christ and that our happiness is not in something that doesn't last. 

We love all of you!

Wrap up of November

Hello Everyone, 

These past few weeks have been crazy busy for Carli and I as we are spending most nights sharing with small groups about what the Lord is doing in Budrio. Last week was such a great encouragement for us as we shared Thanksgiving with several friends in Houston. This picture is an example of how our core group is reaching out to our friends from Budrio for Thanksgiving. Even though Italians don't celebrate this holiday it was great to see our people living out Gospel community with folks and talking about our Thanksgiving tradition. 

We want to encourage all of you that keep up with us to continue praying for the Lord to open doors with partnerships with individuals and churches throughout the States as we are at our half way point here before we head back. Carli and I both have been reminded daily that our trust is in God who promises to provide all that we need. 

We want to thank again all of you who are praying for us during this time and we hope to be able to see you all at some point before the end of the year. We pray that as we get into Advent season that we remember truly what the coming of Christ means for us and the reconciliation that He brings every Christmas. 

What is the next step with Immigration?

We have seen over the past several months a shift in the demographics of western nations. Much of this shift is due to mass migration from people who have had their homes destroyed by war, famine etc. Many of these refugee's ways of life have come to a complete stop as a result of the tumult throughout the world, but mainly in Islamic countries. Due to militant Islamic groups such as ISIS and Al Qaeda, millions of Muslims are fleeing their homes and trying to find a better and peaceful life in places such as Europe and North America.

Germany, the largest economy in Europe is pledging to bring in more than a million syrian refugees while most European states will be taking in some 1-2 million collectively. As of last week the majority of American governors have blocked the recent request by the Obama Administration to bring in a proposed 10,000 Syrian refugees into Asylum here in the United States. Despite the efforts that have been made to enforce back-ground checks with these individuals, a good number of Americans and other mainstream media outlets are calling for a complete halt on accepting any refugees. This opinion is based on ideas that some of these Syrians could be sleeping cells for terrorism and create a bigger threat to the security of our nation.

I understand these concerns especially in the wake of what just happened in Paris, however we as Christians must not rush into this matter with decisions made without first thinking about the implications of the Gospel. Yes, I believe that we as Christ-followers should first think, reflect and pray about what Christ would want and not be overly zealous for our political and idealoglical persuasions. If I can, I'd like to give you some statistics of about Christianity to shed light on the so called problems we are facing. Also, when I say an (unreached) country I mean a country with less than 2% percent evangelical.

1. Christians make up 33% of the worlds population, but receive 53% of the world's annual income and spend 98% on themselves. (Barrett and Johnson 2001,656)

2. Of foreign mission funding: 87% goes for work among those already Christian. 12% for work among already evangelized, but Non-Christian. 1% for work among the unevangelized and unreached people. (Baxter 2007, 12)

3. 90% of foreign missionaries work among already reached people groups. 10% work among unreached people groups. (Winter and Koch, 543)

4. American Christians spend 95% of offerings on home-based ministry, 4.5% on cross-cultural efforts in already reached people groups, and .5% to reach the unreached. (The Traveling Team)

Now, these migrants are coming from countries who have war torn zones brought about by radical Islam. These people are now migrating to historically Christian Europe and now North America. Now my question is this. Do you think that this vast migration is only a secret plan by ISIS to take over the world? Or do you think that the God of the Universe is bringing His people from around the globe to areas where they can hear the message of the Gospel of Christ? If we will not take advantage of this amazing gift to share  the Gospel to the unreached among the nations, then Christ will bring them to our shores. Will we take advantage of this gift or continue to use excuses of terrorism to not give our lives to the unreached?

Remember Christ says in Matthew, "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." Matthew 16:33

Why Italy?

Ciao a tutti, 

I wanted to give you all this Reformation Day a glimpse into why Carli and I have a heart for the people of Italy. As many of you know today we celebrate Reformation day. It was this day that Martin Luther wrote to the Archbishop of Mainz protesting against the sales of indulgences. The letter that he sent the Archbishop later became known as The 95 Theses that changed the world. If you study the history of this day, you will find that Luther did not want to confront the church, but wanted to respond to doctrinal false church practices. 

Luther's response was intended for the work of Johann Tetzel, a dominican friar who was sent to Germany to raise money for the building of the present St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Johann was known for saying, "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs."

