August '24 ~ Comfort

“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.”

1 Corinthians 1:3-7

Back in February I wrote a bit on the theme of dependency.  Much was shifting again in my life, and I took the opportunity to express what the Lord was saying to me regarding Him being the stability of my times (Isaiah 33:6).  However, what I didn’t share was a deeper aspect of dependency through which the Lord was guiding me – the source of our comfort.  These past few months it has been the daily theme and lesson that God has been so kindly and graciously trying to help me learn and live out.  When life is unstable, things are constantly shifting, discouragement abounds, and brutal circumstances seem to be coming in endless waves, our hearts cry out for comfort.  We desire safety and security.

Our God is so incredibly kind and generous.  I have seen Him provide for me in these times by people through which He has spoken and extended this comfort.  And yet, with this precious gift comes a great temptation to receive the gift and forget the Giver.  Truly, it is the Lord Himself who provides the comfort and has all we need to stand in the midst of turbulent times.  Verse 4 says that it is God who comforts us first.  Yes, He has given us the body of Christ through which we have the opportunity of being the hands and feet of Jesus, the instruments through which God speaks comfort to us.  However, we must never take on the role of primary comforter for someone or seek it from someone outside of Christ.  Only God is capable and worthy of this, and it is only Him who can truly satisfy.  May we always encourage one another to experience true comfort in Christ alone.  May we never cease to comfort others with the comfort we have received directly from Him, which signifies pointing others away from ourselves and fully towards Him.  Christ is all.

This perspective has been such an important lesson because without it the work of the Lord gets muddled.  When our eyes shift away from God and onto others, we miss out on experiencing fully the ministry that is taking place around us.  In my life, I can easily lose sight of the good and what is most important because I am chasing after comfort and security from the wrong source.  I want to lay aside my sin and weights and run this race with endurance, fixing my eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2).  I want to be fully present to rejoice in the work God is doing around me because I am not distracted by myself and others.  With this, here are some of the marvelous things God has so graciously let me be apart of in the last several months.

March

March was full of document renewals, appointments, and late nights of studying for my driving permit.  I got my appointment finally for my visa and was able to get everything set for the next two years.  At the end of the month, we held our 5th Saturday event with the youth group from Calvary Chapel Feltre!  One of the most beautiful things from this event was watching the kids lead their own small group discussions.  We gave them roles within their groups and discussion questions to work through, and then the youth leaders simply walked around to give a hand as needed.  This has been something we started having the kids do so that they take more responsibility in their spiritual growth and application of the word.  This was one of the first few times we tried it, and we saw it turn out to be incredibly helpful for them.

The next day we celebrated Easter.  We had a group of us who sang as a choir for the service, and the kids did two songs.  It was so precious because the kids got up and sang so loud and confidently.  This is probably one of the sweetest experiences – children worshipping the Lord.

April

April 1st the church celebrated Pasquetta together.  The day after Easter is a major holiday here in Italy, so we always spend it together with the church body.  I ate and ran this time because this was my last day to study before my theory exam.  The very next day I took my driving theory test.  I passed by the grace of God!  I never thought in my life that I would be taking my driving exams again one day – let alone in Italian.

The next week I flew home to the States for a two-week visit.  My time home was absolutely refreshing and encouraging.  I had the privilege of meeting with many people who support me both financially and prayerfully.  It was a blessing to share with everyone in person what the Lord has been doing and to be poured into for the next season.  I truly felt God’s hand of love upon me through the faithfulness and care of those back home.

At the end of the month, I flew home to Italy and left the very next day for our Calvary Chapel Italy Conference in Tuscany!  This year our theme passage was Hebrews 12:1-2, which are verses that have already been highly impactful in my walk with the Lord over the past few years.  Again, I felt the Lord so near to me in this time.  Yet, I did not realize how much He truly was preparing me for.  I needed to hear continually the message of fixing my eyes on Him.

May

In May, the insanity began.  I started all of my driving lessons and learning how to drive stick-shift!  I also began seriously preparing for multiple upcoming events: English Camp, a day conference with David Guzik, a youth event with Feltre, and two back-to-back weeks of summer camps in the mountains.  It was a full month with a lot to look forward to!

June

In June, I spent a lot of time researching how to build some possible online courses that we would like to offer through the church.  This is one of the things that I am incredibly excited about.  My heart is to continue to see the Lord provide avenues through which we can offer biblical training and discipleship in Italian to those wanting to serve in their local churches.

