Rest

Without a doubt, the past six months have been the most stressful of our lives.  We were at the absolute end of what we could give when we arrived in Orlando three months ago.  We desperately needed rest.  Not the lay-around-and-do-nothing kind of rest but deep, emotional rest.  We needed care.

I think we were feeling so beat up that weren't even sure how to pursue the rest we needed.  We serve such a good God.  He knew exactly.  Three months in, we are feeling so much more rested.  We feel like we are beginning to move from surviving to thriving.

He has given us physical rest.  We have slept.  A lot.  We have committed to very little outside of work.  We have been horrible about returning phone calls and e-mails.  Our bodies are beginning to feel a little more like normal.

He has given us spiritual rest.  Every Wednesday morning, we hear from a speaker at our LHS meeting.  A professor from Reformed Theological Seminary spoke one week on Ecclesiastes.  God used it significantly.  One week we learned the practice of Lexio Divina--a method of meditating on Scripture.  Last week was an hour of worship.  And God has also led us to a church where we have been deeply fed each Sunday.  First Presbyterian Church of Orlando will be our church home while we're in Orlando, and we're really thankful to have found a church that fits our family so quickly.  The kids love going and are learning incredibly rich things during Sunday School.  Next week they will begin studying the "Solas" that define the protestant movement.  Cody and I have savored the opportunity we've had to worship in English and every week our spirits have deeply agreed with the Word being taught.  The gospel is being proclaimed.  Yes, God has fed our souls in the past months!

And He has given us emotional rest.  Through the grace and love of many new friends, He has given us a really safe place to process the past three years of our lives.  He has challenged the things we needed to give even more fully to Him, He has worked in our hearts to be able to offer genuine forgiveness, He has begun the process of placing a new call on our hearts.  He had begun the healing process.

We are still feeling pretty fragile, but we have more energy than we've had in a long time.  We have more hope than we've had in a long time.  That is deeply good.

"Who would ever know the greater graces of comfort and perseverance, mercy and forgiveness, patience and courage, if no shadows fell over a life?"

--Ann Voskamp, 1000 Gifts

Checking In

It feels our days are focused far too much on "To Do Lists" right now.  There is just so much to do!  A lot got accomplished yesterday though, which makes today look that much better. :)  Just a quick update today and some pictures from our trip to Rome last weekend. . .

One of the biggest things that happened yesterday was that I drove our car up to Vicenza, Italy and sold it to an American who paid us in dollars and who we know will love the car as much as we did.  Praise the Lord!!  This is such a huge weight off our shoulders.  Thank you so much for praying for this specifically.  We are now carless until we leave, but that is so much better than still owning a car on August 6.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is a really big day.  We're throwing a party for all of Hannah's friends to come and say good-bye.  Parties are such a big deal here, besides the fact that it's our last opportunity to speak the gospel to these precious girls.  We have given it much thought and prayer, and Hannah is ecstatic.  She bought a cross necklace for each friend and wrote notes to them about how she hopes they will remember her faith when they wear it and know Jesus offers them the same.  On the How to Pray page, there are specific requests for this event.  We would really love your prayers.

Also in answered prayer, we have landed on a mover.  The Italian mover came last week, and we really liked him.  Though our preference would be an American-based company, these movers seems like the best decision.  Thank you so much for praying for this!  Again, we'd love your prayers for a complication-free move.

So this past weekend, we took one last road trip.  We drove down to Rome to meet some ministry partners who were in town and to say good-bye to some dear friends who are missionaries there.  Rome is an amazing city, but it is exhausting.  Last weekend was pretty warm, and we returned to Bologna completely worn out.  But also thankful for the opportunity to be with friends one more time.  Here are a few photos:

It feels our world is spinning around us, but our God isn't.  In the midst of all our chaos, we are trying most to walk faithfully.  Seeing the ruins in Rome almost 2000 years old was a great reminder of God's continued hand on this country.  The arch in the picture above is in honor of Constatine--the first emperor to make Christianity legal in Rome.  God will not stop fighting for the hearts of these people.

