Calvary Chapel Roma Church News

Update, Monday, July 19, 2010

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:30:00 GMT

The Café Bar… all encompassing hub of life in Italian culture; caffeine fixes, breakfast, weather forecasts, general info, phone credit, political, religious, and current events talk, or just catching up with a friend… is a most important morning stop and ritual and one of my primary forums for outreach and evangelism. I enter, greet Daniele the owner/barista, help myself to a delectable pastry and wait for my cappuccino as I greet the rest of the lively and familiar gang that is somewhat like a second family. Roberto and Stefano are two guys who never miss a morning. While the rest of us have our coffee, they start the day with a whiskey, or three! God has given me an open door with these two, as well as the others, over which I would ask you to pray.

Prayer:

§ More conversations about Jesus

§ Salvation for Roberto, Stefano (deliverance from Alcohol), Claudio and Malfisia, Glauco and Carmine, Daniele, and others in the community

§ Provision - projector, terrace furniture, kid’s playground equipment, finances for pastors and families to go to church conference in August, needs met for families seeking need through our Association... diapers, baby soaps, strollers, and food in general.

§ Blessed and effective summer outreaches (mini concert series 2 this coming Saturday), Water Baptism, Conferences By Grace, Brent Harrell

Update, Friday, June 11, 2010

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:00:00 GMT

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Our sincere apologies for such a long gap in getting out an update. After returning to the states in February for 2 family funerals, things have just snowballed with life and activities. First, we wanted to graciously thank those of you who sent cards, emails, flowers, words of comfort, and prayed for our families during such a sorrowful time. The Lord was faithful as always. A special thank you also to those of you who gave financially, allowing us to travel and go through the process with our families.

Team Work:

After returning in March we hosted a few smaller outreach teams on into June. Thank you Kardos’s from Spokane who joined up with the White’s and Mike from CC Boise to form a team of hard working laborers. From a new front wall project (amazing job artist Shelley), to a ceiling for the bathroom, a storage loft, installing a kitchen, lots of re-wiring, installing an air conditioners, building a stage and so on, we tackled a long list of projects. It’s always a blessing to have servant-minded people just role up their sleeves and get to work. Thanks for being an encouragement. Thank you CC Ontario for contributing towards the cost of the kitchen. We wanted to get to a public park make-over project but just didn’t have enough time or money. That is still something we are praying to accomplish in the future. If you’d like to donate let us know.

Preaching the Word:

Immediately following, I had the privilege of traveling to Serbia and speaking at a three-day conference at the Calvary Chapel in Subotica with two other pastors. God really seemed to be working, blessing and stirring as we taught through the book of Nehemiah. We pray for lasting fruit in Serbia.

Church Retreat:

One day after returning to Rome, Pastor Bob and Cathy came in from Boise for our annual Calvary Chapel Retreat jointly attended by 5 Italian Calvary’s. It was an amazing time of teaching, fellowship, and family fun on the Tuscan seaside. Outside of the general sessions, we separated into men and women’s groups a few times. With these sessions the Lord was really doing a deep work with family, marriage, and building healthy churches. Thank you Pastor Bob and Cathy for coming and sharing, pastor Craig for organizing, all those who attended. Build them walls!!!

The Body:

God has really been doing some neat things, even in the midst of many struggles and trials. . Recently, we have seen several people come to faith in Jesus in both churches. Both churches are growing little by little, but God is doing a deepening work, which is very encouraging in these foundational stages. At the end of June we will be water baptizing at least 4 or 5 folks. Some are needing work, some are dealing with challenging or ungodly relationships, some need revival, some are growing and need to get plugged in to serving. Pray for our Sunday school as we seek to fine-tune it a bit. Chantal is in the hospital with some undiagnosed platelet malfunction which the doctors don’t quite understand. Pray for God’s miraculous, healing touch. Continued...

Update, Friday, June 11, 2010

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:55:00 GMT

Outreach:

We just finished several months of doing guitar and English lessons at the church to draw people in and build relationships. This was very fruitful and we’ll look forward to picking it up again in the fall. We met Natale in the market while handing out tracts. He gave us a good twenty minutes of his time and just wasn’t convinced that on this side of heaven, one could be sure about God’s forgiveness and one’s eternal security. Almost a week later, as I exited the gate to take the kids to school, I bumped into Natale who was heading to a work site. Pray for his salvation and more run-ins. At my morning pit-stop for Itlay’s best (caffe) I have entered into quite a neighborhood sub-culture of locals getting their morning fixes and discussing the issues of life before facing the day. It is quite the mission field. Please pray for these relationships that are being built. This is key for winning Italians to Jesus. As another form of outreach to the neighborhood, we plan to do an outdoor acoustic concert/BBQ on the terrace of our church the last Saturday of every month this summer. We would appreciate your prayers. Pray for the resources to get some tables and chairs, gazebos and flowers to make a nice welcoming and comfortable space to reach folks.

