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