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

December is Here

December is here...Wow that happened fast! We feel like we blinked and November passed. This past Thanksgiving week was full of really wonderful things...even if we did have cereal for our Thanksgiving meal. ;)

On Thanksgiving day we had a small party at Justin's work. The students were able to have samples of the typical Thanksgiving meal we share in America and they learned about the history of Thanksgiving. Then on Saturday we helped teach the English club that I mentioned in the last post. We had three new guys come and the students seemed to enjoy learning about Thanksgiving. Our main focus throughout the two hour session was on being thankful to God for everything we have. We hope day-by-day and week-by-week we can continue to build friendships with the students at Justin's work as well as the students that attend the English club.

Our last Thanksgiving event was on Sunday. We had a Thanksgiving Dessert tasting. We made many apple, pumpkin, and pecan pies and invited the whole community. Justin and I came early and had appertivo (finger foods) with some of the people at church. About halfway through our appertivo a lady walked in. We had met her at an English film night in October. She is from Jordan and she has lived in Italy for several years. She saw the invite and wanted to learn about Thanksgiving. She brought her husband who is Italian. Justin and I spent about two hours talking to them. Our time with them was really nice and we talked about a wide variety of topics.  One thing that really made Justin's night was that her husband had worked in America several years ago. He had been to Valdosta, GA and spent a good bit of time in Jacksonville, FL. Many of you may or may not know, but Justin was born in Jacksonville and lived there as a child. So it was great for them to talk about Jacksonville and connect over the things they both had seen and experienced there. We exchanged numbers with them and we plan to have dinner with them in the New Year. Please pray for our contact with this family. Pray that our friendship would continue to grow and that we would be used a vessels for the Gospel in their lives.

We hope and pray that everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. We will be coming for a short stateside visit in December. We are thankful to our families for helping make this happen and we are excited to pass that time together celebrating our King.  We hope to see you soon!

Love,
Carli & Justin

Thanksgiving

Hello All,

We have some specific prayer requests to throw your way. This weekend we are going to be "running the show" so to speak at the English club. The English club is called MySpace and it is done twice a month on Saturdays by our pastor, his wife, and two youth for Christ interns. It typically has 10-15 kids that are in middle school and high school. We helped out and participated in one in October. The kids really enjoy it and they have several regulars that come every time. This week our pastor and a few people from church will be going around to the schools in town and doing an English lesson about Thanksgiving. During the lesson they will invite the children to the English club.  The theme of the English club this week is Thanksgiving and thankfulness.  Every English club is obviously focused on English, but it is also an outreach opportunity.  We pray that as we continue to meet and form friendships with the youth that they would see us as not only nice good people, but as people who love and live for the Lord.

Then on Sunday we will have a Thanksgiving dessert tasting event. As a church we are making several apple, pecan, and pumpkin pies.  We have invited everyone in the city to come and have a taste. This is another strategic way to get to know the people in our community and for them to hear the Gospel. Please pray that Justin and I would have the words in Italian and in English to speak words of hope and truth.  Please be in prayer for our church body as we prepare and serve. We want God to get all of the glory through our efforts. We love and appreciate you reading and praying with us. We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Hug your loved ones a little tighter this year and be thankful for the blessing of family.

With love,
Carli & Justin

November Update

Hello Everyone,

November has started really well for us. The weather is getting cooler and we are enjoying all of the fall colors everywhere. First things first... Justin passed his driver's test!!!!!! YAY!!!! We are so thankful to have that process behind us. We can now fully participate with the body of believers that we have come to know and love. Please pray for that body of believers in the city of Budrio. We call ourselves Impatto a Budrio (which means impact in Budrio).

This past Sunday we had the unique opportunity to have a service with almost all of the evangelical churches in the area of Bologna. Our focus was on praying for the persecuted church around the world. It was really encouraging to be together and pray together for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Please be in prayer for one of Justin's co-workers. She asked Justin last week if he would explain what he believes as a Christ follower and why he believes in the Bible. He had the opportunity to share the Gospel with her last Saturday and gave her his bible to read. She has many questions because she has never heard the Gospel. Please pray that God would continue to open her heart and her eyes to see his amazing love.

We hope that everyone is doing well. As Thanksgiving approaches we encourage you to reach out, be a little uncomfortable, and show Christ's love to someone who needs it. Remember that God uses ordinary things and ordinary people every day. Be His vessel.

We love you,
Carli & Justin

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