Family:

Hope and I are doing well; very concerned with various issues and needs within our families. We are looking to God to do mighty things. The kids are finishing school so we will now go into full-blown summer mode. Isabella just turned 8, is finishing 2nd grade, and Olivia turns 6 next month and just graduated kindergarten. We’ll be looking to get Braydy-boy out of diapers and prepare him for pre-school in September just after he turns 3. Due to a lack of resources, at this point, it doesn’t look like the Lord will be taking us stateside this summer. Either way, we look forward to a fruitful season of growing as a family (and as a church family) and just taking some time to play at the beach. Lord willing, we may be stateside for Christmas.

Thank you sincerely for your love towards us, and the investment made towards the mission here. It doesn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated. Nothing fruit bearing would be possible here if it weren’t for your prayers, your generosity, and you concern for the Italians. May God bless, fill and reward you in His own way as you continue to labor together with us.

Prayer:

o Miraculous healing for Chantal

o Open doors with our food pantry, and benevolence side of our association, more contact with the poor and needy

o Provision for park re-construction, hearts touched in community to help and give

o Work for Alessandro and Negist

o Sanctification and Preservation for singles in the fellowship

o Strengthened and united marriages, families

o Fruit from evangelistic efforts

o Salvation for Natale, Glauco and Carmine, Daniele, Claudio and Malfisia, Roberto and Stefano (coffee bar friends)

o Provision for T.V. screen or video projector for church, park reconstruction project

o Provision for courtyard development – chairs, tables, gazebo or umbrella’s, flowers, flower pots

o Upcoming outreach events – market evangelism, acoustic summer concerts/bbq’s – divine appointments, relationships built, salvation for souls

o Sunday school tune up – organization, rotating servants, developed curriculum in Italian, salvation and spiritual growth for children

o Family issues – reconciliation in relationships, protection on marriages, salvation for non-believers, repentance and renewal for backslidden, empowering of Holy Spirit for those walking in own strength

o Anointed succinct, prophetic, and timely teaching

o Blessings on those baptized later this month

Update, Monday 8, 2010

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:43:00 GMT

Greetings Saints,

It has been an eventful six weeks or so as we went in to Christmas and New Years hosting a team from Seattle, then moving on in to 2010! Just before the team came I was rear-ended and sent flying into the car in front of me. Since one of my inspections had expired without me knowing, it resulted in my car title being taken for a couple of weeks. Two weeks and two hundred euros later we got that settled. In the meantime the team arrived we got busy. By God's gracious grace, one of the ladies in the fellowship who was going out of town for the holidays let us use her car. The team was great, helpful and encouraging. We did a few concert outreaches both in Tor Bella Monaca and Frascati, plus some special teaching on marriage and purity for singles. Amy from the team put her artistic hand to work and painted a couple of paintings for the church in TBM (acting also as a sound absorbent on hollow walls). She also did some handy work up in Frascati as well. Thank you to CC East-side for all your hard work and love shared.

I had the privilege of getting away a few weeks ago to one of our European winter pastors conferences in Germany. God always uses that time to take us aside, discipline us, bless and refresh us, then send home encouraged. I came back to Olivia (our middle child) sick with a stomach virus. Not pretty. Brayden (our littlest) picked it up that Saturday night (of course) so we spent about ten to twelve straight days cleaning up vile messes, doing laundry out the ears, and praying not only for them two to live, but hoping and praying that the rest of us would remain untouched.

Despite all the drama, God has continued to bless the fellowship and bring some new folks. It has been a blast to see Romina and Fabio coming pretty consistently and bringing their kids. Please continue to pray for Fabios salvation and growth in the Word for Romina. The past couple of weeks brought us a couple of other new visitors too. Sara seems to want to make CC Rome her church family while Giuseppe and his wife seem to be checking things out. We are grateful to see new faces and pray for a radical outpouring on everybody coming, new and old. On Sundays we are plodding through Acts and on Wednesdays Vincenzo has taken the baton in Proverbs. Pray over the meetings, the teaching, for a deep work and for transformed lives. Continued...