We are so blessed by your encouragement in this transition.  You are a sweet gift God has used to carry us along.  

One Foot In Front of the Other

We won't lie.  This is a stressful time.

The past weeks we have been going non-stop trying to make preparations for our move back.  How do we sell our car?  What about all the European-only appliances we now have?  What moving company are we going to use?  What are we going to drive when we get back to the States?  What are we going to cook on while we're waiting for our things to arrive?

At the same time, we have been wrestling with every relationship we have with Italian friends. Trying to explain a job move in a culture where they don't move is challenging to say the least.  Trying to figure out how to connect them with believers who can help them continue processing the gospel is even more so.

We are choosing to trust the Lord.  It's definitely a choice that doesn't come easily.  Probably not a day goes by that we don't ask, "Are you sure this is the best, Lord?"  Questions tumble around our minds.  Fears flood our hearts.  Our bodies are racked with stress.   Our goal each day is just to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

This is the deal--there is no way to the other side without walking through the process.  We wouldn't be walking in a healthy way if it didn't hurt like heck.  It's hard to leave precisely because of the beautiful things God's done in the past three years.  I am challenged every day to give thanks for those gifts instead of cling onto them too tightly.

We want to leave Italy with no regrets.  We don't want to miss one thing the Lord has for us.  And so we keep our eyes open.  Our hearts weighted with grief but also with incredible thankfulness.  We keep putting one foot in front of the other and believe that His mercies are new every morning.  He will be our strength, our grace, our wisdom to leave well.

One of the most incredible gifts of the past three years has been the family we've been welcomed into at Hannah's school.  Last Friday was her last day.  I cried.  A lot.  But it truly was born out of overwhelming thankfulness.  We prayed so much for her schooling experience.  And God gave us far more than we could ever have thought to ask for.  Here are some pictures from the day:

This is what school looked like every afternoon--parents (and grandparents) gathered by the gate waiting for each class to be walked down the steps for dismissal.

Hannah's class coming out for the last time together.

Maestra Marie Antoinetta making sure each student found his/her parent.

Yes, on Fridays, Hannah came home with TWO backpacks.  Somehow Daddy usually ended up carrying both for the walk home.

We tried to drown our tears with a little gelato on the way home.  I won't lie--it was good.

Our favorite gelaterria--Zanzabar.  It is about halfway between Hannah's school and home. And right next to a park.  I think they're going to miss us. :)

Please check out the Ways to Pray page.  There are so many things we really need God's wisdom and provision for.  We would covet your prayers.

The Hardest Post Yet

Our June prayerletter should be arriving in mailboxes any day.  If you're a blog reader, you're getting some breaking news. . . In one of the hardest decisions we've ever made, we feel confident the Lord is leading us to return to the States permanently.  Though we are thankful for God's clarity, it has not made the decision or the process one bit easier.

I thought the easiest way to explain how we came to this decision was simply to post the text of our prayerletter:

     I think this is the hardest prayerletter I’ve ever had to write.  Two weeks ago, we decided to move back to the States, this August.  It is not something we were anticipating, nor was it something we would have chosen under any circumstances other than God’s clear leading.  Our whole family is grieving deeply.

      To make a long story short, when we arrived back in Bologna this January, we really began to wrestle with our role in the Agape Italia ministry.  What God has most burdened our hearts with, the ways He has gifted us to most effectively send the gospel out, the areas in which we thrive, were becoming increasingly smaller aspects of our day-to-day job.

      After many conversations over the past months with our local and national leadership, it became clear two weeks ago that what we need to be doing to be effective stewards of our lives and gifts would not be possible in our current setting.  We wrestled significantly over how we could remain in Italy to continue in the personal relationships God has given us and yet still find a role in Agape Italia in which to serve.

      Simultaneously, an opportunity opened up for us to participate in a unique internship Campus Crusade offers for senior staff at our headquarters in Orlando.  While we are being intensively developed personally and professionally, we will be exposed to Campus Crusade’s leadership and be able to explore ways we can most powerfully be a part of seeing college students become lifetime laborers for the Gospel.  

