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
Monday, June 15, 2015
Friday, May 8, 2015
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
“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
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
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.
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
Monday, March 16, 2015
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
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
Monday, February 16, 2015
Rejoice
Hello Everyone,
We are doing well over here in Italy. There are many great things happening and we need you to continue to pray. We are seeing lots of seeds planted and we are praying that they will find fertile ground. There are a few specific prayer requests that we need you all to pray for. The first being Justin's work colleagues. There are two of his colleagues that are searching the scripture and wanting to meet Justin to study the Bible on a weekly basis. Please pray that their hearts would continue to be open and the the Lord would save them. We have been so challenged by their willingness to know the truth and Justin is so excited about sharing the Gospel with them. The second is our community in Budrio (the town that our church body is in). We have many service projects, camps, and English clubs coming up in the coming months. It is incredible to see how the town is opening up to us as a church body, serving in their community. There are many needs in the community and we are excited about the opportunity to help fill some of the physical needs there. We know that the more our body of believers gets woven into the community, the more we will be trusted.
This is a picture from the English Club that we help with every other Saturday. The subject this past week was Love. In this picture we are playing charades. Pray for these young people and for their hearts to be opened.
We will leave you with this verse from Psalm 100:
"Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all of the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations."
Be encouraged and rejoice in the Lord,
Justin & Carli
We are doing well over here in Italy. There are many great things happening and we need you to continue to pray. We are seeing lots of seeds planted and we are praying that they will find fertile ground. There are a few specific prayer requests that we need you all to pray for. The first being Justin's work colleagues. There are two of his colleagues that are searching the scripture and wanting to meet Justin to study the Bible on a weekly basis. Please pray that their hearts would continue to be open and the the Lord would save them. We have been so challenged by their willingness to know the truth and Justin is so excited about sharing the Gospel with them. The second is our community in Budrio (the town that our church body is in). We have many service projects, camps, and English clubs coming up in the coming months. It is incredible to see how the town is opening up to us as a church body, serving in their community. There are many needs in the community and we are excited about the opportunity to help fill some of the physical needs there. We know that the more our body of believers gets woven into the community, the more we will be trusted.
We will leave you with this verse from Psalm 100:
"Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all of the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations."
Be encouraged and rejoice in the Lord,
Justin & Carli
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
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
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
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
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
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