Now, many of us who were born into Protestant churches here in North America sometimes don't realize the affect that the Reformation had on the church. We grew up experiencing some of the most precious doctrines that had been covered up for more than a millennium. This present day in Italy, many people are without the doctrines that we hold so dear. Their conception of grace, faith and sanctification are nothing like the Bible defines them. 

Please pray for the Italian people and their hearts. Pray that the Lord opens up a beam of light as it happened 500 years ago. There is a true need that the Italian hear the true Gospel of Chris according to the Scriptures alone. We invite those of you who support and pray for us to take a minute this Reformation day and pray for another Reformation Day, one that doesn't just hit the Germanic countries but, that goes to the bottom of Sicily. 

Here is a link to show you some of what God is doing. 

https://vimeo.com/124201843

We love you all!

Thoughts for October

Hello all,

This afternoon I was reading Psalm 145 that spoke to my heart and I thought I'd share some thoughts about it.

"The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and His mercy is over all that He has made...The eyes of all look to you and you give them their food in due season, you open your hand: you satisfy the desire of every living thing." (Psalm 145:8,9,15,16)

This chapter really convinced me of the gracious steadfastness of the Lord that He puts forth day to day on mankind. I do not deserve this crazy amount of grace despite my most doubtful days. We always try to preach the fact that God is gracious and merciful but when the realities of life hit us or we experience days which don't go our way, our hearts say differently. We might not overtly say that God's not there but our responses to those problems are usually full of doubt and lack of faith.

Charles Spurgeon wrote concerning this Psalm, " Even those who refuse his grace yet share in long suffering. When men do not repent, but, on the contrary, go from bad to worse, averse to let his wrath flame forth against them. Greatly patient and anxious that the sinner may live, he "lets the lifted thunder drop", and still bears. "Love suffereth long and is kind", and God is love. And of great mercy. This is his attitude towards the guilty. When men at last repent, find pardon awaiting them. Great is their sin, and great is God's mercy, need great help, and they have it though they deserve it not; for he is good to the greatly guilty." (The treasury of David)

Now, Spurgeon speaks to the patience God has on the lost and the unrepentant. Can we just imagine for a second the love that God has for us His children? The next time we have a bad day and our actions speak to our lack of faith in God's favor and graciousness on us, we should take a close look at this Psalm.

We love you all very much,

Justin and Carli

The glory of God in the midst of fund raising

Hi Everyone,

We have now been in Houston for 4 weeks. During this time, we have learned a lot, whether it be in our marriage, networking with others, fund raising and church ministry. We are starting to understand that our timing in life may not always be what God allows. We came to Houston with a fixed idea you could say, to raise funds for Impatto Budrio over the next 6 months. We can say that tentatively and we hope for that time frame, however we must not think that if we stay longer that something is wrong. The Lord will bring the increase to our needs and will see to it that everything is met.

 I was reading this morning from the book of Romans where Paul is closing his letter to the church in Rome. He writes in chapter 15, "For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience-by word or deed..." (Romans 15:18) Again, I'm astonished at how many times the apostle reiterated the reason why he could not boast in anything other than was Christ accomplished in and through him. I have found this incredibly encouraging as we invite brothers and sisters to participate in this vision and mission for Italy. No matter the time it takes to get back in Italy, I'm called to make much of how Christ is bringing about that good work until it's completion.

I wonder sometimes if this is part of the reason why God may not allow us to leave or come when we project times but that we allow His perfect work through His spirit to finish what we cannot. I'd encourage those of you who read our blog to think about that with what you have planned in your life. Are those plans changeable? Do you hold things with open arms? My prayer for Carli and I this week is that we rely on Jesus and venture to speak of nothing other than what He has done through and in our lives and put our trust in His timing.

What does faith look like?

George Mueller was a native German born in 1805 and lived until 1898 dying at the age of 92. In 1834 he founded the Scripture Knowledge Institute for Home and Abroad. He was known for his immense orphan ministry. Over the period of his life, his 5 orphan homes took care of more than 10,000 children whose parents had died. At the same time, he preached an average of 3 sermons a week until he was 70 years of age. At 70 he fulfilled his life long dream to become a missionary. He traveled to 42 countries speaking on an average of at least once a day until he was 87. Out of all the money he raised, he never ask anybody directly but prayed that the Lord would provide for all of the orphans and ministries that he looked over. George died at the age of 92 years old the morning after he had led a prayer meeting. His life was a life that was given to the Gospel and he looked to God to provide all of his needs.

