Book Suggestions?

So one of the things that we are thinking about it what books we want to be reading in the next year or so.  Not all the surprisingly, English language Christian books aren't readily available in Salerno.  We are planning on visiting a used Christian bookstore and stocking up before we go.  So we're looking for suggestions.  We want to be reading books that really challenge our hearts.  We think that we're going to have a lot of practical application in the day to day ministry we'll be doing, so we want to really go deep in our personal reading.  So, what have you been reading?  Do you have any suggestions for us?  What would really encourage our hearts?  Please leave us a comment (it's right below this post) or shoot us an email or phone call.  Thanks for your help!

Answers to prayer

We met with a pastor who works with a homeless ministry.  We were well recommended to him by people from Amanda's family's church.  He was really excited to hear about what we were doing with college students.  His ministry has been blessed financially and was looking for a way to give back to ministry overseas.  It was clear that this meeting was arranged by the Lord.  His ministry is going to support us at $10,000 a year or $833 a month! It has pushed us really close to our goal at about 95%!!!!

We know we could not be able to come across this man and his ministry without people like you praying for us.  Also if all the people on our financial support team at $20 a month stopped giving we would be probably back at 85% so that shows how the Lord orchestrates things.  From the start God knew that we were going it was just the means on that happening.  Please continue to pray as we make logistical plans over the next few weeks.  We are still praying to leave in May.

Why Europe?

Here is an interesting article I read recently about ministry in Europe.  All three of the authors are on staff with Campus Crusade (I'm pretty sure).  It's not specifically about Italians, but Europeans in general.  It is interested to think about how a different culture perspective can greatly impact how one responds to the gospel.  This is actually only the first section of the article, but I thought it was the most interesting.  Enjoy!

Why Europe?

by Ed Stetzer, Caleb Crider and Larry McCrary

For many, Europe is a place of history or a potential vacation destination. Who really cares about the people and their culture? It is largely a place that has already experienced its best days or made its impact upon the world--the rise and fall of Rome, the rise and fall of the Third Reich, the rise and fall of Great Britain, the rise and fall of the Soviet Union.

Even culturally and spiritually, the great names and great movements are like fond memories--Aristotle, Socrates, Michelangelo, Bach, Beethoven, the Roman Catholic Church, the Reformation. Why would anyone want to focus their attention on Europe?

The Context

According to the latest Eurostat demographic studies (2006), there are 821,000,000 people who live in Europe. The spiritual climate among the European population has been eroding for many years. In a 2005 article, USA Today reported that in some countries like France, Sweden, and the Netherlands, church attendance is less than 10% in some areas.

According to the European Spiritual Estimate (http://emrg.friderich.net/), only 4.2% of that population follow Jesus and demonstrate a concern about the people around them following Jesus. Hundreds of millions of people are waiting to have the opportunity to encounter the transforming power of the gospel. Is the lostness of Europe a reason to be concerned about Europe? Is it possible that God would want to move among the peoples of Europe once again?

As we explore the people and cultural landscape of Europe, it is helpful to think of Europe as a river with three major cultural streams affecting it today. Each stream is a spiritual challenge in itself, but combining the three makes for extra-difficult navigation, when it comes to engaging people with the gospel and starting new churches.

The first stream - which is decreasing in size - is that of the institutional church's decline. This may be the Roman Catholic Church in some countries, the Church of England or the Lutheran church in other parts of Western Europe, but as a whole the churches are declining in attendance. What makes this stream interesting is that, while it is decreasing in size and influence, the veneer of the institutional church still has an impact on the culture.

In Spain, where Larry served for the last five years, his friends would say that they were not part of the church and would speak out against it. In the next sentence, however, they would claim that they were Catholic, thus identifying themselves as religious.

For those of us who live among the peoples of Europe, the opportunity is to help them see it's not about religion but about a relationship with God found through Jesus Christ.

The second stream is the growth and influence of Islam. The flood of Muslim immigrants moving from countries in the 10/40 window to Europe over the last 10 years is incredible. Most major Western European cities have several mosques, and in some cities, mosques are literally buying and replacing the empty cathedrals.

Consider these statistics:

It is projected by the year 2050 that one in every five Europeans will be Muslim.
(Eurostat 2006)

Country / Population / Muslim Immigrants

United Kingdom / 60,776,000 / 1,640,958
Germany / 82,400,996 / 3,213,000
Spain / 40,000,000 / 1,000,000
Netherlands / 16,000,000 / 1,000,000
France / 63,718,177 / 6,737,000

Significant-sized urban areas exist such as Marseille, France or Rotterdam, Netherlands where up to 25 percent of the population are from Muslim backgrounds.

The increase in the number of Muslims moving to Europe makes an impact on the cultural and religious climate. Believers here have a great opportunity for ministry in that we don't face the same restrictions on sharing the gospel as those in closed countries. This gives us some freedom in how we can minister among people. For an interesting blog related to this subject, check out www.reconsidereurope.blogspot.com.

The third stream we need to mention is that of the post-Christian or secular worldview held by many Western Europeans. In most Western European countries, evangelism research shows that less than 2 percent of the population is evangelical. ("European Believers Report", 2007 by Ruth Robinson, Greater Europe Mission)

The only exception to this is Scandinavia, and they have a whopping 3 percent according to most studies. ("European Believers Report", 2007 by Ruth Robinson, Greater Europe Mission) The worldview of most indigenous Europeans is post- Christian/secular.

While most are generally closed to the idea of institutional church, the hope lies in believers who will live out their faith incarnationally in Europe. While living in this context, we have found that the vast majority of people have never had the gospel explained to them in a relevant way.

Cultural Thought - There has always been a flow of cultural influence from Europe to the US. Consider this:

Art - Monet, Goya, Picasso
Philosophy - DeCartes, Locke
Science - Newton, Einstein, Pascal
Cars - Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, Audi, Saab, Volkswagen
Music - Mozart, Beetles, Spice Girls, smile
Fashion - Think of Paris or Milan

With this being said, the cultural climate in the U.S. now is similar to that of Europe a generation ago. It is fertile ground for postmodernism to become the predominant worldview in America.

Thus, we believe that Europe is one of the most strategic places in the world at this moment for evangelism. While there are glimmers of hope in Europe, by and large the national churches have declined so much that they no longer have the sending power which they once possessed. Therefore, the lost populations of Europe need people from other parts of the world to come and offer them the hope of the gospel in a relevant way.

Based on declining church membership, studies show that North America is becoming more closely identified with the emerging post-Christian culture of Europe. We believe that we can learn some things from Europe.

March is for awesome

Theres three ways you can help us out.  Most of you that have met with us in person have heard that phrase.  Sometimes, I feel like people are like, " Okay, right, you really want money, why are you trying to disguise it in three ways?".  It sometimes hard to believe that myself because finances are what get us to Italy, but prayer and referring other people to us work hand in hand with the finances.  I am really starting to see that.  If people were not praying we could not do anything.  Also, if people were not referring us to people they cared about we would run out of contacts and people praying.  We would run out of potential people giving.  Its amazing how they work together in the "Circle of Ministry Parter Development".  I know that sounds kind of cheesy but its true.  Romans 8:28 states, "And we know that all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose."  Thank you to all those out there who have been praying for us in general and also for us to meet more people to share about our ministry.  We have had an influx of Tampa and Orlando referrals.  We know its because of prayers and verses that describe God's character like Romans 8:28.

Elizabeth, Amanda's sister is coming in town tomorrow and March 13th is my mom's and Amanda's dad's birthday.  Pray for us to spend time with both of our families and still have energy and vigor as we meet with people and share about our-soon-coming-to-reality ministry!