July Update

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

Il Giorno di San Giovanni

Tonight was a real treat for Carli and me. We were able to watch the 45 minute firework show for Saint John Day. We had the day off since it was a public holiday for the city of Florence, so it was good to spend the day getting little odds and ends caught up before we go back to work tomorrow. 

I would like to share a little something that we have been studying at our Church the last few weeks. We have studied 1 John and commandments for the church to love one another. The passage that I have thought about much lately is in the beginning of the book. 

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life,which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete." (1 John 1:1-4)

The Apostle John was writing about the hope that all Christians have in Christ so that their joy would be complete. My question for myself lately has been, "Is your Joy complete?" This is a question that I would like to ask you as well. Is your Joy complete? This passage should give us a joy and hope that cannot be described. The life of Jesus was made manifest 2 thousand years ago, and He was seen, heard and touched. That same Word which existed with the Father from eternity past, came to this earth to proclaim life to those in death, to give hope to the broken-heart, to release those who sat in darkness. Jesus has come once. His coming was made known and it was recorded. Are we living as if this really happened? Is our joy in life complete because the Word of Life has given us eternal joy and happiness forever? 

My prayer is that as we contemplate this truth, the Spirit of Truth, would guide our hearts so that we may see the satisfaction and joy we have in Jesus. All of the temporal things of this world will do us no good when we have passed from this world into the next. No matter how difficult things may seem to be, our joy is made complete because on Christ our solid rock we stand, even though all around us is sinking sand. 

We love you all very much,

Carli and Justin

June Update

It is difficult to believe that another two weeks have pasted since our last update. 
We are staying very busy with work right now which is a blessing because we always find ourselves meeting new people. We are thankful to the Lord for bringing us this far on this new journey and we only pray that we will remain attentive to the Spirit's leading as we work and live among so many lost. I find myself thinking of how many people that we have already got to know these past three months and to think about all of those that we have still yet to meet. 

We have made a new contact with a wonderful family. The mother, Claudia is one of the students at the school where I teach. Last week, she invited Carli and I to dinner at her house on Sunday night. When she told me what she wanted to cook for us, it was an offer we could not refuse. We stayed at her house with her husband and two daughters for more than 4 hours. It was a great evening to say the least. Please pray for Fabrizio,Claudia and their two daughters. We really think that our friendship will grow throughout the summer. 

Carli is doing well these past two weeks with work. She is still going to Prato, (a small city close to Florence) to train for her future job that will be starting in September. We are praying that her documents will be ready in time so that she can have a work contract. I'm going next week to the city council to try and speed up her visa process so that we will have assurance come August regarding her work visa. Please pray that Carli will have peace and direction with her future at this school. The work will be tough and she will be around kids all day who only speak Italian. 

On a more practical note, the weather here is changing rapidly. This past week, we saw highs reach 95 degrees. Since we, as well as many here, do not have air conditioning, this can be challenging. We do enjoy our evenings though when it cools down. We also were able to experience our first earthquake. It was a 5.3 magnitude about 65 miles north of us. We are on the top floor of our building, so when it started, our living room started to rock back and forth a bit for about 20 seconds. It was pretty terrifying : )

We appreciate again all that you all are doing for us as we continue the work that we know the Lord has called us to. We are here to make disciples of Jesus by developing leaders who can eventually lead churches within each others homes. This vision is very large and will take many years. But, we know with confidence that the Lord has promised to meet our every need and He will not fail. 

We love you all very much, 

Carli and Justin

How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

(Isaiah 52:7)

Summer Is On Its Way!

Hello Everyone,

Sorry for the recent delay in posts. It has been kind of crazy with work. I am excited to say that we have recently moved into our new apartment and are starting to settle in step by step. Today, Carli is returning to Italy from her short trip in the States. I am so happy for her return. Thanks to all of you who made her trip enjoyable and restful. It will be great to have her back home.

