October-November 2007 Newsletter

“Ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” - Ephesians 1:15-16

Greetings from the church in Pistoia! We pray that all is well with you and yours. The verse above expresses the sentiment that we have for you all. Thank you for your concern for the church here, for its growth, for its maturity, and for its well-being. We constantly thank God for the opportunity you are providing us through your support in prayer, in thought, and in donations to the work.

As I'm preparing this newsletter, I'm noticing the number of updates to give. A good deal has taken place since our last letter and we give God the credit for all of these developments. Due to the length of this letter, I will postpone family news and give a separate update on us personally at the beginning of next week.

English Study

The English study has been one of our biggest works with year. In October we began meeting twice monthly for group English studies. Heather teaches children, I teach the parents, and two of the workers from Prato come over to help with reading level children and to direct the pre-reading children in class. After the initial week the numbers dropped a bit but, in the following weeks the numbers have remained more steady. The scheduling is proving to be a challenge with holidays and such, but we are happy with the way things are moving. In the last parents' class, we studied pronunciation of the letter C. It is difficult for Italians because the rules of pronunciation are opposite of ours. “Chicken in the kitchen” becomes “kicken in the kitcken.” Before we got to that point, however, I was given the opportunity to speak with one of the parents for almost 30 minutes about the church and Jesus. She had lots of questions and the opportunity to respond to those questions would doubtfully have existed without these English studies. Absolutely, we want to be able to help people in areas such as English if they feel the desire to study it, but we always have the hope of being able to break into discussions of Jesus and devotion to God.

Another such opportunity was a night when all of these English students were invited to meet together at the church building for pizza. Initially, we expected two families besides our own. Instead there were four. This also provided us the opportunity to talk about our faith in Christ. Seeds are being planted. We will remain attentive to opportunities to water them and wait for the growth which God provides.

Mid-week Study and Children's Classes

The mid-week study of Hebrews is still moving along. It feels as though people are being forced to think a little more profoundly about what maturity in Christ consists of. The number one question we hear from our friends and acquaintances is “what is the difference between your church and the Catholic church?” I see Hebrews as a great response to this question. With the Catholic church deviating from New Testament teaching and basing many things upon Old Testament teaching and practice (like the ten commandments), responding with answers of the superiority of Christ's nature and teachings is a cause for pause. Each week the idea is to challenge the members to look at these studies in terms of how they answer their friends when asked about the difference.

Children's classes have been going well since the switch to a teacher rotation. Three teachers now trade off for a month of teaching each. The teachers have different strengths, so when the rotation comes each month, it offers the kids a nice change for a while.

Visiting Ex-Missionary to Pistoia

Jay Young recently passed through Pistoia, spending about a week with the church. The Youngs spent 10 or more years in Pistoia and have maintained contact with many friends in the area, as well as the church. Jay offered to speak for a “meeting.” He delivered two talks on Saturday and then also the sermon on Sunday. We were encouraged by the turn out for the Saturday sessions, as one of our English class families attended. On Sunday, a fellowship meal was held after worship and there were 55 in attendance. It was a good day of fellowship and encouragement in seeing other Christians from the various congregations around the region.

Apprentice Missionary Retreat in Prato(AIM)

The Adventures in Missions program held their annual European retreat in Prato this year over the Thanksgiving holiday. It was an encouraging weekend with devotionals and fellowship. We were not able to be there for everything since Noah was in school, but I spoke for one of the sessions on avoiding temptation and we were blessed to be able to participate in some of the devotional times. The other speakers were Mike Mahan, Kris Smith, and Ben Walker. There were more than 30 present.

Thinking of Next Year

The time has come and gone to start thinking about next year, and so we've already been thinking about goals for 2008. Some exciting possibilities are in the mix. We hope to share some of those with you in the next couple of weeks. 2008 will be a year for us to head to the States for a furlough, to see family and friends. Of our initial 5-7 year commitment to this congregation, we are 3 years in. From that point of view, it already seems that our remaining time is very limited and we still have much to do. If your congregation would like to have a presentation of the work please let us know of their interest. Within the next few weeks we should know approximate dates for our visit to the US.

Financial Support

We are still in search of additional support for our remaining time here. Overall, we are running 350-500 behind each month. The primary concerns are my Social Security liability and the exchange rate. We are not asking for an indefinite commitment. Even small one time contributions help. We are hopeful to keep from going further into debt and to break even. No matter what, we know that God has provided for us up to now, and we trust him to continue to do that.

Conclusion

The work here in Italy is a slower work than many places, but that does not make it any less important or valuable. At times it seems that things drag along without much change, but even the time I have spent this afternoon writing the update has encouraged me. I see the way God is using the congregation to plant seeds of thought. I see the way that members of the congregation are willing to help with what needs to be done in the church and how they sometimes stretch themselves to new and different lengths. We pray that God is glorified, that Christ is proclaimed in our lives, and that you too find God's blessings in your life.