02.08.11
Posted in church, Newsletters
at 4:11 am
Several years ago, our team decided to join an ecumenical group of pastors and leaders of other churches in our area. There’s a wide range of attendees: several Catholics, a methodist minister, a pastor from the apostolic church, and even some Romanian Orthodox priests. It’s a motley crew, and sometimes I wonder if there is anything at all that we have in common.
An ecumenical week of prayer is held at the end of January each year. This year we were asked to host one of the nights at our church’s meeting place, as well as participate in a modified Catholic mass at a nearby church.
I was quite surprised when the priest who was organizing the mass sent me an email explaining that he had invited two Mormon missionaries to come and speak as well.
Overall, I would say that the average Anconetano looks at Protestants with a little suspicion. There are so many misconceptions, and it seems like a lot of what they know about us is based on a half-truth that they overheard long ago. Opportunities for us to go to them and explain what we believe can only be a good thing.
So when we found out we were sharing the microphone with Mormons, I was concerned. Not because I didn’t want to debate or was afraid of getting backed into a corner. Mostly because I didn’t want any more confusion about what we believe.
The big night came. We talked a bit about our church’s history and how we ended up here in Ancona. Marcus led everyone in a few songs. Kyle shared some thoughts on a passage from Isaiah. The Mormons were invited to do the same.
And that’s when I noticed that the crowd didn’t seem to happy to hear what they had to say. A couple of questions about some of the stranger Mormon beliefs were brought up, and it quickly became clear the crowd wasn’t buying it.
It seemed that I really didn’t have to “debate” anyone. I spoke the truth about what we believed as simply as possible. And somehow God caused the truth to bubble up to the surface.
My prayer is that we can continue to be God’s spokesmen here in Ancona, and for truth to always rise to the top.
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12.21.10
Posted in Ancona, church, family, kids, Newsletters
at 12:42 am
Do you ever wonder where the time goes? Sometimes I ask, and sometimes I don’t. Right now, though, looking at this growing family sitting in front of the Christmas tree, I have to wonder how we slid through this year so quickly? Just last year, the kids still seemed like kids (not the pre-teen mess I often see staring back at me 
). We had a new Christian sister and brother among us (Jacob was baptized in October and Cristina in November). We were getting ready for Christmas, including a fun Christmas Open House that we hosted at church. We were preparing to head off to Germany for the Mid-Winter Rally. So many things lay before us.
Now, I’m looking at all that we have accomplished as a family and church this year. Our own Chloe was baptized on July 25th. I would have to say that that is our biggest thing that we celebrated as a family. We also rejoiced with Daniel and Simona as they were baptized in October. They have been with us for so long, and it is so wonderful to see them really growing in their faith. This year was a real turning point for them. Let’s continue to pray that they can get rid of all of the hindrances (like superstitions and other things from their former ways of thinking).
We celebrated birthdays and beach days. We hosted many in our home. We shared in an awesome Bible Study with our friends Simone and Marianna, and then started a new one including one of the newest members of our church, Sam. Which brings me to the new folks that have joined us. We have a new family. Sam and Roxanna, their daughter (a precious 3 year old) Diana, Roxanna’s 18 year old brother Paul, and her parents, Michela and Stellian. What a joy they have been.
Like you, I can’t always recall each and everything that has happened throughout the year. Fortunately for us, God helps us forget the bad (though I’m getting older and starting to forget the good, too). I know that the kids have grown taller. I’ve noticed less hugs in public, and more heart to heart talks in private. I see a man I married 13 years ago, and couldn’t be happier with that decision. I see a growing community of believers that God has called us here to disciple. I see a blank slate before me. I look out the window at the amazing amounts of snow falling (it never snows like this here) and know that if there is anything I messed up this year, anything that didn’t go as planned, that’s OK. Why? Because His word tells me that he will make me whiter than snow! I have a chance for renewal, for change. So, I look at last year with joy! And I look at this next year with hope! And I’m praying that you can do the same, too.
