God has done it, we we stand blessed and amazed.  It has been a long time coming, a long battle with ups and downs and lots of waiting, but, like David said, we would have lost heart had we not believed that we would see that goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  God graciously provided the money for the deposit and entry fees, and tonight we signed the contract and were handed the keys to our own building.  Now we get the blessing of dreaming, designing, painting, laboring and building the walls!!  Please continue to keep us in prayer as we measure, get bids, make decisions on what we can do now, what we can afford and what is essential, etc...  We even got to share Jesus with our landlord a bit already!  Be praying for him and his family.  His name is Rodolfo.  He and his family actually live in Aquila where the earthquake hit.  Their house was o.k. but they still sleep in the tent cities at night for fear of sleeping in their houses.  Even several days ago there were small tremors.  

 

On Saturday, I will be attending and speaking at a large gathering of young(er) folks which is being called Xstian Talents.  Out of some 20-30 folks sharing in song or poetry, music etc... my time is one of the only teaching/preaching times.  

 

I would appreciate your prayers for this as I think it is a strategic opportunity to speak to young Italian believers (even some non-believers) from different Christian backgrounds, which I would otherwise perhaps never have the opportunity to speak into their lives.  These are the ones who can and will have an impact upon this city and country in these critical last days!  I really feel like God wants to something deep in some of their hearts that is radical and lasting.  I will be teaching in Italian (Aahhhhh) which is like taking my soul and running it up and down on a cheese grater (I usually teach the bible in english with translation by an Italian into Italian), but hey, God uses the foolish things right.  I get 20 minutes!!  Is this possible??  I need that for my intro!!! 

 

Pray for me to have a sensitive and open heart to the voice of God.  Pray that all will make it who God desires to speak to, that they arrive with fertile/good soil hearts.  Pray that my message is anointed, direct, clear, prophetic, and powerful to cause action.   Anyway, God help me, fill me, anoint me, and pour His abundant grace on me... give these young people ears to NOT hear my crazy American/butchering accent or mistakes, but hear the voice of God penetrating their hearts, quickening their spirits, and bringing a fire of revival for a last generation Gideon's Army for Rome, Italy, and the World.  Pray that I would not make any mistakes that would change the meaning of what was meant to be communicated.  

 

May the Lord lead you as you pray and intercede.  Praise be to God who allows us to be a part of the work of His glorious kingdom all over the world from right where we are through prayer.

 

Thanks,

 

Ciao fratelli, 

 

Prayerfully you are all being held up under God's amazing grace.

 

We are good.  We got back Saturday from our joint church retreat up in Sirolo (Adriatic Coast) with the other Calvary's from the north.  We had a good time apart from a few bumps... or gashes I should say.

 

When we got up to the retreat center ... Isy was playing tag, fell and busted her head open just above the eye.  We took her to the hospital and she ended up with a couple of stitches.  That was all within the first hour being there.  We were blessed to have Pastor Frank Ippolito with us from New Jersey sharing on the need for more of God's power along with our responsibility to walk in the Spirit.  We were all convicted and encouraged I believe.  It was beautiful weather and we even got to sit on the beach for a couple of hours both days.  The things about retreats is that you always have to come back.  Thanks Craig, Frank, Mark and tutti i fratelli!!

 

 

Sunday we came back to have Amir, a friend from Israel, teaching and fellowshiping with us.  Also, our friends Mark and Renata Nigro from  CC Treviso came back down with us.  It was all a wonderful blessing for us.  Amir's teaching was awesome, Ez 38-39, very uplifting, challenging, edifying, stirring etc... If we can make it available somehow we will let you know and would highly encourage you to listen to it as we see the events of the Bible unfolding before our very eyes.

 

We also had with us two new teens which we met when the outreach team was here several weeks back and we did the concert here in Tor Bella Monaca.  It was a blessing to have em with us.

 

Tomorrow morning we are going to meet with the owner of the building that we are currently trying to get into.  Please pray.  It is not far from our home and right in the middle of our zone.  It is a tad smaller than what we have looked at in the past but is also a tad cheaper, but is sufficient for our needs at this time.  We just want to get into something and get going.  We really feel that it is important in moving forward and becoming a light in this area. 

 

Pray simply for God's will to be done.  If the Lord wants us in there then we pray for favor with the owner, wisdom and discernment as we we negotiate.

 

On the Aquila side of things... I wanted to thank those of you who have been praying as well as those of you who have donated.  We will be having a planning session next Sunday with our team, making a budget and list of items, and then prayerfully, one of these next coming Saturdays, we as a church can go up and minister, serve and love folks in Jesus' name.  Now is the time to pick up the prayers for the people of the Aquila area.  There were many little villages that were hit as well that all have tent cities in them with people waiting and wondering what's next.

 

The people's needs have been pretty well provided for materially although we have in mind to take up some practical things that seem to be lacking such as underwear, lotion and soap, chapstick and maybe some small flashlights.  Ultimately, now that the adrenaline and attention are all wearing off, I would say that now is the critical time for ministering the love, comfort and security that Christ alone can bring.  Pray for wisdom for us and soft and open hearts for them as we go to be open to what the Lord may want to do.  We will get out an update specifically on our efforts and the conditions in Aquila in another week or so.

 

Thank you so much, again, for standing with us, helping us to help others, and giving us the privilege of serving Italy for Christ.

 

May the Lord bless each of you and keep you close in these amazingly difficult, yet exciting times.

 

By Grace,

Brent