Dear saints,

 

Greetings and a heart felt thanks for partnering with us, and CC Rome.  Your prayers have carried us into many blessings for which we give God all the glory.  Naturally there are still many challenges before us.  First the praises and blessings.

 

Our outreach time with CC Triad from North Carolina was awesome.  Focusing on our zone in Tor Bella Monaca, we planted the team in a sweet villa here and scheduled several opportunities for evangelism throughout the zone.  On Friday night we got permission to do a concert at a stage/neighborhood recreation area occupied mostly by teenagers.  The area was a bit over-run with weeds and in need of some tlc so we gave it some.  We bought some gloves, rakes, trash bags and got busy.  One of the guys on the team, Tom, hopped on the weed-eater and went to work while the rest of us raked, pulled, and swept.  What was cool was seeing some of the young guys from the zone jump on board with the cleaning crew and give us a hand.  At that point the questions began regarding who we were and why we were doing what we were doing.  This immediately opened up opportunities for us to share Jesus.  After cleaning, some of us jumped on the court to play some hoops with the teens, some ping-pong, some foosball and others just taking any possible opportunity to connect with the kids.  God really gave us favor with these kids.  Next we wheeled out the grill and barbequed up some burgers, dogs and Italian sausage.  They just loved it, sort of a taste of America.  Later in the evening we had APR (our worship leader Vincenzo’s Christian band) do a concert with Pastor David/guitarist-rocker-extraordinaire stepping in as well as preaching the gospel.  One young boy named Claudio, who helped us clean and sat on the front row the whole time, prayed to receive Christ.  A young gal named Valeria, who passionately talked to us the whole concert letting off some of her steam and getting out some of her questions about where God has been through the cries of her hard life, ended up coming to church in our yard on Sunday with two of her friends.  Valeria isn’t born-again, but hasn’t missed a Sunday since the outreach.  She came all by herself two Sunday’s ago and then brought her older sister Veronica this past Sunday.  Please pray for their salvation.  All of these kids are sort of the street kids of the hood who don’t have great home lives and have a lot of anger and potential for troubled futures.  It was great to see the Triad team just let their southern hospitality and love for Jesus be mixed up and poured out on these kids.  The kids really responded positively.  Some of these teenagers are the neighborhood tough guys who up until this point we hadn’t really had a way in with.  Now these guys are waving at me when I drive by or playing with us when we go over to play some bball or just hang out.  God really did a neat work and we felt that it was just the beginning of great things to come as we have stepped out in faith to follow God’s vision for us here in this area.  Pray for all of these teens to be saved, and  Lord willing, become the fire for God’s kingdom that consumes this city and this country.  Many divine appointments were met with at other times throughout the week… at the park with children, in the market place making animal balloons for kids passing by, and so on.  We met some Romanians in the market that ended up coming to church on Sunday and two of them prayed to receive Christ.  Pray for Giorgio and Luciano as well Tiberio and his wife.

 

On the building front we are still in a holding pattern.  For just over two weeks now we have been waiting for a draft contract on the 3rd building we have negotiated on.  As far as we know, the simple fact that the owners are extremely busy is the only reason things are not sealed and done.  Please pray that if this location is God’s will, that they will not be able to sleep or concentrate on any other thing until they get business done with us!!!  Once we do get the contract signed, we will need to kick down about € 4000 for 2 months advance rent, insurance, deposit, and some chairs and paint.  We praise God for the € 2000 that have already been provided and pray for the remaining provision necessary.  I am confident that this will all be finalized by the end of the week.  Lord willing, Sunday will be our first worship service together in our very own building.

 

The Marriage Conference is now just two weeks away.  The programs and posters are all back from the printer and look great.  Word is circulating and people are planning on coming.  We pray for a great turn-out.  Our team is working hard trying to be as prepared as possible.  A great Sunday school program has been written and created by Hope and some of the ladies that should be exciting and fruit-bearing.  Jon, our intern from Washington, is working hard at preparing some sessions for the teens too.  Saturday the 25th we will have several sessions with a romantic dinner out for the couples following.  They will be able to leave their kids behind and enjoy each other for a couple of hours after taking in all the instruction on marriage.  Sunday we have two sessions.  Please pray for the team serving, guests arriving, for all details to be ironed out, for Pastor Ken Ortize and his wife Jamie as they travel from Spokane – safety, health, stress free travel, grace to adjust, protection against the enemy, anointed teaching as well as rest for them etc…  Pray for the translation and translators, audio/video, for all to be blessed and edified and for Jesus to be glorified in many marriages.

 

Our prayer is for God’s will to be accomplished both in us and through us.  We thank you for praying for us and in return pray that God will bless you, cause His will to be accomplished both in and through you, and provide for your every need as you all serve Him in whatever capacity He has called you to serve Him in right where you are.  Time is short so may we all find the strength to redeem it and get much done for eternity.

 

Much love to you all, your families and the various fellowships that have show us so much goodness.

 

p.s. - Amy's dad Roy is doing good and Amy is scheduled to come home flying out tomorrow.  Praise God, keep praying for Roy and the family.

 

By Grace,

 

Brent Harrell

Pastor, CC Rome