The third week of the month, we blasted through English Camp.  This week was both for the kids in our church and the kids in the surrounding communities.  We had about 40 kids attend, with half of them being from outside the church.  Our theme for this year was creation!  It was such a beautiful opportunity to get to share about God and the gospel for the first time with several of these kids.  One of the most exciting moments for me was when two of the kids who attended asked to come to the summer camp in the mountains.  I know that God was really using these two weeks to plant seeds in their hearts.

June 29th, we hosted David Guzik and held a day conference focused on how to study the Bible.  We were celebrating the fact that they have officially completed translating the whole New Testament part of Guzik’s commentary.  This is something incredible for us because there are very limited resources in Italian for studying the Word of God.  The conference was absolutely wonderful.  That evening, we took our youth and the youth from Feltre out for our 5th Saturday to go bowling.  It was an absolutely full but wonderful day!

July

June 30th, I packed up and headed out after church for the first week of our summer camps!  We had a full week of fun and insanity with our elementary aged kids.  To be perfectly honest, this week proved very difficult for me.  However, it has been encouraging to look back and see the hand of God where I was discouraged and unable to see it in the moment.  I know that God is teaching me a lot through the moments that I feel like are a disaster or a failure on my end.  One of the most beautiful things I can look back on was my opportunity to lead a group of the youth kids in serving at the camp that week.  It was not always easy, but I ended up being incredibly blessed by them and their service for the Lord.  Amid my weakness that week, the Lord used these kids to encourage my heart.  I left feeling incredibly proud of them and what the Lord is doing in their lives.

Saturday, we got home, and Sunday I turned around again for week two of camp with the middle/high school kids.  The week started off a bit rough for me, but I saw God flip a switch and answer so many prayers.  This week again blessed by heart immensely because of the work that I saw God doing in the lives of all of these kids.  They have grown so much over the past few years, and this year they were living out and applying so much of what we have been speaking into their lives.  We saw so many moments of biblical conflict resolution, reconciliation, confession, and healing.  I got to hear them truly applying the Word of God because it was coming from within, not because they were simply regurgitating information.  The week was not without spiritual attacks and moments of intense confusion and frustration, but I can say with confidence that the Lord held the victory every time.

Looking Forward

For the rest of July, we have been settling back into a bit of normal after so many events and are now preparing for the next few months.  In August, we will be taking a team from the church for a mission trip to Mukachevo, Ukraine, which sits just across the Hungary-Ukraine border.  We will potentially be running a camp for around 40 teens that are living in an area that is currently under heavy bombing.  They will be coming to get away from the intensity of the situation.  Much of it depends on the operating state of the trains for these kids to arrive, so we are remaining flexible with our plans and praying for God to use us in whatever way He desires.

Prayer Requests

• Youth Ministry.  At camp, we saw such incredible growth and maturity in the spiritual lives of the kids.  Please be praying that this growth continues and that they do not grow distracted by the world around them or discouraged by the difficulty of being usually the only believers in their schools and areas of activity.  Pray for them to continue taking steps of faith to grow and to serve, even at a young age.

• Online Courses.  Please be praying for us as we begin to create and offer some online courses this year for the churches here in Italy.  We are excited to be able to provide training and resources for spiritual growth and service in Italian.  Pray for wisdom in how to best execute this.

• Personally:

  • Please be praying for me as I finish my driver’s license process this month.  The Lord has answered so many prayers and provided in many beautiful ways so far this year as I have moved forward in establishing my life here.  Things with the apartment have been slowly settling in, and the process of getting my license has been going well.  Help me to continue to trust the Lord daily, especially when I feel overwhelmed and uncertain.  Please be praying as always for my finances.  Finishing the driver’s license process and getting a car will add a lot to my monthly expenses.  However, I am greatly looking forward to what it is going to open up in regard to my capacity for ministry.  It has been an area in which I have learned significantly to trust that God will provide for what He is calling me to do.

  • For myself, I will be taking these next few months to take a step back and re-center my heart on the Lord.  I have quite honestly found myself in a place where I was not fully depending on Him as I thought.  I have allowed myself to be overwhelmed by life’s circumstances and sorrows, distracted by other sources of comfort, and it is time to do some hard work in shifting my delight and expectancy fully back onto Him.  This doesn’t change based on the circumstances around me.  I need Him to truly be the stability of my times and the only desire of my heart.