      In the midst of wrestling through what the Lord would have us do, still praying He would provide an opportunity for us to remain in this crazy country that has gripped our hearts, the pastor of our church asked us to consider remaining in Bologna to serve at the church full-time.  We were incredibly honored and our hearts were captured by his continued vision.  We prayed.  We asked the Lord.  But He said no.  He was and has continued to be clear that He has plans for us within the context of Campus Crusade’s leadership at our headquarters.

      As I said, we are grieving deeply.  For as much as we know this is the right decision, it is still really hard.  Our Italian friends, our church, have become so dear to us.  We have been trusting God for our friends’ very salvation.  It is the biggest step of faith we have ever taken is to leave the daily interactions of those friendships and trust that God will bring them to faith in some other way.  We are beseeching the Lord for them with all our hearts.  We will always ask God for Italy.

      In the midst of our grief, we are trusting God’s perfect will for our lives.  We are trusting that He knows where He can best use us for the spreading of the gospel.  So we are in the midst of the chaos of figuring out how to get our family moved to Orlando in the next 8 weeks.  There are so many decisions and details we are completely overwhelmed by.  One of which is the cost involved in moving back to the States (around $12,000).  If the Lord so leads, would you consider giving a special gift toward this significant need?  As always, gifts should be made to Campus Crusade for Christ and are completely tax-deductible.  You can give electronically by clicking on the "Be A Part of What's Happening" link at the top of the page.

      As we’ve talked with several of you in the past weeks, we have again been overwhelmed by your support and commitment to the gospel.  We truly praise the Lord for each of you.  Thank you for being in this journey with us.  If you have questions about this new direction the Lord is taking our ministry, please contact us!  We would love to share more of what this process has been.  And as always, we are deeply grateful for your prayers.

All our love,

Cody and Jen

Friends, we'll be honest and say this is one of the most difficult things the Lord has ever asked us to do.  Leaving is even harder than it was to come.  Please check out our "Pray for Us" page.  We need to be covered in prayer!


I will share more of this process in the weeks to come.  There are lots and lots of tears.  Thanks for coming along for the journey.

A Full Weekend

Let's be honest.  We don't have a "normal" 9-5 job.  We never have.  The weekends are when we do some of the most time-intensive ministry.  This past weekend would have completely worn us out, even a year ago.  But now, though we're a little physically tired, we had a great weekend!

We spent all day Saturday preparing for dinner with Fabio and Alessia.  We have never cooked them an Italian meal before (PRESSURE!), but long story short, she volunteered to bring Octopus salad.  Yes, octopus.  It's served cold with a little olive oil, vinegar and mint.  And in case you're wondering, yes, there are suckers involved.  My planned fried chicken was not going to go with Octopus salad.

So plan B.  I thought, and asked around, and scoured cookbooks.  Finally, I settled on Risotto with Salmon and Spumante.  I also made an appetizer of spinach and artichoke dip (not an italian dish, but I had to have something. . . ).  Long story short, dinner was great!  My one social faux pax was serving the spinach and artichoke dip as an appetizer.  It also has mozzerella and cream cheese in it, which apparently qualifies it as a secondo (the second course, which is usually meat).  Now I know. :)

And for the record, Cody, my seafood-weary husband, ate everything.  He even came close to saying he liked the Octopus salad ("As long as I didn't think about what I was eating, it wasn't bad!").

A snow-covered vineyard

On Sunday morning, we packed up everyone and headed downtown to visit a new evangelical church started by some missionaries from England.  We also woke up to a beautiful snowfall that continued all day long.  Though captivating, it made for a cold, wet walk downtown.  The kids couldn't resist every opportunity to pick some up or jump in a melted puddle.  The church was a great encouragement (it's entirely in Italian).  We are praying about what the Lord would want for our involvement in it.

