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