Until next month…
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12.13.10
Posted in church, Newsletters
at 8:05 am
Do you ever find yourself in a routine of doing “safe” things?
I was recently convicted by a chapter I read out of a book called Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt. There was a section that talked about our tendency to staff our churches with the best people, develop the best programs, and build the best facilities. And it’s this self-reliance that we have that makes it easy for us to start churches using our own gifts and abilities, leaving God out of the picture all together.
We talked about this chapter in staff meeting the other day. No one on this team is a “rock star” pastor, out to impress everyone with their amazing gifts and talents. But it can be easy for us to fall into the trap of playing it safe – of taking fewer risks.
The author stated that the best way to counteract that tendency is to set goals that are so high only God could achieve them.
We thought a lot about that challenge during our staff meeting. Planting a church is no easy thing. We’ve read a lot of books, talked to a lot of wise people, and said a lot of prayers. And some days we still feel like we’re making it up as we go along.
If you’re like me, when faced with a big uphill climb, it’s easy to fall into the trap of making nice, easily-attainable steps.
You may remember from previous newsletters that the Caseys, who have been here in Ancona for over ten years, will be headed back to the US in January. Their departure has caused all kinds of mixed emotions from the church. It’s as if the church is saying, “Wait … you all aren’t planning on being here forever? We’re supposed to learn how to do all this stuff?” Some have reacted positively, and others less than. Some have stepped up to the plate and have grown, and others seem to be taking a step back.
And I feel convicted that it’s at this time that we need to keep making those impossible goals. We’re setting out to accomplish things that only God could do: disciple believers, train leaders, and seek out non-believers.
God has done great things this month. Our weekly Life Groups are meeting and discussing deeper things each time. I see how people are calling and checking up on those who are sick or struggling. We had two different events for the youth, which were open to invite friends. Our church spent another 24 hours in prayer. I’ve had a conversation with a man in our church who seems to have gifts in leadership.
I can’t wait to see what impossible things God does next month…
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11.17.10
Posted in 24-7 Prayer, church
at 7:56 am
There were an awful lot of blank lines on the sign up sheet for our 24 hour prayer room this weekend.
I don’t know if we picked a bad weekend, or if the word didn’t get out somehow, but many of our usuals weren’t on the list. For some reason it was as if God was saying to us, “I’d like to schedule some extra time just with the church this weekend.”
Kyle did his usual 2 AM – 6 AM shift. I could picture him trying to keep himself awake when I saw the psalm that he had written on the wall. Cristina made a beautiful picture of the word “Gesù” and put her handprints all around it. People wrote in the diary.
In other words, a completely normal prayer room, except the church was doing more, and longer, stretches of prayer.
Which can only be a good thing.
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07.30.10
Posted in Ancona, church, ministry
at 1:43 am
There are perks to being a pastor in a city surrounded by the Adriatic Sea. Although Ancona itself isn’t known for its beaches, a 20 minute drive up or down the coast will get you to some of the finest places to spend a day off you could imagine.
We usually head to the beach before lunch, and take sandwiches to eat when we get hungry. The walk from the car to the beach is pretty far, and the uphill climb on the way home seems like it will never end. But fortunately for us, we have an oasis. One of the Romanian families that attends our church live just about half way between the beach and the parking lot. And they get offended if we don’t stop by and say hello.
One Saturday, quite a few of the church members organized to go to the beach together. There were maybe 15 or 20 of us there, and as the sun went down we all packed our stuff up to head home. I was lagging behind, arms full with the cooler and beach toys. As I got near the Romanian’s house, I noticed their front door open. And inside was … everyone! They were busy making espressos for everyone. The kids were already playing Playstation. People were laughing. At some point a watermelon found its way to the table.
And I was struck by how hospitable these friends were. They thought nothing of inviting 15 people into their small living room and serving coffee. We were all salty from the sea, and yet they invited us to sit on their furniture and chat. If anyone would have passed by their house, I truly think they would have been upset. So we sat practically on top of each other and recharged ourselves for the second half of the walk to the car.