Part of the drive up into the hills around Bologna

As soon as lunch was over, we hopped back in the car and drove to the hills just outside of Bologna to meet some American friends at this restaurant they have been raving about for a year.  It was a crazy, snowy drive, but the sights were incredible.  And the food was amazing.  They specialize in crescentini, these sopapilla-like things you put cheese and meat and jelly and nuetella on.  They are local to the Emilia-Romagna region and are one of our very favorite culinary discoveries.  Two and half hours later, we left with bellies unable to hold one more bite and hearts full of thankfulness for God's provision of friends we really enjoy hanging out with (this family has kids our kids age, which makes is that much easier).

Hannah savoring every drop of the lemon sorbetta they brought for the kids

The parking lot of the restaraunt--the kids were dying to play in the snow.  Unfortunately, Ben didn't have gloves, so it didn't last for long.  It was incredibly beautiful though!

The kids couldn't hold it any more.  They completely crashed on the way home from the restaurant.  A good time was had by all!

We got home at 5pm, just in time for Hannah to finish her homework and all of us to crash.  Tired, yes.  Exhausted, no.  We were even energized a bit by it.  We have come so far in the past two and half years!  We are so deeply encouraged by the life God is weaving together for us here.  Our friends come from such different places--Americans, Italians, missionaries, Agape Italia staff, non-believers--but they each meet a specific need.  It is good.

What Won't Let Go

There have been times since we've been back that I've looked around at the parents we've met, the neighbors who walk by us every day, the guy who sells me cucumbers and my heart aches.  Never in my life have I been so gripped.  This country, and these people, have become such a part of our lives that I can not possibly imagine not interacting with them on a daily basis.

I was on the bus the other day headed into town.  There was an older couple who got on the bus not long after I did.  And when I say older, I mean OLDER.  They were precious.  Older Italians always dress up.  The woman was wearing a skirt with the signature black heeled comfort shoes every woman over 70 wears.  She had on her long dress coat, hat and scarf.  The husband had on nice trousers with his long dress coat and hat.  The woman stepped on and then reached down to help the man on.  They stood right by the door for the two stops they were on, and she kept her hand on his elbow the whole time, helping him to balance.  When they got off, ever so slowly, they began walking arm in arm down the street.  Never was a word spoken.

Immediately I thought, "I wonder what their lives have been like?"  They definitely lived through the war that occupied their country.  What was it like for them?  How did the husband provide for his family?  How did they fall in love?  What have they done to stay in love?  Do they go to Mass daily?  Do they know how much the God of the Universe wants to speak to their hearts?  Have they ever known the incredible riches of Divine Grace?

We are surrounded by people with the same stories, the same experiences, the same lack of opportunity ever to hear the gospel.  My heart can't hold the compassion I feel and the desire I have to make sure they know how much Jesus wants to know them.

We don't know how long God wants us to stay in Italy.  We are more confident than ever it is for the long-haul.  He has provided so much for us.  He continues to take us deeper and deeper into the people and the culture.  But even without having an anticipated time frame, it feels like my heart will be ripped out when we have to leave.  God has permanently written this country on my heart.

INCREDIBLE!

Who is this man, and why is his picture on our blog?  This is Charlie Duke, the 10th man ever to walk on the moon.  Charlie is follower of Jesus, and last week he came to Bologna to share about the role Jesus has had in his life.  (You can read more of Charlie's bio at http://www.fivestarspeakers.com/espeakers/5572/Charlie-Duke.html).

The only other full-time Campus Crusade staff in Bologna are a couple named Jesse and Tricia Marcos.  Charlie has been a supporter of the Marcos' ministry for years.  For the past year, we have been working to bring Charlie to Bologna.  God moved in the most amazing ways!  I've pasted Jesse's e-mail, giving us the update on all that had happened.  I know it's a little long, but the way God moved is worth reading every word.

"INCREDIBLE!!!  This morning we have no words to describe what just happened these last two days here in Bologna. I will let the words of the Brucato’s and others who have lived here speak for themselves. “Whave been here 23 years and never have we seen these kinds of crowds and never have we seen doors open like this.” If you recall we told you that when this all began, the university said; “No way he can mention God at all, nor can we mention Agape Italia.” So we had everyone praying that God would break through all of that. So the Lord KICKED DOWN those walls like none of us would have anticipated!! I want to let you know how it all went and at sometime we can fill you in on the more details.