As far as our work here, we have made some progress and the Lord has shown Himself to us in every which way. This Friday, I will drop off the final signatures needed to change by visa into a long term work visa. This is a wonderful blessing because the Italian government still is not allowing non European citizens to enter the country for work. Also, this will enable Carli to now have the opportunity to work on a long term basis. So, we are grateful for this grace to be able to work amid these wonderful people and (Lord willing) to show them the grace of Christ lived out in our every day lives.

Please continue to pray for us this Summer as we work hard on language learning and also praying through a vision for future work here in Florence. Also, we ask that you pray for the friendships that we have already started these past couple of months. I will try to get a list going so we all can have names to pray for. I am trying in this time to be intentional with prayer because I have not been lately. So, I will start writing names of people that we have made contact with and maybe you can take a few minutes each day to lift up these names to Jesus so that the Holy Spirit has His work in the hearts of these folks.

On a more practical note, we need prayer for the every day things. We need to find a doctor here for the both of us. At some point this next week I will try to get my new insurance card, etc. These may not sound like much, but in this country it is hard work to accomplish : )

We promise to be more intentional with our posts and ask that you not stop reading our blog : )
We love you all very much and are so thankful for your support and prayers.

People we are praying for....

1.All of Justin's co-workers with the exception of one. They all need Jesus and the truth of the Gospel in their lives. They are Scottish, Welsh, English, Italian, Albanian, Irish, American and Australian.

2.Carli's Families- Linda and Simona and their husbands. We pray for their hearts and that the Lord can use Carli in their everyday lives to show them the love of Jesus.

3. Carli's future work.
Carli should start work as an English teacher for a private Italian school near Florence this September. It will be a huge ministry opportunity for her. We pray that she will have peace there and start to make friendships with her co-workers and the children that she teaches.

3.Romanian Contacts-

Stella and her family. She is an English student and a nurse here in Florence. She has a wonderful heart and has helped us much in the last month. We ate dinner with her and her son and daughter for the Eastern Orthodox Easter a few weeks ago. She has an open heart for the Lord, we are praying that we can have a chance to share the Gospel with her.

Silviu- new student from Braila

Dana- new student from western Romania

Alina- English student from western Romania. We hope to have dinner with her family very soon.

Florin- A Romanian believer here who desires to start a Romanian church. Even though we may not have the time to work with him, we are praying that the Lord gives him the desires of heart and that Christ will be glorified through his mission here in Florence.

4. Italian Contacts-

Johnny and Anna are two of my private students who live in a suburb of Florence. I meet with them every Saturday for two hours. Lately our conversations have been focused on the validity of the Scriptures and the live of Jesus. I hope that these conversations will continue as we have developed an amazing friendship.

Raoul is a fellow believer who has just been baptized with the local church that we are a part of. We are praying for him as he works with many unbelievers and as he shares his testimony with others, especially those of his family. We hope to be an encouragement to him every week.

Grazia- A friend and student who is a surgeon for the main hospital here in Florence. She has been a great help with medical contacts. We hope to meet her soon to get to know her more.

Monica- A contact from work who is a student and nurse for a pediatric hospital here in Florence.

Avisa and Giorgio- A sweet little family who study English at my work. Avisa is Iranian and Giorgio is Italian.

There are about 350 other students who I have contact with weekly. I am praying that other contacts will emerge from these classes.











"And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given me, but raise it up on the last day." (John 6:39)

Holiness

"Holiness stands above all the other attributes of God, yet it is simply that- an attribute. It does not stand above God as though it were some category under which He falls, along with other things.  Holiness does not define God; God defines holiness; it belongs to Him alone." -Clyde Cranford

When I reflect on the last two months and how God has molded and grown both of us, I am so thankful. Being a stranger in a foreign place can be a struggle, but I know God is right here with us. We have been so blessed even though sometimes we do not realize it. A few weeks ago, I started taking note of things every day that I am thankful for. I try to be as specific as possible and write it down right away. (I got this idea from the book "One Thousand Gifts". If you have not read it, I encourage you to do so.) Today as I was sitting outside waiting on the train, I was thankful for the sun warming my skin.  It feels like an embrace. That exact moment seems so simple, but if you think about the intricacy it is crazy. It is so humbling to realize that I am just a small speck on a big blue planet, and yet He cares for me.