Update, Monday February 8, 2010

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:41:00 GMT

...Continued

Our building continues to be such a wonderful blessing and joy as we have been able to hold all of these various events according to our own needs and just spend quality time in fellowship, worship and prayer. Pray that we could grow in numbers and in financial giving so that as we get weaned off of our home churches financial help for the building rent in the coming months we could carry the load all on our own. This can tend to be an interesting challenge for Evangelical churches in Italy unfortunately. We pray for that gracious work of God's Holy Spirit in maturing the body in this area. We also pray for God to prosper people with good jobs and consistent pay so that they can honor God with the fruit of their labors.

On the 13th of February we are kicking off a new type of outreach for us with offering English lessons and Guitar lessons for free in an effort to be a blessing as well as simply bring people in. Pray for Claudia as she will be teaching the English lessons, for Vincenzo as he leads the guitar lessons. The lessons will carry on every other week until mid June. We see this as a great opportunity for many in the fellowship wanting one or the other, maybe even preparing future worship leaders. Either way we pray for the Lord to draw people and use it for His glory and His purposes. Pray for divine appointments as we do flyer distribution and registration for the next couple of weeks.

Lastly, on a personal note, Hope's grandpa Lowell Bennett, who is 90, and has had an amazingly full and Jesus glorifying life, seems to be very near the end. His lungs are super weak, taking on some fluid, and his body just seems to be giving out. Please pray for him and the family as it is still hard to think of letting him go. Our prayer is that God has his way and shows mercy either way.

Thanks for your faithfulness to pray and give to our efforts here in Rome. We can't thank you enough.

By Grace,
Brent and family, CC Rome

Update, Monday, January 18, 2010

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:07:00 GMT

Please pray for:

- Continued growth in the church and individual believers personal faith
- New people to be drawn into the church, and a great impact on Tor Bella Monaca
- Satan and power and principalities to be bound, rebuked, cast down... strongholds demolished, hearts and minds free to receive
- Various outreach efforts, tracts distribution, English and guitar lessons offered in the new year to bear fruit
- Provision for building to do’s: heating/air unit, hot water heater, bathroom sink, kitchen sink and cabinets/cupboards
- Salvation for: Fabio, Alina
- Growth and discipleship for: Romina, Ivano, Claudia, Raul, Rueben, Emeglia and Alessandro, Diamond and the rest attending
- Jobs for: Emeglia and Alesandro Filip, Lidia, new job for Robert
- Blessings, Unity, Provision, Leaders raised up, Grace and Anointed teaching at both CC Roma and CC Frascati, our two church plants. Wisdom, discernment and protection for Robert, Vincenzo and Brent as they lead these flocks. Blessings on Tania and Hope as they faithfully teach the children. The children to really know Jesus more and more.
- Brent’s time in Germany for pastor’s conference, Hope and kids safety and sanity while he is away
- Isabella and Olivia’s schooling… grades, relationships, language acquisition, testimony to other children and their parents
- Italian driving school paid for, attended, and exams passed for Hope's driver's license
- Wisdom on what to do with our family car as ours is getting up there in wear and tear, repairs etc... God's provision
- Successful renewal with Harrell visas and paper work this year, grace, direction, and favor as we look into Citizenship process
- Personal support for the Harrell family increased, support for Robert in Frascati

Update, Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:32:00 GMT

Praise/Prayer CC Rome

Praise
- children's ministry wall built, room in use, a great blessing
- successful Harvest Fest outreach, many kids and parents in attendance
- Romina accepted Jesus into her heart
- weekly visitors and new faces

Prayer
- Salvation for Fabio, Alina, Ivano, Glauco, and Stefano's mom Ana
- More divine appointments, anointed evangelism, barriers broken down, preparation for outreach in Nov and Dec.
- powers and principalities bound, confounded, disarmed, unable to divide, blinders lifted
- anointing and help for Brent teaching in Italian
- grace for Hope and Tania as children's ministry grows and develops, more kids reached for Christ
- growth and maturity for those attending
- singles - purity, passion for Christ, patient/obedient hearts, protection
- development and finalization for Aquila project
- building needs: heating/air unit, kitchen and cabinets, projector
- sign drama resolved, organization and administration with association
- opportunities to help families and reach out during the holidays
- church plant in Frascati, Robert, wisdom, laborers, new converts, more support, money for chairs