Monday morning we had to have Charlie at the TV station for an interview on the regional morning show that covers all of Emilia-Romagna. The last question he was asked in the interview was, "What do you today?” So he could there launch into sharing that he speaks all over the world and shares the love of God. The man then closed by saying Charlie was speaking Monday at the U of Bologna. We were all horrified because that was wrong. When then they realized the mistake, they had to change it and announce it on the news--which was repeated several times in the day!! That mistake ended up being more air time to advertise it.

We then went to a press conference held at the hotel at 10AM. There the head of Astronomy at the University, who said there could be no mention about God, asked him in the interview, "What do you do now?"  Again he repeated what he was doing to share Christ around the world.

Next was the scientific high school where nothing Christian is ever let in the door. This is the school where a 15 yr old student shot himself right before Charlie came. He was able to share his story in detail. Part of their testimony is his wife was suicidal. He shared that, and the students were riveted to his every word and listened intently. After he was done with his testimony and closed, the principal came up and thanked Charlie for coming and reviewed the main points he made about his story!! WOW, never in our wildest dreams in a school where atheism is their god could we have imagined this to happen!!

We were able to give them postcards with Charlie’s picture on it and that also had Youth for Christ and Agape Italia websites.  We were introduced as well.

Monday night the outreach night for the community was standing room only!! Many non-Christians came, and many who are in the science community came. The exciting part was that night Charlie held nothing back. Both Charlie and his wife spoke, and wow that was POWERFUL. We had appetizers afterward and people stayed and shook his hand and talked with them.

Tuesday morning he spoke at a private high school, one of the top in the city. These students study Aeronautics and will all go to university. This school was not one we had planned on, but there was cancelation in the schedule. It happened that a connection was made two weeks ago which got us into the school. Once again standing room only!! Students heard about Youth for Christ and then heard about Agape Italia briefly. Once again in Q&A, he was asked what he does now. We were not sure how much we could say here. When asked, he took advantage of it and answered with a gospel presentation. The creativity he used was incredible but yet very clear.

Next was speaking at the U of Bologna in the Astronomy Dept and guess what. . .standing room only. The University of Bologna and everyone had told us if you have 100 – 150 that will be a GREAT success.

Everywhere he went they planned for those numbers and were shocked to see the interest. Over 120 students came, they were standing outside in the halls listening. This was set up by the university and specifically the man who said no God. After speaking, there was Q&A and the man who said no God asked Charlie to share about the challenges of life after reaching the pinnacle of his career at age 36. WOW!  He who said NO GOD knew what he would say!!! Then that night at dinner, he told Charlie again to make sure he talked about his personal life.

Tuesday evening we met for dinner with all the university officials who were responsible for the evening. His lecture was to begin at 9:00PM. It was 8:55 and we were just ordering our coffee. The professor said no problem, we were on Italian time!! So we left at 9:05 walked into a room that seats 300 and it was STANDING ROOM ONLY again. It was an estimated crowd of at least 400 so you can imagine it was PACKED OUT!!!! Charlie walked into the hall. I was behind him and had not seen the crowd yet. We then heard a HUGE loud applause and were overwhelmed, as were the school officials.

He opened his talk by thanking Agape Italia for bringing him to Bologna. He then talked about how he and his wife have known Tricia and I for years, which helped Agape build credibility.  The gospel went out clearly and wow, was it incredible again. We felt like we were with a ROCK STAR!! He was amazing and the crowd was not disappointed. We can promise you that crowd was all non-believers!!!!

THANKS FOR PRAYING!! Pray now for the followup of all of this and we can continue to build strong relationships with the university and these high schools!!!  Wish you could have been here for it, because the ground had to be prepared for this to all happen and you have been a part of preparing the soil for God to work!! Thanks and see you soon so you can enjoy being a part of the harvest God has used you to be a part of!!"

We have been telling everyone we meet how we feel like this is a unique time in Italy's history.  We really believe God is moving in unprecedented ways.  We could not be more excited to a part of what He is doing.  To God be the glory!!