This past week has been trying and difficult to say the least. Carli and I have been convicted about our lack of faith in God's provision for our lives. Instead of taking each day as a blessing from God and relying on Him to take care of all of our needs both spiritual and physical, I tend to stress and worry that I may not be doing enough to make things happen. I want to do more to help God's plan come to pass so my plans come to pass. What I need to be doing is praying more like George and be still and know that He is God. (Psalm 46:10) It's been helpful for Carli and I to look to others' lives who through faith, trusted God for His provision. George Mueller is one of those people.

All of those accomplishments happened not because George had the ability to do all of that from his own energy, but the energy and finances came because He trusted a God that was bigger than him and was able to provide all that he needed.

In Houston

Hello Everyone,

We have just recently arrived in the city of Houston and have already been blown away by the hospitality of the brothers and sisters in Christ out here. We are in the process of looking for some jobs and a more permanent place to stay for the remainder of our time here.

This morning we went to Sojourn Heights for our first Sunday. This church will be helping both Carli and I in our assessment as missionaries and also our training over the next few months. Please pray that we have clarity as we settle down here and that the Lord brings folks into our path who can be a part of the ministry with Impatto Budrio (our church) in Italy.

Each week we will continue to update this blog so that you all have an idea of what the Lord is doing with our lives in this process so that you know how to pray for us in this journey. The sermon from this morning was very encouraging and eye opening on this path that we find ourselves on. Pastor Brandon spoke from Matthew 28:16-20. Something that is interesting about this passage is the fact that when the disciples went up to meet Jesus many of them worshiped him, however some doubted. The point of the sermon was the idea that even though we can be close to Jesus in our lives and in our daily struggles, we can also doubt His ability to show Himself sufficient over our lives. Doubt doesn't mean that we are always far from God. It just shows our inability to trust Him and His character by ourselves without His spirit helping us and bearing witness to the truth.

That is where we find ourselves in Houston. We are joyful that we have this opportunity to worship Jesus and be close to brothers and sisters of the faith for the next months. At the same time, not having all of the future figured out can make us doubt the Lord's ability to handle every situation as He sees fit. This is something that we need to give to Him as His children.

The promise of his authority in the next few verses, 18-20 make it quite clear to us that everything in life, no matter how bad it can get, Jesus has everything in control. Christ tells His disciples, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." This should give us a peace and comfort to live our lives for the Gospel and not look back. The confidence of that verse gives me the hope that even though I don't have everything figured out, Jesus does and He will have His good work in our lives. We just have to let Him lead.

A Wall of Faith

Hello Everyone, 

This past week Carli and I have really been thinking about our time here in the States and the purposes that the Lord has for us while being here. We know that He will provide all that we need to return home (Italy) however, we want to listen to His leading so that our hearts can grow to have a mature faith that is salted by the trails of waiting. 

I have been reading from the book of Nehemiah and through his life I have learned a lot about what it means to be in the Lord's will and wait on his timing. As I have a personality that is focused on efficiency and hard work, I can lose sight on the big picture that the Lord is working in my life. We see a glimpse of this same struggle in the life of Nehemiah. At first he seems to prosper in everything that the Lord pushes his way. God seems to give Nehemiah what he needs to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. First, Nehemiah rises through the ranks of Artaxerxes court to the highly trusted position as cup bearer. Then, when the King notices the sadness of Nehemiah, he wants to do something about it. He gives Nehemiah a building permit and military escort to return and rebuild the ruined city of Nehemiah's forefathers. When Nehemiah arrived to Jerusalem, he quickly mobilized people who lived around the wall to rebuild sections near their homes and the Scriptures say that the people, "had a mind to work." (Nehemiah 4:6) Things seemed to go very well for Nehemiah. 

Then come along Sanballat and Tobiah. Their people had a bad history with Judah's former dominance and did not want Jerusalem to bu rebuilt. These two men tried everything to get Nehemiah to stop working and rebuilding the wall. They insulted, threatened attacks, intimidated people all to slow the work of Nehemiah. But none of that worked. The "good hand of God" (Nehemiah 2:8) was on Nehemiah and his crew. All of this did however create distraction and distraction caused slow progress on the wall. Half of the people who were building had to stop and guard the city walls as the other continued to work. 