Isn’t this how the church should be? Not just on beach days, but every day? Shouldn’t we always be ready to fling open our doors and invite in whoever happened to stop by? Shouldn’t our house look like an oasis to thirsty people passing by?
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07.20.10
Posted in 24-7 Prayer, Ancona, church, ministry, Newsletters
at 2:51 am
When the alarm went off at 6 AM on Monday, I wasn’t thinking good things about Kyle, my teammate.
Mondays are usually a slower day for me. I don’t have any regular meetings scheduled, and I spend part of my day planning out my week and thinking through conversations that took place on Sunday during our church service. The introvert in me takes some time to recharge on Mondays.
But this week was different. Kyle had the idea to do a Jericho prayer walk. Remember how the Israelites marched around Jericho one time a day for seven days, and on the seventh day they marched seven times? And as they finished the last lap, God miraculously brought the walls of the city down.
Ancona’s physical walls are long gone, but the spiritual walls here seem stronger than ever. The church here is making efforts at knocking them down, but sometimes it seems we have a long way to go.
We met at the monument at 7:00, walking along the Viale until we got to the port, and then we turned around and went back the way we came. It took about an hour every day.
We prayed for anything and everything: our church, the church members, our neighbors, spiritual growth, our leadership, maybe even world peace. We prayed for big things and small things.
That weekend, our church hosted another 24 hour prayer room, and this time the one-hour slots filled up very quickly. It seemed as though many went into the prayer room desperate for some time with their Creator.
Sunday morning, we finished the prayer walk with seven laps, though I couldn’t be there until the very end since Heidi was taking her turn in the prayer room. It was a week completely drenched in prayer.
It was also the hottest week we have had here in Ancona. Many of our activities take place at night when it is cooler, which made for a long day when the prayer walk starts at 7.
But I can’t think of a better reason to be tired. Despite my selfish bad thoughts when the alarm went off, a jump in the amount of time we spend talking to God can only be a good thing.
Because it really is up to Him, isn’t it? We make sure we’re the brightest possible light, and the saltiest Christians we can be.
So now we wait for the walls to come down.
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05.02.10
Posted in church, culture, family, kids, parenting
at 2:49 am
One thing I have been struck by lately is how involved Italian grandparents are in their grandkids’ lives. Italians seem to have much less of a desire to leave home to find jobs or an education, and so extended families living nearby is more common. In many Italian homes, the husband and wife both have to work to make ends meet. And so the kids head to grandma and grandpa’s house after school. There is a lot of gray hair as I wait to pick up the kids after school or as I drop the kids off at soccer or swimming.
But it’s more than just free babysitting. Italian kids seem to enjoy a closer relationship with their grandparents. And it’s made me realize how little contact my kids have with theirs. It really does make life harder. I know my kids miss out on that special bond with grandma and grandpa (and it’s our fault – we’re the ones who moved here). They miss getting to know adults who are less busy and have more time to focus on kid-stuff. Heidi and I miss having someone who can watch the kids for date nights (which hardly ever happen when the going rate for babysitters is $15/hour). I think even our church misses out on the wisdom that grandparents bring. The internet does allow a bit more of a connection than would normally be possible via letters and phone calls. But the distance is still there and still changes things.
And I have yet to find a way to fill that gap.
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02.12.10
Posted in church, kids, Newsletters
at 1:14 pm
February. Valentine’s day. Love is in the air, right? I’ve been reading online different posts about Valentine’s parties, recipes, even sales that stores are having for Valentine’s day. So, I’ve been trying to figure out if I miss it or not.
I must admit, I do miss the almost required date night that Brian and I used to get on this special day. Oh, and I look back with such nostalgia thinking about how I had to write oh so perfectly on those little white envelopes filled with Valentine’s greetings for my classmates. I remember the nervousness going to school hoping I didn’t forget someone (and honestly, that someone didn’t forget me).