Thanks for praying,

Brent

CC Rome
calvarychapelrome.org

Update, Friday, October 29, 2009

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:09:00 GMT

Dear praying friends-
Thank you for your prayers concerning our Sunday school space. The Lord has provided! With the gracious help of Calvary Chapel Montebelluna, we now have a Sunday school room to call our own! We changed our original floor plan ideas which provided the perfect solution for dividing up the space that we are currently renting. We had our first Sunday service last Sunday and it was such a blessing. It has literally been 10 years since we have had a room for the kids that had all that we needed in it! I am truly thankful. We are going to inaugurate our new building and new room by having a little harvest party for the kids in the neighborhood this Saturday. We want to be a blessing to the kids and their parents in some way so we would ask for your continued prayers for this grand event! Thank you everybody! May God richly bless you.
Sincerely,
Hope Harrell (the oh-so-happy Sunday school teacher)

Update, Friday, October 9 - 1

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 07:50:00 GMT

Dear brothers and sisters, Thanks for your prayers these past weeks. God continues to bless us and set up divine appointments here in Tor Bella Monaca. The new building is really a blessing. This past Sunday, one of the dads from the girls school showed up with his daughter for the first time. Be praying for Vito and his family. Plus, we had a friend from Israel guest speaking so we had quite a few other visitors that don't normally come which was a blessing too. Amir was a great blessing and stirred up the body once again regarding the sovriegnty of God and His concrete plans for Israel in light of unfolding world events. Things are heating up! This coming weekend we have a Bible college team coming down from CCBC Montebelluna in the north to help us build a wall for our children's ministry room. Although we haven't had the miraculous offer to use for free one of the other spaces in our building yet, the bible college students and Pastor Craig are going to help us with the labor of building the wall and doing some painting (a window, some fencing outside, and the big outer garage doors) while they are here. We are very excited and it will be a huge blessing to see the need met. To this point we have been driving the kids to our house after worship for Sunday school. Please pray for provision, or consider helping to fund the project if the Lord so leads. Only a couple of days remain!! It's going to cost us around 300 euro, which is about $450, for all the materials. Once we get this wall up, in time and with provision, we will turn out attention to putting in a little kitchen, some heating/air units, creating a bar and fellowship area, and doing some other miscellaneous decorating. For now, the wall is essential. To turn the topic to people, yesterday a man approached me at the school, with another neighborhood believer, and asked for a moment of my time. Ciro has gone through quite an ordeal recently with his wife being an alcoholic and the home falling apart. He feels very alone and is greatly concerned about the state of his two children, ages 9 and 11. Please lift him up in prayer. Continued below...

Update, Friday, October 9, 2009 - 2

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 07:47:00 GMT

Pray for his salvation primarily. We know once he gives his heart to the Lord, the Lord will iron things out in His way. I praise God for the opportunity, but obviously, our hearts go out to Ciro. We put him in God's hands together with your prayers.Alessandro and his family have pretty much moved and are getting settled into their new house. Up until today, Alessandro was very excited about a new job opportunity that would give him a legitimate, full time contract. I guess he didn't get it on occasion of not passing a doctor's physical in some capacity. In the meantime, he had given notice at his other job, so he doesn't know if they will keep him on or not now. Obviously he is very disappointed. Pray for this family as they continue to seek to trust God and deal with the discouragement and the challenges.Continue to pray for protection for us all, my leadership team, and the fellowship. It seems like the enemy is constantly looking for a foothold. Pray for a deep work of God's Spirit, unity, humility before God, a hunger and passion for God's word and obedience to it, new conversions and new faces. Lift up our time with the bible college team from the work to the fellowship to our witness while they are around. Pray for the safe travel, divine appointments, and God's will to be done.Keep lifting up the work in Frascati, Robert and his family, and the saints there as well. Things are going well. God has provided a new job for Chantal (Robert's wife) and there is a good group coming on Sunday evenings for service. Pray for Vincenzo and his family as they travel to the states next week for a couple of weeks too... safe travel, refreshing times, and good fun.Pray for clarity and an open door on ministering in Aquila at this phase I'll leave it at that for now. We can't thank you enough for allowing us to lean upon you so much for prayer and support. The body of Christ truly is a wonderful blessing. May the Lord be blessing each of you and showing you his faithfulness for all of your requests and needs as well. By Grace,Brent calvarychapelroma.it Support:CC Boise123 Auto Dr.Boise, Idaho 83709 Online donations: ccboise.orgchapelmissions.org