This ended up being a costly distraction. Why did God allow Nehemiah to have so much favor at first and then have so much wasted time, energy and money?

The truth is God didn't allow this to happen in vain. The Lord was not just building a wall but He was building faith. Faith is far more important at the end of the day guys than our goals. The Lord wants us to have faith which is "the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1) God gives it to us as a gift (Ephesians 2:8) He gives us this so that we can trust in what is "not seen" (Corinthians 5:7) more than what is seen. This is what Carli and I believe the Lord is doing in our present walk with Him. This trip to Texas coming up and the many months that we are spending in the US to raise awareness of Impatto Budrio (our church). He is allowing all of this because He wants our faith in His provision to be that which gets us by, not our own ability to take care of our needs. 

Will you join us in walking by faith? Will you partner in praying for the work of God in Budrio? Italy? Will you as Nehemiah did, walk out in faith and rely on the Lord to use your finances for His kingdom and not just your daily needs? He knows what we need. He knows that we need His time and His provision. 

Justin

Back in the USA

Hello everyone,

We have made it back to Georgia and spending some quality time with our families. We have seen the Lord's sufficiency in all things and are learning to lean on His provision as we start this change in our lives. It is such a blessing to encourage some of our supporting churches and to be able to be ministered through our families and friends.

 As many of you are aware of, Carli and I are continuing with our plans to go to Houston, Texas at the beginning of September to start our support raising for our return to Italy. We intend to spend the next 6 months in Houston under the care and supervision of Sojourn Heights Houston. Sojourn has been partnering with our Italian team now for quite some time and have committed to helping us with networking and fund raising as well as some ministry training over the next several months.

We need your prayers over this period as we are seeking the Lord's guidance in how to let people know what our ministry is about in Budrio, Italy and our desire to see people as well as churches partnering to see new churches planted in the Bologna area. Please pray that both Carli and I through these months can also minister to the Americans around us and give a passion for the name of Christ in all aspects of our lives.

We will keep you all updated every week as we are back to let you know how we are experiencing this transition in our lives.

Psalm 16

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to start this blog by saying thank you for all of your prayers. We have been so encouraged this past few weeks. We finished the camp a few weeks ago and it went really well. We had about 28 young people come. We did lots of silly games, different sports, English lessons, and Gospel discussions every day.  We had an incredible team come from Houston to help run the camp. They were like a breath of fresh air and we are so thankful for the time we spent with them. It was great to see and be apart of new friendships being made. We pray with fervent hearts that there would be continued growth in the Italian young people here and that they would seek out the true life changing love of God displayed for us. Below is a little taste of the camp. Thanks to the team from Houston for putting together the video. Please pray for all of the seeds that were planted.

 Last week we packed all of our things into boxes and left them with our friends here. It is great to have friends that are willing to store our stuff for us while we are stateside. Carli and Justin's sister Grace will be flying back to GA tomorrow. Justin has to stay for two reasons. He has to train his replacement at his job, and he has to wait for his visa to be processed.  He hopes to have his visa by the beginning of August. Please be praying for a speedy processing time and that Justin would stay encouraged while he is in Italy. Be praying for us as we transition into this next step of being stateside. We are happy about the opportunity to rest and catch up with family and friends. We are looking forward to being on the receiving end of encouragement and training from our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are also sad about stepping back from the Gospel work here in Italy. We are praying for people to have open hearts for the mission here in Italy. Pray for the church plant here as they daily continue to spread Gospel seeds.

 We want to leave you with Psalm 16. As we live each day here or in America, God is where we take our refuge. We hope that He is your joy and that the daily trials are nothing compared to his daily mercies towards us.

"[1] Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. [2] I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” [3] As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. [4] The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips. [5] The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. [6] The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. [7] I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. [8] I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. [9] Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. [10] For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. [11] You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Love,
Justin & Carli

June Update

Hello Family and Friends,

As the first official day of summer is quickly approaching we are definitely feeling the change in the seasons. We are enjoying the extra hours of daylight and the cool nights.  We have used them as opportunities to share meals with our friends here. It has been great to see how our friendships have grown since we have moved to this area ten months ago. The Lord continues to provide us with friends that feel like family.  We are so grateful for those relationships. Missing family and friends in America is one of the hardest parts about living far away. The Lord is great in providing comfort when we need comfort, while still showing us that we must rely on Him daily.  As we are transitioning into this new phase of being stateside and raising support we are realizing more and more how sweet it is to have our Heavenly Father in control of everything.

