Newsletter - May 2009

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Newsletter - April 2009

Below is the link to our latest newsletter....
April 2009 Newsletter


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Go here to read past newsletters!

Where Things Stand

Where Things Stand
So where does the recent support increase leave us standing? There were two main areas of support raising that we were focused on. The first area was in one time support. We originally had a goal of $38,521 which included $10,000 towards future facility which, as we reported, decided to postpone since we didn’t need it until the majority of our team is out of language school. That left $28,521. God brought in $27,471, leaving only $1050. That is amazing and we are incredibly grateful to all of you who partnered with us in that or that prayed for it to be. Pray for that last $1050 to come in!

The second area of support raising was towards monthly funds. Our monthly budget sits at $6,976 (based on $1.47 per 1 euro). Of that God has provided monthly committed partners in the amount of $6460, which is 93% of our total monthly budget! That is incredible and we are very grateful for the prayers, commitments and sacrifice that goes along with that. Of course, even from the field we will have some focus on that last 7% of support raising. Please pray for monthly commitments to cover the remaining $516 per month!

Pre-Departure Stage Has Begun!

Pre-departure Stage Has Begun
This week we received confirmation from a church that is supplying $4,000 out of the last $5000 that we needed in one time support. Since that is 96% of what were raising in one time support we are moving forward into our pre-departure phase. We are currently shopping for tickets around June 7-10th. That gives almost three months to do everything we need to do before heading back. Several tasks had to wait until we had confirmation, so now we can begin those tasks and in fact have already begun some. Thanks for your prayers, your gifts, your sacrifice and your support as we have gone through this very flexible period of preparation, training and support building. The time has not been wasted and we have been grateful for the extra time with family, friends and an America that we love.
April Houk, who is also ready, will be joining us in Italy about three weeks after we arrive there. Arriving prior to any team members will allow us to set up a more stable environment as they arrive and experience the culture, Italian style. It also allows us to take care of some of our specific legal and logistical tasks and then be allowed to put more focus on April and all subsequent team members that follow.

How Does It Feel?

I have been asked the question "how are you feeling?" regarding our transition off of the Ancona team an onto the Verona team. It's a hard thought to formulate. I guess in many ways I feel numb. Not in a "I don't care" kind of numb, but in a I honestly don't feel affected inside. I know the way that I usually process things, means that once we are off of the team and we have returned back to the states, then moved to Verona, it will start to sink in and I will think fondly of the things I miss. If I stopped and thought, I know that I would feel nostalgic now, however, I haven't felt like I have time to stop and think right now. We have been going through this transition for almost eight months now and I have been taking it in little by little, and slowly moving towards this goal.

Before we joined the Team Expansion Italy team, I was working at Hastings Entertainment in Joplin, Missouri while working through college. Hastings, is kind of like a Barnes & Noble meets Blockbuster meets Best Buy (music and software depts only), in other words they had books, videos, video rentals, music and software. When I started there I was a cashier at the front. I remember telling my interviewer that I would be their best salesman. I'm not sure if that was too confident or not, but they did quickly see leadership abilities in me, as well as other character traits that prompted them to promote me as manager of the music department. I was good as a cashier and they saw that I might be good as a manager also. So for the next year and a half, until we heard the Lord's call to Italy, I was the music manager. They even started sending me to other stores to help them boost sales and do inventory. As a cashier and as a manager, I worked for Hastings. In many ways, that is how I see the two situations with the two teams in Italy.

In Ancona, we are part of Taking Christ to Italy, a Team Expansion PACE project (adopted and set in motion by Shively Christian Church, Louisville, KY). In Verona, we will be part of Taking Christ to Italy, the same Team Expansion PACE project. If God were leading us to another country I would be feeling very different I think. But God is leading us to another city, that is part of the same plan that we have been working towards for eight years now. It isn't a step away as much as a step forward in seeing this PACE project fully realized and God's kingdom grown because of it. I think it is because of this that I feel numb. It isn't because I don't love the people here in Ancona, I do. I know that God will add people from Verona to love in my heart. It isn't because I don't cherish the great memories that outweigh the bad memories with our team members here in Ancona. I do and will cherish those memories. I know this isn't the end, not really. I'll miss seeing our Ancona team members on a regular basis, of course, but at least we'll only be 3-4 hours away. We can visit and they can too.