Sometimes I wonder if our kids are missing out. There are no little white envelopes here. Many people don’t even remember that it’s Valentine’s day – the day of St. Valentine. No class parties with cute little treats, either. (What I wouldn’t do for a cupcake with that overkill sugary-sweet store-made white icing right about now.) But, essentially, what are they missing?
I wonder if it would be better to treat every day like Valentine’s day. I mean, Jesus said that the second greatest commandment is “to love your neighbor as yourself,” right? Now sometimes that’s a hard one, isn’t it? Way worse than your parents making you give a valentine to everyone in the class, including the stinky boys or your arch enemy. You have to actually live this one out. You have to actually go about your day, day in and day out, loving people.
That, I think, is what I want our children to pick up on more than anything. We can draw cute hearts and make elaborate crafts to impress every mom on the block. We can make the best treats anyone has ever taken to a class party. But, if there is no love behind it, what good is it really?
I pray that as you go throughout the rest of this month you can take the love of Christ with you wherever you go. And this probably means the grown up equivalent of spending time with, and loving on, the kids who don’t quite have a full box of valentine’s this year. Who needs to be shown love more than those who rarely experience it? Let’s give out of our abundance!
On the horizon for us this month is a 24/7 Prayer Room. We will be praying from 6 PM, Saturday the 13th until 6 PM, Sunday the 14th. How wonderful it would be to all be praying simultaneously! Also, in March, I am going to host an event for the ladies in our community. We will have a “Spa Day.” This is completely unheard of, but the ladies are really intrigued at what we would do. If you have any ideas, feel free to send me an email. I’d love your help.
Until next month…
February. Valentine’s day. Love is in the air, right? I’ve been reading online different posts about Valentine’s parties, recipes, even sales that stores are having for Valentine’s day. So, I’ve been trying to figure out if I miss it or not.
I must admit, I do miss the almost required date night that Brian and I used to get on this special day. Oh, and I look back with such nostalgia thinking about how I had to write oh so perfectly on those little white envelopes filled with Valentine’s greetings for my classmates. I remember the nervousness going to school hoping I didn’t forget someone (and honestly, that someone didn’t forget me).
Sometimes I wonder if our kids are missing out. There are no little white envelopes here. Many people don’t even remember that it’s Valentine’s day – the day of St. Valentine. No class parties with cute little treats, either. (What I wouldn’t do for a cupcake with that overkill sugary-sweet store-made white icing right about now.) But, essentially, what are they missing?
I wonder if it would be better to treat every day like Valentine’s day. I mean, Jesus said that the second greatest commandment is “to love your neighbor as yourself,” right? Now sometimes that’s a hard one, isn’t it? Way worse than your parents making you give a valentine to everyone in the class, including the stinky boys or your arch enemy. You have to actually live this one out. You have to actually go about your day, day in and day out, loving people.
That, I think, is what I want our children to pick up on more than anything. We can draw cute hearts and make elaborate crafts to impress every mom on the block. We can make the best treats anyone has ever taken to a class party. But, if there is no love behind it, what good is it really?
I pray that as you go throughout the rest of this month you can take the love of Christ with you wherever you go. And this probably means the grown up equivalent of spending time with, and loving on, the kids who don’t quite have a full box of valentine’s this year. Who needs to be shown love more than those who rarely experience it? Let’s give out of our abundance!
On the horizon for us this month is a 24/7 Prayer Room. We will be praying from 6 PM, Saturday the 13th until 6 PM, Sunday the 14th. How wonderful it would be to all be praying simultaneously! Also, in March, I am going to host an event for the ladies in our community. We will have a “Spa Day.” This is completely unheard of, but the ladies are really intrigued at what we would do. If you have any ideas, feel free to send me an email. I’d love your help.
Until next month…
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01.14.10
Posted in Ancona, church, culture, family, kids, ministry, Newsletters, Team
at 4:00 am
I just realized that I typed “Volume 8 — Issue 1” on the byline of our most recent newsletter. How is that possible? Is this really the eighth year of sending out newsletters?
