Casey 7th Year Anniversary in Italy

They must have faced them. They must have. Doubts. I don’t know if it was hot or cold. We don’t really know how many of them there were. We do know they were assembled in a prescribed order. And we know they were commanded to march around 7 times. What must it have been like? Remove the Veggie-Tales slushies and the Sunday-School images and really step back in the story. They had already marched around once a day for six days, the priests, the trumpeters and the armed men. On this seventh day when they were commanded to march around seven times, what must have gone through their minds? I have to think that some at least doubted. If the ratio was consistent with the “10 were bad and 2 were good” then most of them did. And still they marched. What if they had quit? What if the sixth time around they simply said, “You know, this is stupid! Why 7? If God is God, couldn’t He just kill everyone inside and open the gate?” What if they had quit that sixth time around?

Now, flash forward with me a few thousand years to late December, 2006 and pan over to the ‘Texas Land & Cattle’ steakhouse on the North side of San Antonio, Texas. Heather and I were seated at a table with four friends and supporters from the Cowboy Fellowship. They had driven up to meet us and take us out to eat. Apart from the gifts and the check and delicious dinner, the thing that stuck with us the most from that evening was the encouragement from Pastor Pete. As we shared about the difficulty of ministering in Italy, the hard soil, the six years of toiling and seeing very little visible fruit, Pete simply stated, ‘What if the Israelites had stopped the sixth time around?’

So true, so simple: an answer that bridges the debate between those that say we are called to be obedient and others who say we are called to be successful. Often in Scripture we see the two going hand-in-hand.

So today, we find ourselves in Ancona, on our 7^th anniversary of our arrival on the field and I’m even now tempted to doubt, tempted to ask, “How long?”. We walk in the shadows of these tall, spiritual walls and sometimes it is hard not to doubt – but we keep going. Seven years down and who knows how many to go. Our faith is in a God that is creative (who else would have people march around a city seven times) and above all, loving (who else would sacrifice his own son). He loves these people and wants to see things here in Ancona, as brother Wright would say, ‘put to rights.’ We believe He wants to see a church rise up, a real, living, breathing community of people that are passionate in their pursuit of their Creator, in becoming like Jesus and in giving everything they have back to Him.

So, though the walls may be tall, round and round we go.

Baptism!

Celebrate with us because our friend, Maurizio, was baptized today. And another makes it into the Lamb's book of Life.

Expansion of Ministry in Italy

Our team is already busy with the tasks of this new year after coming back from our Winter Team Retreat. The Rotert family is in the states on their Home Assignment and the rest of us are here in Ancona.

In recent months, God seems to be moving in the hearts of individuals to consider Italy as a mission field. Angie and I have answered a call to be the Team Leader for a new team that will be going to Northern Italy. It will be a process that will take place over the next year and a half. We appreciate your prayers as we launch this new endeavor and for the rest of the team here in Ancona to continue the work that remains in front of them.

January Ministry News

Here's an update of what is going on in January 2007! Everything is starting back up after the holidays.

The Casey family returned on Sunday. They will be spending the next few weeks readjusting to life here, as well as the time difference.

Kid's English Club is on Tuesdays and most Fridays. Angie teaches several kids each week and you can really see a difference.

Chit Chat Open English - Starts today. We usually have 2 or 3 people who will come to practice their English in focused conversation and friendship. Some people just like to talk, for some we have lessons. It is usually easier to use a lesson with someone who doesn't know English very well.

Friday night, January 12, is our monthly Coffee House. The theme this month is "Winter". We usually have in the double digits (around 10-15) who come. They can hang out in a very informal atmosphere, chat in English and listen to music. Sometimes we have Italians come in and play live music, but not always. When we don't, Marcus plays live music with a keyboard. Everyone always likes listening to his piano skills and sometimes the night turns into karaoke. On my sketch blog, I posted some artwork for our February Coffee House, with a theme of "The Valentine Blues", you can check it out by clicking here.

Every couple of weeks we have a special prayer time for our team. In warm months, it is outside in the piazza. Right now, when it is colder, we have gone indoors into a nearby Catholic church, which is open for anyone to come in and sit. There is usually only 1 or 2 people besides us inside.

Monthly, we have a team fun night. This is for our team to get together and build our relationships, which always helps our working relationships. This month, we have team visitors who are going to watch the Casey's and Roterts' kids, therefore the adults are going to go to dinner together.

Twice per year our team has a planning meeting, usually outside of Ancona. We will be having our meetings January 19-22. Please be praying for this because it is a foundation of everything we will be doing for the next six months.

Every week, we have our two Life Groups that meet in homes. These groups are in their early stages, building relationships and growing together in Christ.

The last thing to note is that the Rotert family is heading back to the states for six months for their Home Service Visit. They will be seeing family, supporters and supporting churches as they travel throughout the US.

Staff Meeting

Each week we have a staff meeting. Normally, we pray for needs and give thanks. Then I bring up some specific topics that we need to discuss (while I am serving as interim Team Leader, while Jason is in the states). Then I give a highlight of team/church activities for the week and sometimes month.After that we each go around and tell what is going on that week in our personal ministries. Then we close. It is a great time each week that keeps us focused and informed as we continue on in this mission God has given us.

La Fonte in December

La Fonte is an event that we plan for the church to come together and have a special study. It enables us to spend a little more time than normal on a specific topic. Last Wednesday, December 6th, our topic was an "Introduction to Discipleship". This was prepared and taught by Josh Furnal, who is developing our adult discipleship. Below are a few pictures from the event. Angie prepared and taught a special kids lesson during the adult study. We even had videoconferencee thanks to the foresight by Josh and the setup by Brian.

Go Ancona News

This is the news for the ministry of Taking Christ to Italy: Go Ancona. The ministry is a non-denominational church plant in Ancona, Italy. Look forward to reading upcoming news about the different facets of our outreach, evangelism and discipleship.

Our church is structured in groups that meet in homes. Weekly, we have two groups that meet in two different homes for fellowship, worship, mentoring, encouragement, teaching and ministering to the needs of group members and the people of the community.

As needed we plan events to focus on different aspects of the church, such as, prayer, worship and teaching. At these events lessons are planned for children as well.

We operate a free English conversational program for adults, classes for kids and a monthly American style coffee house for adults to practice English conversation in an informal atmosphere. Our coffee houses have featured themes like 'football', 'autumn', 'hawaiian luau' and christmas, as well as live music and American style coffee drinks and snacks.

Bi-annually, we plan two contact events for deepening current friendships and reconnecting with relationships of which we have lost communication. Examples of these are Family Zoo Day, Picnic in the Park, Open House at our facility and Thanksgiving Outreach. Of these all, the Thanksgiving Outreach has gone over well in attendance. Italians have seen this american holiday on TV and in films, and this way they get to experience it up close and personal.

Our children's ministry has occasional outreaches like 'movie day', Christmas carnival, bowling, spring carnival and works in conjunction with our kids' english program. Most of the events are planned around a family style of ministry, where the whole family can come together.

As you read you'll see more about our ministry. If you ever have any questions please feel free to write us at info@goancona.com.