November ~ Gratitude

Perhaps it’s a little cliché to entitle this blog post “Gratitude” in the month of November, but in all honesty, it is something that the Lord has been teaching me intensely over the past couple of months. I have found myself meditating on how one gains and maintains a healthy, God-honoring perspective of life, despite the ever-changing circumstances. So, as I share this update with those of you who are reading, I encourage you to join me on my journey of praise and thanksgiving that is leading me to a deeper joy and contentment in the Lord.

September

The past two months have been full of transition and settling into a rhythm of ministry for the fall without the Bible College. It has opened up the ability for me to focus a lot more purposefully on the ministries in the church and on the people here. This has been an incredible blessing. Personally, I have already begun to see a lot of fruit: growth in several relationships, a greater sense of competence in specific areas of ministry, and the ability to take on new tasks. A lot of my time has been focused on refining skills, ordering processes, and training up people.

“The steps of a man are

established by the Lord,

When he delights in his way;

Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong

For the Lord uphold his hand.”

Psalm 37:23-24

In September, we had the privilege of baptizing new believers in the family of faith. Several of these precious individuals were some of our youth. It was a joy and an honor to see them boldly declaring their choice to love, serve, and follow Christ. We have many youth in our church whose parents are first generation believers, and it is such an encouragement to see them recognizing the importance and necessity of making their faith their own. These adolescents face a world in which other believers are nearly impossible to find in their schools. Thus, we pray that each day they draw closer to the Lord and seek to be established firmly in Him.

At the end of September, the local Calvary churches (CC Feltre, CC Padova, and CC Ferrara) joined us for the 5th Saturday of the month. Our churches decided to hold a night of worship and teaching for the combined youth and college groups. What started out as a simple desire quickly became a blessed reality. We had about a hundred people that turned out for the evening. It was an incredible joy to witness, and it blessed my heart immensely. I know that for our sister churches, community is even harder to find. For them, it was a blessing to be around so many brothers and sisters in Christ and to simply have fellowship with other believers. Our heart is to see this happen more often and to see what the Lord does through our willingness to simply have more fellowship with one another.

For me, personally, I took a small step of faith in September that felt like a giant leap. I began teaching two of the missionary family’s daughters ballet. It was a joy to offer this to them and to see what the Lord might do through it. I have had a deep desire on my heart to use the gifts and the skills God has given me for ministry here in Italy in a unique way. We started out with nothing more than my kitchen table as a barre and my apartment as our studio space; however, I firmly believe that God can do great things through small beginnings. Sadly, due to a transition in ministry, we have decided to pause until the new year. However, those few weeks of teaching brought much joy and hope to see God redeem and restore parts of my own life and utilize it for His glory here and in the future.

“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet,

so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.”

Hebrews 12:12-13

October

The month of October flew by with daily ministry as well as a few major events. Mid-month we held the annual Calvary Chapel Association Western European Pastors & Leaders Conference. For me, this occupied much of my time from September until the end of the conference as I did the administrative work for it and then served in the coffee bar up at the conference site the whole week. It was such a joy to get to serve at the conference. For me, it is an honor to be a part of providing this time and space for these pastors and servant-leaders to come together and simply receive. The Lord is utilizing them greatly in the countries they are serving, and it blessed my heart to get to hear from them what God is doing.

Oct. 26th my mom flew in for a week of absolute insanity! It was a bit of a surprise trip (planned surprise, of course, because that is how my mom and I function)! She flew in Thursday, we went straight to work and then to Feltre for their midweek service that evening and dinner after! Friday we were on a train on our way to Ferrara. I had the opportunity to play keys for the Women’s Tea at CC Ferrara that weekend. So, my momma tagged right along! We spent a few days together with the church there and then came back just in time for our youth / college group event with CC Feltre the night of the 31st. We held another night of worship and teaching as a way to provide a spiritually edifying alternative to what the world celebrates on that evening.

November

November 1st is a national holiday here in Italy. Another church in the Treviso area invited our church to join them for a youth event that day. So, along my momma went with me! I left her no room to rest before she finished her week here. It was a joy to have her with me, and it gave me an opportunity to share with her exactly what my crazy days and weeks can be like.