A lot has happened over the years. We spent over two years in the US raising support for our work in Ancona. What an experience that was – easily the most faith-stretching experience of our lives.
Then we moved to Perugia to study Italian. We enrolled in a small language school and tried to train our mouths to make all the weird sounds we heard all around us. We also adapted to the Italian rhythm of life, and enrolled our two oldest kids in school. What an experience that was – easily the most faith-stretching experience of our lives.
Next we moved to Ancona and started to dip our toes into life on a team. We learned all the reasons why working on a team is such a great thing, and we also learned why it can be a really challenging thing. The Italian culture started to feel a bit more familiar to us, but things were still new and scary sometimes. Moving to Ancona and working on a team was a great experience – easily the most faith-stretching experience of our lives.
After our first furlough, we came back to Ancona with a new confidence. The language wasn’t quite so difficult. Our kids were doing pretty well in school. We even had a baby in Ancona. Our team leader asked us to be the interim team leader for six months while he was in the US. What an experience that was – easily the most faith-stretching experience of our lives.
Just before our second furlough our landlord gave us six months to move out of her apartment, and we were faced with finding a new place and completely furnishing it with absolutely no way to pay for it. What an experience that was – easily the most faith-stretching experience of our lives.
Which brings us more or less to the present day. We still get our faith stretched on a regular basis. God still pulls us through despite our doubts, and shows us how faithful He is to us.
And through it all, He’s forming a church in Ancona. Sometimes He uses us, and sometimes He does an end-run and brings people to us that we never would have even met. He molds us and shapes us and chips away at our rough edges until we become more and more like Him.
And to think. It’s only taken seven years so far…
Thanks for sticking with us.
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12.17.09
Posted in church, finances, friends, Newsletters
at 11:48 am
Why, when God surprises us beyond our wildest dreams, do we worry? Why, when God grants us perfect gifts, in His perfect timing, do we fret?
I have two beautiful stories to tell you. One of those Christmas, heartwarming stories that only happens to everyone else. Only this time it happened to us.
Right now we are leading a family through the Experiencing God Bible study. They are talking about how much their lives are changing, and how their family life is no longer the same. A couple of weeks ago, a friend of Mariana’s (the wife/mom in our study group) called her in tears. She could barely get the words out, but that morning she had a mammogram and her doctor told her it didn’t look good at all. One side had a few nodules. The other was completely full of them. The next week she needed a sonogram and biopsy.
That week, we were studying how God speaks through prayer. Man, we set to work praying for Laura. Mariana had promised to go with her to the hospital. So, later that morning I called Mariana to see how it went. She told me it was amazing. The side that had a few no longer had any nodules at all. Not one. And, the other side that was full of them has one very, very tiny one. So tiny in fact, that after the biopsy comes back if it is in fact cancer, he can take everything out. No problem! I told her that I hope Laura sees a connection between our prayers and her results. (Laura’s husband is Muslim, and she isn’t any too concerned about religion.) She said yes. She definitely sees how important prayer is! It was an emotional day, to be sure.
Then, yesterday I had quite an emotional day myself. Our car is in need of some serious repairs. We aren’t sure what the total cost will be, but probably at least in the ballpark of $2000. (Last week we had to get new tires and an inspection that cost $771, so we are strapped.) Well, after much worry, and not much faith, a friend called from the States. He is a pastor and said that the day before a couple came into his office and wanted to give a gift to missions. So he told them of our need. They wrote a check for $2000. I’m actually getting teary just typing this. Oh, by the way, in our Bible study we are talking about times when you just need to take that step and know that God will provide. Just when we gave our worry to Him, He provided. Can you believe that?
Our God is so much bigger than I can imagine. And next week, when we are driving through the country on our way to a missionary conference and I see the “cattle on a thousand hills” I’ll smile. See, cause I know that God owns that cattle. And, once in a while, he sells a few just for me.
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