don furnaloni

There are only four weeks remaining until I ship out! God is still providing for my every need! In the past week, I’ve been blessed to receive enough monthly support to narrow my need to only $100! I was deeply encouraged by a passage today at church:

“Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.” — Isaiah 40:28-31 TNIV

Put your hope in the Lord today. He is faithful! He delights to renew His people and send them out into the nations to proclaim His everlasting Love.

It’s official! I’m headed back to Italy on January 8th, 2008. I am still not fully funded, but I’m close enough. It’s been about 7 months since I’ve been in Italy, and I’m itching to get back! Please continue to be praying for me as that day approaches. I also wanted to send a little update about the 48-hour prayer event that went on in Ancona this last weekend. What exactly is this prayer event all about?! Well, I would encourage you to go to our website, www.goancona.com and read about it for yourself. Here’s some of Jason’s story:

“A Catholic lady named Raimonda came today for an hour and as she came out she marveled at how quickly the time passed. As Anna arrived and went in to replace her I prayed with them. Sandro showed up and joined his wife in the room – and they, too, were encouraged and said the time flew by. I find myself fumbling over how to talk about this with people here, how to explain it, promote it, invite people to it. To a traditionally Catholic mindset, the idea of walking into a church to pray is not foreign – I would venture to say that they make more of a habit of this than most non-Catholics I know. But the idea of a ‘place set apart’ and of signing up for hours and the creative expression all seem to be uncharted waters for most everyone here.”

Another one of the participants said, “the prayer room was an extremely touching experience for me. Entering the prayer room was like entering in a separate world. My hour went by very fast and some time with myself and with God was very meaningful to me. Though I cried for the whole time and felt miserable, ungrateful, weak, ashamed. Sat down on the sofa and kept weeping. I felt I wasn’t worthy enough to be in there where everybody had humbled and open their heart to God, put their pain and worries in the hands of God, sticked their prayer on the wall… I could only asked Him to make my soul lighter and open my heart to His word and to be able to approach life with pure and genuine love for people and life itself.”

Anyway, it sounds like things went really well, and I look forward to participating in the future.

Keep praying for breakthrough in Ancona.

There’s a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving! God is doing some awesome things in spite of the ever-weakening Dollar. I’m still reeling from the recent boost in support! But God hasn’t stopped there! Remember way back when I mentioned that there was an anonymous donor wanting to sell their house and give a large sum of money to the Ancona work? Well, just today, a check showed up at Team Expansion indicating that after a year of being on the market, this donor was finally able to sell. This has been an incredible week! We are still gearing up for the 48 hours of prayer and we are seeking wisdom as to how best use this money. The donor only had one stipulation: THINK BIG!!! Would you be in prayer for this over the next month? We are currently looking for something locally in Ancona that we could bless their project or ministry. Please pray for wisdom, protection, discernment and that God would reveal His will.

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.

…I provide water in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,

the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise.”
(Isaiah 43:18-21 TNIV)

I just returned from the National Missionary Convention which was held in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was a great opportunity to reconnect with friends I hadn’t seen in several years. I am pretty much finished with the traveling part of my fundraising. I am now waiting on a few churches and individuals to partner with me whether it’s a one-time or monthly commitment, I am still planning on heading back to Ancona on January 8th. The great news is that I only have $400 per month left to raise! God has recently been blessing me through the generosity of a few churches and individuals.

Back in Italy, the Casey’s and the Rotert’s are holding the fort down. They are very excited because at the end of this month, there will be a prayer gathering that will involve several area churches. They’ve divided up a 48 hour period into one-hour slots and people have volunteered to come and pray during that time. To find out some more info, visit www.24-7prayer.com and click on the link that says ‘Find Prayer Groups’ and then click on Italy and you will see our group pop up. We are joining with dozens of other groups around the world to make sure that we continue this living chain of prayers being lifted up to the Father. We’re excited to be one of the few and first to do this in Italy and hope that it really catches on.

Is that it? Just 48 hours?

No way. Our team desires to see this practice of setting aside specific times for prayer throughout the year. Our team would like to see visiting short-term groups, as well as interns, help lead and host prayer rooms. We’ve already taken the first step to partner with other churches in the region to host 24/7 prayer for a week during the annual, international week of prayer in 2008.

Will you join with us?

We would love to have you join with us during this 2-day period! I wonder, if we could get those 48 hours covered by some of you on this list of 200+ friends. If you’re willing to commit to setting aside an hour to pray, would you email me back and let me know?

Something’s happening.

I wanted to share an answer to prayer with you. Today one of my supporting churches contacted me and shared with me that they would be upping their support from $100 to $200 per month. This brings my monthly need down from $1,000 to $900 per month. My hope is that this month the rest of my support will gradually come in as the churches that I have contacted will be reevaluating their budgets. Please continue to be in prayer this month for this.

Thanks for your vital participation!

I have just returned from an 11-day stint in Louisville. It was a great trip! I was able to strengthen my relationship with Shively Christian Church, which has supported the Italy work since its inception. I had a layover in Chicago on my way to Des Moines on Sunday evening and as I was walking down the long hallway with escalators on the floor, I noticed a pretty Indian gal that looked like Mindy Kaling who plays “Kelly” on the television show The Office. Three glances later, and sure ’nuff, it was her! She was waiting for her boyfriend to come out from the bathroom and he came up to us about the time I said, “hey, I really like your show. you’re a great writer. keep up the good work.” Mindy smiled real big and said, “thank you!” I didn’t make much more conversation after that and we went our separate ways.