On the 11th, we did another combined night with CC Feltre for our young adult groups. We held a Q&A panel with Landon, the pastor of Feltre, and his wife, Rachel. They spent the evening answering a series of questions regarding various topics pertaining to the season of life that individuals in this group are in – waiting, hearing from the Lord, singleness, relationships, etc. They also shared their stories of how they felt called to missions, how they met one another, and pieces of what life in missions is like for them. Overall, it was such an encouraging evening and a sweet time for the churches to be together again.

We hosted a leadership day conference on the 18th with about 25 individuals from Feltre, Ferrara, and Montebelluna. We are praying it will be the first of many. Tyler’s father came in and shared for four sessions on various aspects of leadership in our lives personally and in the church. The men had the opportunity to also do a panel at the end, and the questions inspired beautiful and encouraging discussions. I had the privilege of running the coffee bar and helping serve lunch for the conference, so it gave me the opportunity to listen in on the sessions. It was a great encouragement for me as well.

Looking Forward

So, what is coming up in the next month and a half until the end of the year? More wonderful things! CC Montebelluna and Feltre have been meeting every other week this past month and a half in preparation for our Christmas Concert that we will be having on December 23rd. It will be done as an evangelistic event, and we are praying that many people from the community will come and hear the gospel proclaimed in this midst of this holiday for which the true reason has been quite snuffed out.

The fifth Saturday of December we will also most likely partner with Feltre and Ferrare again to do another special, combined night of teaching and worship. Our heart is to utilize these fifth Saturdays well for this purpose. I am so excited to see what the Lord continues to do through these events. It is evident that God is building up another generation of believers that are strong on the foundation of His word. I continue to pray daily that these youth and young adults will be deeply rooted in Christ and be able to take the gospel further than we could even imagine.

Another major part of these next several weeks is the planning and preparation for our Youth Winter Retreat. This will be held at the very beginning of January. Our theme verse for this year is Romans 1:16 – “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” There are many details to figure out this year as we have had to make some unexpected changes to how we normally run it, but we know that the Lord’s hand is over it and that He will utilize us to invest in this generation.

Practical Things

To update everyone on the information I shared in my last update… my studying for my driver’s license has been slow but steady. Thankfully, I am seeing progress in my language capacity as well as my information retention for the material itself. It has honestly been a challenge to fit in a consistent routine of studying, so I certainly appreciate prayers for myself as I have to be very disciplined in saying “no” to things more often so that I can fit this in. Continue to pray for my ability to get this process completed in a timely manner.

I can honestly say I have been watching God faithfully answer my prayers over this and also over my financial requests the past few months. I still have a long way to go, but I am confident that at each step the Lord will provide exactly what I need. I continue to ask that if the Lord places it on your heart in any way, would you consider partnering with me financially so that I can continue to grow in my capacity for ministry here in Italy?

Photo 1: My mom and I

Photo 2: Ferrara Women's Tea with three mother/daughter sets!

Photo 3: Workdays quite often consist of ladders and coffee!

Prayer Requests

· Pray for our youth ministry here in Montebelluna. We have so many young individuals, and it is always a challenging season of life to be in. Pray for those who are serving in this ministry to have wisdom and the ability to truly pour into the lives of these adolescents. Pray that the Lord would bring exactly the right people to serve who have a heart of intense love for these kids and a desire to disciple them as they grow. Be praying as well for the Winter Retreat that it would be a time of encouragement and edification for them.

· Pray for the College Ministry. My heart has been deeply invested in building relationships with the individuals in this group and helping provide discipleship opportunities for these young adults. It is a group that has so much to offer one another and the body of Christ, and yet they are in great need of the generations ahead to walk alongside them. Pray that these individuals would continue to grow in their desire to serve the body and to step out in faith in their spheres of influence. I pray that God would bring specific families and individuals along to continue to pour into them and to encourage them in the areas that God has gifted them for the edification of the body.

· Pray for wisdom for Tyler and the team as we continue to seek God’s direction for the Bible College and how to best train up individuals here in Italy that have a deep desire to serve the Lord.

· Pray for my studies, finances, and personal growth. I ask for prayer for wisdom in how to best invest my time. I say often these days that there are too many wonderful things and people and not enough time. It is a good problem to have. Yet, I want to be a good steward of my time and energy. So, I ask for prayer that I would see what areas and individuals the Lord is truly calling me to focus on and invest in during this season. I want to be intentional with all but fully present and invested within my capacity and my God-given limits.