January News

Mahans in Pistoia, Italy
January 2012

The new year is underway and we are drawing ever closer to our departure from Pistoia. You can imagine the emotions after seven and a half years. We thank God for His providence and the opportunities He places before us, those of the past, those in this moment and those to come.

Church happenings
The year started with a bit of disappointment as our the church planned on spending New Year's Eve together. Pistoia has been full of sickness and every family with the exception of two were either sick or had prior engagements. That disappointment soon passed as we organized another evening of fellowship shortly thereafter.

Bible studies
Before leaving there are many things we would like to wrap-up and share. We started studying the book of Revelation in the fall, and I can't tell you how eager I am to finish that study and move on to other topics. It is a great book to study but it has been dragging on. Revelation is full of beautiful mental images which give us assurance of God's victory and repeated encouragement to make sure we are on His side of the battle. Despite how things may appear on this earth, the War belongs to God! He will be victorious!

The church has been talking about future prospects for the congregation in Pistoia. This, along with encouraging the congregation, will be primary objectives with our remaining time. We would like to leave the congregation energized and zealous for future good works. This will demand a great deal of energy on our part, but we entrust this to the Lord for His guidance and blessings.

The ladies continue to study together and have convinced Heather to start teaching them some cooking techniques. It is always a challenge for her due to the style of measuring (they measure by weight and we measure by volume), but she had purchased measuring cups last summer for each of the families in the church in order to teach them to follow an “American” recipe.

Upcoming events
Heather has been very active in the Women's Conference again this year. This is the third year that she has participated in the planning of the conference and the second year that she will actually be speaking at the conference. It will take place March 16-18, and is the first time that Heather will be leading a class by herself. The theme this year is how to become an imitator of Christ.

Our annual conference in Pistoia has been set for the 14 and 15 of April. We will be considering the character of God. Now days it seems that the favorite trait is love, but many times our concept of love is limited to physical attraction or emotion. God's love is demonstrated in so many more ways! He is gracious because He loves us. He is merciful because of love. And He will demonstrate His love through justice one day.

Conclusion
We have already begun sifting through our possessions to see what can be eliminated. Kids' toys that are never played with, clothing items that are rarely worn, electronics that have ceased to work years ago, etc. Then we have to consider what to do with things like the microwave, printer, coffee maker, etc. Fortunately God has blessed Italy with another missionary family, who will be arriving to work with my brother in Prato this Spring, so we may be able to pass these items on to them.

We have unending gratefulness for the generosity that has been shown us over the past seven and a half years. Many sacrifices have been made to allow us to serve God here. We pray that our service has been an acceptable sacrifice. Please continue to pray for our closing months in Pistoia and the transition to the United States.