Besides meeting famous people in airports, I have been trying to raise the rest of my monthly support so that I can return to Ancona. I still have to raise at least $1,000 in monthly commitments. Tonight, I am going to a missions meeting at an area church. I have a few more meetings scheduled in November and it is my hope that these churches will be able to help me get back to the field. Would you please continue to pray for this situation?

This week has been one of those famous transition weeks for my team. Last Sunday, our church launched a “celebration service” which gives our core group of believers an opportunity to gather in our rented facility for worship. Our home gatherings during the week will continue but in a less “churchy” and more hospitable fashion. Also this week, my teammate Marcus Van Dorn came back to the States to begin his home service. So, if you count the same way I do, that means, we have 50% of our team on the field at the moment. That leaves the Casey and Rotert families to shoulder the work load while Marcus and I are back fundraising. We need your prayers!!!

This last week, I sent out 27 appeals to churches in Iowa seeking their consideration for a financial partnership. I don’t know how, or when, each church will respond, but will you be praying that if they are able to partner with me that God will move them into action? I have been reading a great book by Marva Dawn entitled, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting. In it, she encourages us “…about letting our future lie in God’s hands. When we cease striving to be God, we learn a whole new kind of contentment, the delight of the presence of God in our present circumstances. When we give up our silly rebellion against God’s purposes, we discover that he provides the security for which we were searching.”

“The progression from ceasing to resting underscores the basic movement from idolatry to faith. First we discover all the deception and falsehood of the securities offered by the world, and, with repentance, we cease to trust them. This includes especially all of our efforts to make our own way or to save ourselves. Then we learn that God has done all the work of redemption for us and that he continues to work through us. We learn, by faith, to rest in his grace.”

I hope that today is the day that you move along those lines of trust—from ceasing to resting. Our Father is still teaching me these things, and sometimes I marvel at his patience!

Passing me on the road was a big guy on his Harley–hair waving in the wind and no coat (it was a bit chilly)–and seated behind him was a small kid hanging on for dear life. The child was wearing their dad’s white helmet, the black visor pulled down, and their dad’s oversized blue coat. The kid looked like the dad’s backpack. The child’s head didn’t move, it was pressed hard into the dad’s back looking east. Two small hands gripped the biker’s love handles and weren’t letting go.

I followed them for about a quarter mile before they turned off on another route. I was driving home after an early morning breakfast with a guy from church. before our meeting ended, he asked me what he could be praying for as I am being prepared to go back to Italy. the first thing that came to mind was finances, “I want to go back to the field fully funded. I need God to put me in touch with people who can make that happen.” the second thing that came to me was my friends in Italy, “I want to be more intentional with them. I want a rich soil to be cultivated so that our relationship can progress when I return.” I thought that was a more spiritual answer than the first.

But driving back home, looking at that kid hang on tightly to his biker dad; the thought occurred to me, “When are you going to let go of the things that you don’t control and hang on to Me?” I couldn’t see the child’s eyes, but I am sure they were tightly shut, trying not to anxiously look ahead to where they were headed or behind. I couldn’t see the kid’s eyes, but I saw two small hands holding on for the ride of their life. sometimes, I think faith looks a lot more like that, eyes tightly shut, with a white-knuckled grip on the love handles of the Father.

May we be sent out in faith with the love of Christ. Not holding on to our reputations or abilities, but on to that deficit which reminds us whose we are and who we are meant to become.

I hope you had a great week. I just returned from a week in Missouri. On Labor Day, I went to a Greek Festival in St. Louis with some friends. The local Greek Orthodox Church was putting it on and they gave us a tour of it. It was an opportunity to meet their priest and for them to explain the significance behind their gatherings. It was very interesting!

From Tuesday until Saturday, I stayed in Joplin. I had the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and some supporters. On Thursday and Friday, I taught two Missions classes at Ozark Christian College. This was a great opportunity to promote the work in Ancona and recruit potential interns for the field. For the next two weeks, I will be in Des Moines. I am really looking forward to slowing down a bit and getting resituated at ‘home’.

I would ask you to pray with me about this great big thing called “fund-raising.” From my perspective, it is one of those things that God has to do. He has to raise up His people with His money to fund His work. Right now, I am at 75% of my monthly budget and need to raise roughly $1,000 per month to return to the field fully funded. Also, please keep praying for the work in Ancona.

I wanted to relay some prayer requests to you on behalf of my teammates. Matt & Angie are working through some Bible studies about following Christ with some friends of ours. Please be in prayer for the following friends: Marco, Daniel, Simona, and Simona (yes, there are two!). I’ve heard some great reports about our recent coffeehouse this week which had a turnout of 44 people! This was our highest attended event ever! God is doing great things!

Our team is split in two, in the sense that we rejoice with the way God is moving in Ancona, but we also mourn with our teammate Brian who lost his father this week due to a stroke after a car accident. Brian has asked for you to pray for his family during this time of grief. The funeral is on Tuesday in Sioux City, Iowa. Please be in prayer for us while we both rejoice and mourn.