Trusting.

Two weeks from today (August 11)I need to be at 85% with my financial support.

God has been very faithful and has been bringing in new partners everyday and I believe He will continue to move and finish out all of my support.

Please join me in believing God to work and bring in above and beyond 85% in the next two weeks

As my departure date gets closer I am getting more and more excited to be in Italy and be a part of ministry there! I feel like my heart is already in Florence! I can't wait to see how God provides!

:Why Italy?:

Italy, along with much of Western Europe, is rapidly moving away from all connections with God and really anything spiritual.

Only about 50% of Italians have any meaningful link with the church, and of those, less than 1% are evangelical believers.

Many of the university students quickly admit to not even thinking about spiritual things such as eternity, sin, salvation, etc.

Italy is a strategic spiritual battle ground that Christianity can not bear to lose. An overwhelming number of decisions steering the course of the world are made in Western Europe. The ministry in Italy hopes to one day be a training ground for European missionaries who, in turn, will reach their continent for Christ.

WE MADE IT!!

Melody and I successfully and safely made it to Florida and back this week!

We are now licesnced drivers of the state of Florida...Don't ask! :)

God definitely provided for us on the trip and we were able to stay with and ride with Crusade people throughout our time in FL. We road tripped to Miami to apply for our visas with the Salerno stint team - which was really cool because we will only be a train ride away from them once we get to Italy. :)

It was a crazy whirlwind of a trip but we got everything done that we needed to and even managed to cram in a quick visit to Majic Kingdom!! :)

Thanks for you prayers!

Our support deadline is next week so please be praying and believing with us for God to bring in the money so that we can go tell Italians about JESUS!!

I was soooooooooo excited about Disney!!!

Mel & I with our Florida licenses....We actually were pretty sad to give up the OK ones.

At the Consulate after giving Fabio our visa application - very Euro.

Don't Stop Believin'....

We got our plane tickets for Italy yesterday.

We are taking a trip to Florida this upcoming week to apply for our visas.

It's actually happening...everything is coming together.

It is so exciting to see the way that God is moving in every area of the preparation for our time in Italy.

Our support deadline is coming up in just a few weeks. We (my teammate Melody and I) are believing God to work in a BIG way and bring in the rest of the money that we need to be able to leave. It has already been so amazing to see the way that He has been providing for us. He works in ways that I would have never even thought of. I'm so glad He is in charge and not me! :)

Pray for Melody and me during our time in Florida (20-22) as we go to the Italian consulate and do a few other things in preparation to leave. Also, please continue to pray for us over the next few weeks and join us in believing God to do miraculous things to send us to Italy so that me might be able to share the love of Christ with the people there!! I know that this is what God has called me to do and I am so excited to see how He makes it happen.

Thanks for all of your prayers and support...I could not be doing this without you all!

Learning.

I think I am learning a lot right now about what it means to trust God. Like really trust Him.
I was thinking yesterday about Peter and the time he walked on water. He was totally fine when he was focusing on Jesus - he was actually walking on water!! But when he lost sight of Christ and started focusing on the problem he started to sink.
I think that is what happens to me so many times. I'm going along just fine trusting God to do something in my life....but then something happens to take my focus off of Him and place it on the current storm in my life - and then all of a sudden (at least in my mind) the problem is bigger than God and I am sinking...forgetting to trust Him to carry me and just staring at this "huge" thing before me.
Um....hello?!?! He's God. The creator of the universe.
There is nothing He can't do! But from my human perspective I forget that all of the time and put limits on Him.

Anyway, that is just a little lesson I am learning while I am raising support and preparing to go to Italy. God is bigger than any amount of money, or any obstacle I might have to face before I go - and while I am there. He really can handle it. But I have to trust Him - with all of my heart (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Just a little update of what is going on with me. But it doesn't just apply to me in my current situation..I think it applies to all of us, everyday. Trusting God is more than saying the words "I trust you." It is a choice, a deliberate action, a step of faith.

What's Going On With Me....

So....

Over a period of time and through much prayer and thought, I have decided to spend the next year (or more) of my life in Florence, Italy as a missionary. God has placed a passion in my heart for missions and specifically for the Italian people. Many of you know I spent last summer there and God just totally broke my heart for the people and their desperate need for the gospel...but what I didn't know was that He was going to call me to go back - long term (well, longer than 6 weeks...). So anyway, I am excited to follow His call and trust Him to make it happen and work through me while I am there.

This blog is an informal way for me to keep everyone updated on the process of preparing to go (mainly raising the financial support I need to get there) as well as keeping you updated on what God is doing and just what I am doing while I am over there. It is also a great way for me to relay as well as RECEIVE prayer requests. So visit often and feel free to comment! I'm excited to share this journey with you.
Much love. :)