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!

Sunrise to Sunset

There was like 3 posts in like 3 days and I have not really felt inspired as of late.  We had so many group appointments about two weekends ago we wore ourselves out.  We had 4 appointments in 3 days.  It was good to get to meet close to 50 new people and share about our ministry.  One of the nights after sharing, we went out swing dancing on UCF's campus.  I wish I could post some pictures but we forgot the camera probably because it was spur of the moment.  

The Monday after that weekend, the 9th, we had planned

to have a beach day and a celebrate Valentine's Day dinner.  Amanda wanted to wake up for the sunrise and I agreed because we do not always have the opportunity to do stuff like that even though I am more of a sunset kind of guy myself.  I felt sick when I woke

 up, but thought that it was just because I did not get enough sleep, I get sick to my stomach when that happens sometimes.  Little did I know it was the start of the plague.  I ended up throwing up on myself at the beach as I was trying to move the car.  I really did not know it was coming, it was kind of like a sneeze, and spending a lot of time in the beach bathroom.  I did get to see the sunrise in all its glory and spend sometime sleeping off my sickness on the beach. All in all that day I slept close to 7 hours from my original waking time and we had to cut our beach time short.

Amanda got sick the next day when I was feeling better and she recovered on about Thursday.  In the middle of the week we had 

a few appointments to share about our ministry cancel on us for various reasons, which was discouraging because it happened like 3 nights in a row, but it was okay because Amanda was sick anyway and it probably would not have gone well.  

Friday the 13th, we decided to reschedule our Valentine's dinner.  It was awesome to get to connect with the woman of my dreams and get to go on a special date with her watching the sunset and going off to dinner both on Clearwater Beach after we had transitioned to Tampa from Orlando on Thursday for a few weeks.  We felt like we were missing each other on a few different levels so it was really good to get to pursue her heart and her acknowledge mine.

Thanks for your prayers everyone, we have been meeting new people to share about our ministry and continue to pray for our time in Tampa.  Pray that people we are meeting with would make time in their busy schedule to hear about how God is moving in Salerno, Italy and how the we plan to share the gospel of Jesus Christ allowing it to take root in Italians' lives.

Bible in a Year=God's sovereignty

First let me say please read previous blog because we have done two in two days and my wife did the previous one and she is trying to do more so I do not want to knock her post down a notch with this one today.

You guys must be like whoa what the heck happened, 3 posts in a few days, but I felt inspired so I thought I would go for it.  I am not a native blogger, so when I feel like it I need to go for it because who knows when it will happen again.  

I am reading the Bible in a year.  The book I am reading is online called The One Year Bible.  You can click on previous link to read what I am talking about for February 2nd.  Do check it out one the actual website because you can start now too and just finish next February 2nd.  

The Old Testament reading for yesterday was about Moses escaping with the people to Israel and God parting the Red Sea and all of Pharaoh's men getting drowned when the waters fell on them.  I know that this story is always used to share about what is going on in their lives and how the Lord is using them or taking them through the wilderness, so I am weary about using it here, but it does match especially since (I looked ahead in the Bible in a year) and Joshua starts in April.  We hope to leave for Italy in May so it might fit for future bloggings.  Anyway, we feel in a lot of ways God has kind of led us out of Egypt which was our old way of life, working in our jobs and living in our apartment, thinking we would be done with support raising in January.  We are now in this February season at around 75% of our support, 

and not knowing where the rest is going to come, feel like we are in the wilderness explained in today's reading. I have compared and contrasted some points.

It took the people of Israel 3 days and it probably took us 3 months to start feeling hopeless, but eventually it will take us right around a year to be in our "support wilderness" but it took them 40 years :)  

The Lord gave them Manna everyday and I feel like in this season we get manna by taking everyday at a time.  

The Lord currently is preparing us for ministry and those 40 years prepared the Israelites for the promise land because they were not ready.

The people of Israel really felt like they were going nowhere and some days we feel exactly like that complaining and grumbling.  

In leading Amanda and I, I feel like Mr. Inadequacy himself, Moses, but I know he has called me to be a Joshua and enter the promise land eventually!

Pic on right is people gathering Manna.

On a lighter note, I went to my first Orlando Magic game of this great season that they are having and last game for a long time this past Thursday.  We are probably start doing "last times for a long time" for a lot of things that we enjoy doing that we cant do in Italy as it gets closer to us leaving.  I have been a huge fan for a while and found a good deal on a great game against LeBron James and the Cavs and the Magic pulled it out in the end!

Fun around town

I just wanted to post a few pictures of some of the fun things that we've been going recently.  This season of support raising has allowed more free time than we've had in awhile so we're trying to take advantage of the time when we have it.  We know that it's only a matter of time before things get crazy again.  

We went out to a 

local piano bar

 with some friends from church.  Here's a picture of us with Ryan and Sherry (they are the couple that we live with when we're in Orlando).  

We realized the other day that we didn't have any

 pictures of the four of us, so now we have at least one!

Rodney also took me out on a fun afternoon date.  We starting by having a little picnic at a park that I like.  The park has a big open field, but it also has this pretty fountain.  

After the park, we went to the humane society to play with some cats.  One of the hard parts of our support raising has been that we gave up our cat.  Jeremiah now lives with my sister.  He seems to actually like her more than us, but we still miss him :(  The first picture is Jeremiah, he's "studying" with my sister as you can see.  The next picture is the gigantic cat at the humane society who wanted me to pet his belly forever.