La Piazza Press

La Piazza Press is our newsletter that we use to keep everyone informed of our progress as missionaries with Saint's Equipped to Evangelize in Valvasone, Italy.  Our vision is to see the piazzas (town squares) filled with evangelical Christians.  Would you be willing to share in that vision?  If so, please click the Subscribe button above to receive our newsletter.  For more information, you can visit our website at www.littlesitaly.com

Counting Our Blessings - December 25, 2009  

Merry Christmas everyone! We are enjoying counting our blessings as we celebrate our Savior’s birth.  We wanted to share a few of them with you. 

The first blessing involves Carlo Marchi, who accepted Christ two years ago, and a new couple, Bruno and Franca, that we met through ESL.  Two months ago, we had dinner at Bruno and Franca’s home and had a wonderful opportunity to share the gospel.  Bruno is an atheist and Franca, a catholic.  They attended our Thanksgiving dinner and during the gospel presentation appeared very disinterested in the message.  So, to our amazement, last week Carlo encountered Bruno and had a two hour discussion about the gospel.  Carlo is a very shy, reserved man who is growing in his faith and understanding of the Bible. Carlo said he felt totally inadequate to respond to Bruno's questions, but he shared the gospel to the best of his ability.  We are so excited about this encounter on several levels.  First, because Carlo had the courage to share his faith with another Italian, a neighbor if you will, for the first time.  Secondly, Bruno, a wealthy secular atheist, would question and listen to a very humble Christian farmer.  And thirdly, for the first time we have seen the beginnings of God’s multiplication process.  It is our dream to see Italians witnessing to Italians.  This is God giving us the first glimpse of what we pray for.  What a wonderful Christmas present our savior has given us! 

We were blessed with another successful Thanksgiving outreach dinner.  It was held in Udine this year near our church plant to encourage more participation from our ESL students in Udine.  We had over 100 attendees who enjoyed the American cuisine, heard testimonies, and a gospel presentation.  We also handed out 2010 daily calendars with scripture verses. A funny sidelight was that one of our paper turkey decorations caught on fire.  Fortunately, we were able to throw it outside before the whole table caught on fire.

The Lord continues to bless our church plant.  Our two newest additions are Franca Liano and Anna Marie Locatelli.  Anna is an ESL student who prayed with Ken Wells, one of our church planters, to receive Christ three weeks ago.  Franca accepted Christ last summer while visiting her sister in Michigan.  Her sister attended our church plant before moving to the U.S.  Please pray for their growth and commitment to Christ, and that their husbands and children would accept Christ. 

We had 100+ ESL graduates in December.  For graduation each class had to learn two Christmas carols in English and sing them at graduation.  We also taught them about the history of each carol.  It was a blessing to hear ‘The First Noel, Silent Night, and Joy to the World sung in English by Italians.  Tom and I shared are testimonies and Sam Spatola shared the gospel.  It was a great evening and we are praying that the seeds we planted will sprout. 

Personal Blessings

Another blessing is YES, we passed our Italian Driver’s License Tests.  After 3 study guides, 671 pages, 2,880 possible test questions, 8,640 possible responses, we took the Italian driver's license test and to our amazement read new and different responses other than those provided in the study guide.  Our question is:  How much money did they pay the developers of this test to come up with so many diverse responses?  The creativity of the Italians has not diminished since the days of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.  Our hats are off to them!  All that withstanding, indeed despite their ingenuity, creativity, and down right cleverness; our God who is mightier than all of this, allowed us to pass the test.  Oh, how we praise him!

January Schedule

Maureen is in Florida with her mother who fell and broke her shoulder. Her mom is in a lot of pain but is recovering. She will return January 11 and begin preparing for ESL classes which will start at the end of the month.  We have two new teachers coming plus Maureen and Becky.  Tom will be flying to Florida at the end of the month to participate in a missions conference at McGregor Baptist Church in Ft. Myers.

Support Update

Last month the Lord blessed us with several one time gifts which has helped us to meet our monthly need. We are still about $5,000 behind and are hoping that this need will be met through a few more special year end gifts this month. As 2009 draws near to an end, would you consider giving a special gift for our ministry so that we can continue this important work of reaching Italians for Jesus?  Many of you have been so gracious over the years, and for that we give thanks to the Lord.  If you are able to help, please make your check payable to Saints Equipped to Evangelize.  Put our names on the memo line and indicate whether it is a special or monthly gift.  All contributions are tax deductible.  Please mail your check to:  

S.E.E. - P.O. Box 587 - Bradenton, FL - 34206-0587

If you prefer, you may click on the web link below to pay through Paypal by follow the instructions.  Your donation is tax deductible.  We look forward to your partnership.

http://www.seeteams.org/paypal/MakeOnlinePaymentStep1.php

Praises and Prayers