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