January-March

PISTOIA NEWSLETTER

January – February 2008

We send you all warm greetings from Pistoia. While the weather is cold, our hearts are warmed and encouraged by the faith that we share in Jesus Christ.

Financial News

I'm not sure how many of you know of our financial situation here. We cannot thank you all enough for how generous you have been to us. Even with all of the tremendous generosity, we live month to month with a tightly limited budget. The month of February hit us especially hard with more than 1500 Euro in additional expenses having to come from somewhere. Between a bum alternator on the car, auto insurance, health insurance, and the heating bill of over 800 Euro, our budget is being tested. In Philippians 4:11-13, Paul wrote, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” We are trying to balance the contentment with making our needs known. We are not trying to build a nest egg, or live extravagantly. But additional funds are needed to make ends meet and cover our expenses. On top of these expenses, we are set to return to the US this year for a visit and our plane tickets will need to be purchased within the next month. They look to cost at least $3500. Please prayerfully consider our need. If you know of congregations or individuals who may be capable of aiding with these necessities, please give them our information, or let us know so that we may contact them.

That being said, we also must thank the tremendous generosity of those who anonymously and substantially contribute to the work here. We are humbled by your kindness and it proves to us again how God provides for us in our times of need.

Holidays

Christmas and New Year's held a sort of bitter flavor as far as church events go. At the close of the year, Sonia's son and Nedo's brother, Stefano, became gravely ill and passed away during the first week of January. It is a terrible thing when a parent outlives a child, and on top of that Stefano was not a Christian. He was 49 and leaves behind his wife and 19 year old daughter. Sonia has begun to heal, but it has been very difficult for her. Stefano regularly ate lunch with Sonia during the week and his death has left an enormous hole in her life. With those events at hand, the sentiment was not very festive and so our New Year's party was canceled. We had a more intimate gathering at Carmelo and Dina's house, and Giovanni stopped by for a couple of hours.

Activities

Now that we have survived the year end holidays, we are moving forward with the plans and events for 2008. We have found it difficult to get some of the activities going after the holidays, but we are encouraged by many things regarding the work of the church. In particular, a good foundation is being established with a family that has been attending the English classes for kids and their parents. Fedele and Donatella have been the most regular for these events and have also made extra effort to suggest gatherings for spending more time together. At the suggestion of Donatella, we had a dinner at the church building one evening for those who are involved in the English class. She wanted us to try Polpette Salernese. These particular polpette were like meatballs with eggplant as a replacement for the meat. It was a good time of fellowship and eating. The evening provided a nice time to visit with them. Fedele is a very intelligent man who has written a book about geopolitical influence and he is often published in journals. He is a member of the State Police in the Anti-sophistication division. He and Donatella regularly ask questions regarding the church and what we do. We pray that the near future will bring more specific conversation about Jesus and the influence he should have upon our life.

The English classes are going well for the kids, but the adult attendance has not yet rebounded from the holidays. We have discussed the possibility of increasing the frequency of the classes to three times monthly, but that might be useless until the attendance rebounds. Now at the beginning of March, the numbers are coming back up and we can entertain discussions of more regularity in the studies.

Worship and Studies

As for Sunday sermons, the preaching continues to be shared by three of us. We just finished our look at the gospel according to Luke and I have not yet decided if we will follow another series or allow other factors to determine the subject from week to week. About once every month and a half, we have a fellowship meal following worship, and we recently established that whoever may be preaching on that Sunday will make an extra effort to see that the sermon is more applicable to the non-Christian. For some reason (probably related to the good food), our attendance for the meal is almost double that of the worship and this is our attempt to encourage our friends to also attend the worship. We'll call this a baby step in our evangelistic outreach as a congregation.

Personal

Our personal lives have been very busy since before the holidays. Heather regularly goes to the library with Noah's friends and their mothers. She is taking Italian classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and has made a few more friends as a result.

I continue to regularly ride bike with a group of guys on Saturdays and as a result have formed a good friendship with a member of the evangelical church. He and I chit-chat regularly while riding and find ourselves having to slow our pace to finish the discussion. He is very enthusiastic about God, but needs a little guidance from New Testament teachings.

Beyond these activities, we are trying to spend more time with these people that we know, so that we can have a positive influence on them by interjecting Christ in our conversations. It might sound strange that Christ would need to be interjected into conversations in a nation that is considered to be more than 95% Catholic but, in reality, worship and adoration of Mary and “the saints” tend to hold more importance to them. We take Colossians 4:6 very literally in this setting. “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt...”

As always, we thank you for your generosity in all things: your prayers, your friendship, and your financial support. We are continually praying for all of you and thank God for the blessing you are to us! As we move our way into spring, may God brighten your hearts as He has brightened ours.

Roger, Heather, Noah and Elaina Mahan