Another Year of Answered Prayer

Friday was Hannah's last day of school. She now has two years of Italian schooling under her belt. Next year--third grade!

There could not be a more tangible example of how the Lord has answered prayer over the past two years. We prayed and prayed and prayed for Hannah's school experience. For her, for her teachers, for friends. We could not be more grateful for all the ways He has answered abundantly. Hannah's experience is far above and beyond what we could have even dreamt to ask.

We've written before that in Italy you have the same class, and the same two main teachers for all five years of elementary school. It can be a great thing or a horrible thing. For Hannah, it's been incredible. We think her teachers are great. They have done such a good job helping her transition into Italian schooling. They have been gracious with her and they have pushed when needed. And we generally think they are really good teachers.

But an even bigger answer to prayer have been the friends God has provided. Her class is just a great group of kids. Not that they're perfect, but we have heard very little about the cliches and caddiness we've heard about from friends with kids in school in America. We don't think it has anything to do with the fact that they're Italian. . . they're just good kids. There is a group of about seven girls who are all good friends. Every Monday after school we would rotate going over to someone's house to play. What a sweet, sweet gift.

And then there are the parents we've gotten to know. We feel completely welcomed and included. They have demonstrated such patience with us in language and cultural learning. Our sense of feeling like we belong in Bologna and have a life here is largely due to Hannah's school and all the relationships we have there.

Cody and I are blown away by the incredible blessings we've found through our brave daughter walking into a classroom not speaking a word Italian and persevering for two years. She is thriving. She has been the reason we've met our closest Italian friends. She is getting a great education (things change in the Italian system in high school. . .). She knows the ways God has answered prayer on her behalf, and it's grown her own faith.

So we celebrate this day! We celebrate God's continued hand on Hannah. We say thank you for joining us in praying for her. And we say thank you to God for caring so much about such a thing as second grade.

Living the Gospel

There is not a day that goes by that I don't pray for our friends Fabio and Alyssia to put their faith in Christ. They have become so dear to us, and I want so much for them to understand how much God desires to have a personal relationship with them.

In the past month we haven't been able to hang out with them because of commitments Fabio had at work out of town. It's also been in the past month that Cody and I have been knee-deep in the hardest place we've ever been in personally. God is working so much out in our lives, but it's also just really, really hard.

This past week Cody has been fasting, and wouldn't you know they called to see if we could come to dinner. We said we'd have to hold off this time, but Hannah could come over to play with Alice. When Cody went to drop her off, Fabio was so concerned for him and for us. We had decided that we would share as openly as we were able with them, and use the opportunity to demonstrate to them how we're trusting God to provide true, lasting healing.

In what Cody shared, Fabio was really stunned at the depths of which Cody was going to hear from God. (Ironically, his words were, "You are such a good person for that doing this" . . . what a great opener to share how just the opposite is true, and that is why we so desperately need God!) The rest of the evening was filled with spiritual conversation and ended with Fabio wanting to read the Bible. He and Cody are going to get together this week to start talking about it. Praise God! We trust that God will speak mightily to him through His Word.

One of the central issues Fabio is struggling with is how the church (the Catholic Church) can know the motives of people's hearts, thus being able to declare them "good enough" for heaven or not. What a great question!

We also learned even more about the still continual influence of the Church. I had mentioned in a previous post about how they had just enrolled Alice in catechism. We were honestly shocked because we had never heard them talk about church before. We learned that parents feel "forced" to do catechism because of the ramifications for their kids when they grow up. For instance, one day if Alice wanted to get married in a religious service, she would have had to have gone through catechism.

Please continue to pray for this precious family! Please pray for the Holy Spirit to be working powerfully in their lives. Pray against the schemes of the enemy to distract them from pursuing God's truth. Pray for their eyes to be open to the God who wants to know them personally.

Stinky, the Gospel and a Car

We are leaving for vacation on Thursday, so we thought we'd post an extra blog this week since we won't be able to post one again until August. We'd love your prayers for our time away. . .