It will also be tough to remove ourselves from a ministry that has seen great momentum in the past couple of years. The book "Good to Great" talks about momentum and how when people usually see momentum it is always after years of great effort and commitment working towards that momentum. I also know that God brings us momentum when we are ready, after he has taken the time to prepare us for what he has coming. This ministry in Ancona is at a good point and I look forward to seeing how God works here in the future. As we make the move, first in thought then in the physical realm, to Verona we have have to start over. Maybe not at square one totally, Angie and I already know much Italy....in any case much much more than when we arrived in Italy in March of 2001. But we do have to start over at learning a city, the people, their needs, the 'slang' for this region. We will start with very few acquaintances, like when we started in Ancona. But it is like a brand new canvas. One that we do not paint upon, but one where we are merely the tools of the Great Artist. Our new team are the brushes and paints, the oils and watercolors. When a master sets out to paint a masterpiece it is on the same blank canvas that anyone else can find. But it is through the particular strokes, colors, artistic talent and images one creates that it becomes a masterpiece. I greatly anticipate the two masterpieces that our Father is painting in Italy, in Ancona and Verona, along with the other cities where there are those that call out His name. I long to see the paintings finished and to see how we were used along the way.

So, how does it feel? I guess numb is only one aspect, the other is anxious. Anxious to see God's masterpieces of his people.

Winding Down

So we are approaching the end of June. Which normally would just be another month passing by, but in this case it is ushering in the end of an era. We are almost in our last month on the Taking Christ to Italy: Go Ancona team. August 1st, we will be officially only on the Taking Christ to Italy: Go Verona team. We will still be living in Ancona and seeing the Ancona team members and Italian friends who live here, but all of our other tasks will relate to the new team and the new city. It is an amazing ride that started eight years and two months ago, in May 1999. We have went through many ups and downs, while experiencing things we never imagined. As I sit and reflect on the past, I get sentimental, thinking of times gone by, dinners with friends (team or nationals), birthday parties together, holidays, etc... But before I get too sad, there is one more holiday coming up and a few birthday parties left. It isn't over yet, so we'll enjoy celebrating the Fourth of July as Americans over here in Italy. We'll relish the next few birthday events. And with our responsibilities for the team and church, we'll finish strong. Not because we'll feel good, but because God wants our best. And our best is what we will strive to give him.

The Tides Are Changing

So, the last couple of days, I have spent pouring over my personal ministry plan. This is a plan of all the goals and objectives that I have set before myself in a certain period of time. This particular time it is for six months, from January to July 2007. As we continue to transition from this team to the role of Team Leader for the new team being launched, we have had to evaluate what ministries that we are involved in are weaned off first. There are already many things to do and prepare for the new team, which involve around team recruiting, fleshing out of team documents and guidelines, as well as research/surveying for the location of the new team in Northern Italy.

I am enjoying the transition from this role to the next. Both seem well suited for me, which makes it easy I guess to go from one to the other. My mind seems to handle transitionary periods well. The celtic people called this the time between the times. For instance, when the sun is coming up and it is not day nor night. Also, dusk is another example. Another would be when you are at the beach and you are standing just past the edge of the water, where you are not quite in the sea, but you are no longer on the beach. The crossroads. Standing at an intersection with roads leading back to the way you came from and roads leading to where you will go next. There is part of me that enjoys just standing in the middle, reflecting on the past and dreaming of the future. I know, however, that I can't stay in the crossroads. God has called us to move forward and leave the past behind, but I do enjoy reminiscing about what He has done in our past.