Please be praying for us as these coming weeks and months will be full of ministry here as well as preparing for our return to America. One specific ministry you can be praying for is the Sport's Camp that we will be helping in.  It will be at the end of June and we are excited to work alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ to reach out to the young people in Budrio. Justin's sister is staying with us for the next five weeks and she will also be helping with the camp. We are excited to see how the Lord uses this time in her life to mold her view of frontier missions.

In the coming weeks we will be packing all of our stuff up and leaving it with different friends. Be in prayer for all of the logistical stuff involved, and that we would be able to smoothly make this transition. Lastly prayer for our church family and our friends.  We hope and pray that we are always vessels carrying the light of the Gospel and not a stumbling block. Thank you for your prayers.

With love,
Justin & Carli

God is Enough

Hello Family & Friends! We hope that you are well. I wanted to start this blog post with a short quote by Oswald Chambers.

“Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.”

It is simple, but it has been something that we have both been focusing on these past two weeks. Our hope is that the people we are with on a daily basis see our confidence in the character of God. As we have looked at scripture and at our own lives we have seen how God's character is very vast but always true. He has showed us endless mercy and love, which challenges us to give endless mercy and love. He never breaks a promise and he is the ultimate comforter and restorer. He created everything in the universe and He knows how many hairs we have on our head.

Our hope is that we can show people the Gospel and our Savior so that they can experience the greatness of Him. With all of our struggles...BIG and small we know that God is taking us through every step. He is so faithful to us and He is always enough. Our challenge for you this week is to dwell on His character. Fill your life up with more of Him. He is always and forever will be enough. Please be praying for us. We have such a peace about where God is leading us, even though we don't understand what our future holds.

With love from Italy,
Justin & Carli

Spring Update

Hello Everyone,

We hope you are well and that you are enjoying the Spring weather. We trust that you had a peaceful Easter season.  We had the joy of witnessing two baptisms on Easter Sunday. It was special because there were three church bodies represented in the service.  It was encouraging for us and for our brother and sister that were baptized to have that support.  It was a great time to celebrate Christ's death and resurrection.

Our days are becoming much longer here and the life of the city seems to be waking up. As we walk to work we pray for the city. We pray for the people to have an awakening in their hearts. We are praying that the Gospel seeds that are being planted by not only us but everyone here would find fertile soil. Our prayer for you is that the Gospel would not only be the Good News that we read about in the Bible, but it would be a joy that overcomes your daily lives.  That it would change how you see your neighbors, your co-workers, and the lady behind you in the grocery store. We pray that it would give you hearts of compassion and a love for sharing this Good News without fear. The Gospel is daily transforming our lives here and growing our passion to see people love the Lord.

We hope that you all are well and we thank you for praying for us. We have many new things that we need you to be praying for. We have spent months praying about serving in a more full time role in the city of Budrio, and we both have a peace about serving alongside the team there. Currently, the majority of our finances come from our current jobs as English teachers.  As English teachers we've had a strategic platform with the people since we moved to Italy.  We both have learned so much through our jobs and we have made many friends. Now we are entering a transitional phase with our calling here and we will be temporarily stepping down from our teaching jobs here. We understand that this transition is a leap of faith for us but we have a peace and a hope for where the Lord has us.

In August we will be returning stateside with the goal of raising financial support so that we can have more time to work alongside this community of believers.  We are returning for a set period of time to make contact with both individuals and churches who are called to support the Lord’s work in Budrio, Italy.  One of our biggest needs is a sending church that would be willing to send us back to Italy. One of the biggest regrets we have had with the past few years is not asking for more help before we came to Italy.  So it is our prayer that God would send us partners that would help us. We need spiritual encouragement, prayer, and financial support.  Please pray that the Lord would lead us to men, women, and families that have a heart for the Gospel to be proclaimed and lived throughout the country of Italy. Our heart and passion is the pursuit of Jesus Christ and the advancement of His Kingdom. 

Thank you for praying for us!