Many aspects of life move slower here.  At first it is annoying, but I am quickly learning to take it as a gift.  Those moments are the times I get to bask in His holiness. Every moment has a purpose and when you are thankful for those moments it makes you more grateful for all that God is orchestrating daily. Our purpose here is to be used for His kingdom. It is so amazing to be doing work for the creator of the universe. He defines Holiness and our hope is that as we follow him, He will shine brighter than anything else in our lives. "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads is in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of  him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." (2 Corinthians 2:14-15)

As always thank you for being a part of ministry here by supporting us in prayer.

Please continue to pray for paperwork to be processed so that I (Carli) can start working at a preschool in September and Justin can get his residency.  We signed a contract on a new apartment yesterday. YAY!!! So we will be moving there at the end of May.  The apartment is bigger than what we are in now and we are excited to see how we get to use it for ministry. Once we have our new address I will put it on the blog so you can send us encouraging snail mail. (hint hint)

We Love You!!!
Carli & Justin

Walk by the Spirit

As I walked about in the city today, a specific scripture came to mind.  I studied it last week, but what brings me back to this scripture again this week is the amount of impatience I have with people. Here are a few examples; I am impatient when people walk too slow on the sidewalk or when they stop in the middle of the sidewalk and take up the whole walkway. These are moments that I do not show the fruit of the Spirit.  Then there are times when I am patient with others, and I expect a pat on the back.  As a Christ follower, I am continually trying to love God and live like Him, but daily I fall short.  Paul writes in Galatians 5:16, "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh."  That's when I realized that if I am walking by the Spirit then displaying the fruit of the Spirit is not something that I am striving to "show", but it is something that shows as a result of abiding in the Spirit. So if I am abiding in God, I am glorifying God by displaying his attributes. Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;"

So as this new week begins here in Italy, I pray that Justin and I both abide in God so that we can walk by the Spirit. Living abroad in another country and culture is challenging and frustrating every day, but the beauty is in how we handle these situations.  If we allow God to work through us and display the fruits of the Spirit we are starving the flesh inside of us that wants to come and show its ugly face.  That is what we are working towards here. We want to show the goodness and love of Christ to the strangers we pass on the sidewalk and to the people we meet and develop relationships with.

Specific Prayer Needs:
*Justin had his appointment last Monday with the immigration office and he has successfully submitted his paperwork. Now we wait. Please pray that the red tape of the government here would be removed so that I can be added on to his visa as quickly and smoothly as possible.
*Pray for our ministry opportunities.  We have a few options opening up and we need you to pray for discernment on ministry decisions.
*Last week I had an interview with a preschool and it went really well. If all of our paperwork can get processed in time then they want me to start in September as a Pre-K English teacher. This is a big and exciting opportunity for me. Please pray that my heart would be prepared for this job and the tasks that are involved.

As always we are thankful for your prayers and for taking time to read our blog. The transition here has been pretty smooth, and we know it is because God has his hand guiding our steps. Also because we have the support of so many friends and family.

We Love You!
Carli & Justin

An Easter Full of Joy

This sweet girl is the daughter of another family of missionaries serving here in Florence. We had the pleasure of spending Easter with them.

Dear Friends and Family,

As we start a new week after all of the celebrations of this past Holy week, we would like to share with you a couple of the amazing promises that our Lord has given us in the Scriptures. We hope that these promises encourage and solidify your already growing joy in the sovereignty of God. 

1. God gives us everlasting and eternal joy in His sustaining grace because we know that all He desires is to do good to us. 

"And they shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for the good of their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. And I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul." (Jeremiah 32:38-41)

2. We will never taste death but will forever taste the abundant life that only Christ gives us because of His resurrection. 

" When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:54-55)

"Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers." (1 John 3:14)

3. We all can live and work for the glory of Christ because all of the immutable promises we have forever through Jesus Christ. 

"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58)

"For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living." (Romans 14:8-9)

These promises are what fuels us daily to not care about our lives, but to live in this vapor of a life, for the glorious giver of eternal life. 

We love you all very much and are so thankful that you pray for us. 

Justin & Carli