Justin & Carli

Wait Patiently

"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" Isaiah 30:18

Hello everyone! The past few weeks have been very challenging for both of us. We have been struggling with direction in our lives and in ministry. We are staying encouraged in the Word and by talking to friends about our needs. We are learning daily of the importance of faith in all things. It is amazing how the Lord is teaching us through these difficult situations.

As many of you may know our goal is to move to the city that we are currently helping plant a church. It is about 25 miles away from the city we are living in now, but it takes us an hour and a half one way by train to get there. So in order to cultivate the relationships we already have and continue making new ones we are moving... again. We began looking for places on the internet and we went and looked at one last Saturday. After seeing it we took the weekend to pray about it and then we made an offer on Monday. They accepted our offer and we will move in at the end of June. We are both so thankful to be in the community with believers and to see how God uses this new church plant for His kingdom.

Please continue to pray for us as a family. We are financially struggling and we are currently praying about ways to supplement our income with support. Please be praying for Justin, his co-workers, and students he is weekly having opportunities to share the Gospel.

Thank you for praying for us.

Justin & Carli

Rejoice

Hello Everyone,

We are doing well over here in Italy. There are many great things happening and we need you to continue to pray.  We are seeing lots of seeds planted and we are praying that they will find fertile ground. There are a few specific prayer requests that we need you all to pray for. The first being Justin's work colleagues. There are two of his colleagues that are searching the scripture and wanting to meet Justin to study the Bible on a weekly basis.  Please pray that their hearts would continue to be open and the the Lord would save them. We have been so challenged by their willingness to know the truth and Justin is so excited about sharing the Gospel with them. The second is our community in Budrio (the town that our church body is in). We have many service projects, camps, and English clubs coming up in the coming months. It is incredible to see how the town is opening up to us as a church body, serving in their community.  There are many needs in the community and we are excited about the opportunity to help fill some of the physical needs there. We know that the more our body of believers gets woven into the community, the more we will be trusted.

This is a picture from the English Club that we help with every other Saturday. The subject this past week was Love.  In this picture we are playing charades. Pray for these young people and for their hearts to be opened.

We will leave you with this verse from Psalm 100:

"Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all of the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations."

Be encouraged and rejoice in the Lord,

Justin & Carli

Be Encouraged

This is Matteo and Justin walking home after Bible study Sunday. Matteo is the local butcher who is a new believer, He along with another woman from our church will be baptized on Easter Sunday. Pray for their continual growth and love for the Lord.

Hello Everyone,

We hope you are doing well. It is hard to believe that we are a few days away from finishing January. It has been a very encouraging month for us. Each week we are learning the importance of staying in the Word and living it out. We are realizing the importance of storing up these encouraging times to help us fight times of discouragement.

As I was reading today, I was really encouraged by this quote:

"God will exalt the name of his Son through us — going before us in the hearts of our listeners, then sending us to speak the good news to them, all the while promising to go with us and provide us with everything we need along the way, and finally fulfilling and completing all that he calls us to do. Jesus’s name will be known, and believed, and treasured. May it happen through me."

That last sentence is how we both strive to live.  It is our hope for the people we spend every day with to know, believe, and treasure our Savior.  It is our prayer that we would not be results driven. God calls us to be faithful and to treasure Him above all. Pray with us that our lives would reflect Him as our treasure.  Please be in prayer for direction in the church we serving in. We are so thankful because there have been many doors opening in the city for ministry. Pray for Carli as she begins Italian classes again.  Be encouraged... God is using ordinary people to bring his sheep to Him.

With warm hugs from Italy,
Justin & Carli

Christmas Visit & Return to Italy

Hello family and friends,

We are back safe and sound in Italy. We had the most wonderful Christmas visit in Georgia. We feel so blessed and ready to start working hard again. It was such an encouraging and refreshing visit. While we were there we had the opportunity to visit three of our church families. We want to thank each person who took the time to listen to us and encourage us. It was so tempting to stay in that warm comforting environment, but we know God has plans for us here in Italy. With heavy hearts we returned to our Italian home. Justin began working the day we returned and I started back today with one of my private students. We are both excited about the new year and we are striving to be more disciplined in all aspects of our lives. Please pray that we would stay encouraged every day. It is always so difficult to be surrounded by so much darkness. Continue to pray for our little church plant, Impatto Budrio. We hope and pray that your day to day lives are Gospel driven and that you are able to impact your community with the love of Christ.

With love from Italy,
Carli & Justin