BIG week this week! In the middle of the summer, when students are blissfully away enjoying their summer vacation, we saw God remind us almost daily of the incredible ministry He has built for us here through some other means. We lived some great stories this week of the awesome and sometimes maddening Italian culture, the incredible generosity of Italians friends, the realities of the snares of a broken world and God's constant provision for every one of our needs. The ministry we are living is incredible!

For a couple of months now, we have felt the Lord leading us to finally buy a car. As we looked at it logically, we just didn't think the summer was the best time, since many places close down for weeks at a time in the summer, and the ever-constant issue of the exchange rate has been on the higher side since May. We pursued a couple of options to buy cars from American servicemen returning to the States, but none worked out. We didn't feel in a big rush, but we also felt like the Lord was continuing to say, "It's OK, I'll provide for you now." So we asked more questions and looked at a few websites that were recommended to us. We saw a few possibilities, but all required driving at least an hour outside of Bologna.

Some of our best Italian friends are a couple named Fabio and Alyssia. They are the parents of one of the girls in Hannah's class. We have gotten to know them well over the past months and enjoy them so much. Fabio speaks a little English, which makes our time together a perfect setting for language development. More than anything though, they have just become quite dear to us.

So last Thursday, Fabio offered to take Cody out to look at cars. The car we felt like was the best deal all around was also the closest. They drove the hour up to Modena and saw the car. Car buying is totally different here than in the States. All dealerships must offer a one-year warrenty on the used cars they sell since the practice of turning back odometers is almost universal. Since you have some assurance as to the reliability of the car, you don't really "check it out" like you do in the States. He didn't even test drive it. But it really was everything we've been looking for (and an automatic, as a cherry on top). Cody felt like we should get it. Mission accomplished, so he and Fabio went to get some lunch.

As they went in to a trattoria, Fabio said, "Have you ever had stincho (stink-oh)?" To which Cody said, "No, no I haven't." "Oh, you must try it. It is the ankle of a pig." Always the meat lover, Cody thought he'd give it a try. Fabio ordered for both of them, and in Italian, he ordered "due stinchi (pronounced stinky)." Cody could not help busting out laughing, as he explained to Fabio what it sounded like in English. When the stinchi arrived, it was much like a turkey drumstick--see the picture below. Cody is now a new stinchi fan. :)

Over their lunch, the Lord led their conversation to really significant things. Cody has been very intentional about going deeper with Fabio, taking many opportunities to share about his relationship with Christ. On this day, he was able to clearly share the entire gospel. Coming to faith is usually a very long process for an Italian. This was a great entry into what we pray are many more conversations about what it means to be a follower of Christ. We hope so much that the Lord would open the eyes of this entire family. We pray earnestly that He would allow us to see them all eventually put their faith in Christ. Again, they have become so dear to us, we want nothing more than to share with them the joy of trusting God as they manuever life as a growing family. We would really value your prayers for them. Pray we would continue to have bountiful opportunities to talk about what having a relationship with Jesus has meant in our lives.

So after lunch, they headed back to Bologna, and we gathered ALL the necessary paperwork needed to buy a car here. On Friday we made the trek back to Modena, filled out all the forms to transfer the car into our name and personally went to the auto agency to make it all official. With keys in hand, we then discovered our method of payment wasn't going to work. We had asked about it before we made the trip, and they gave us the OK. But to make a long story short, we ended back in Bologna that night without a car. We have to admit, we're beginning to get used to having to attempt something several times before it's accomplished. . . sometimes still maddening, but the blows are becoming less and less traumatic.

We are thrilled to report that our third trip to Modena proved to be a charm, and we are now, once again, car owners. It's perfect for us. We are still a little in shock, but we are so, so thankful. Again, we rejoice in God's provision for us and hope it enables us to be an even further blessing to those around us.

As we have seen God so evidently at work around us in these fun stories, we also have seen Him at work in the life of a friend who is in great struggle. We have been called to meet him in a very different place than our other friends here. With him, we have been called to walk through the darkness--to offer some light in territory surrounded by the enemy. It has been a privilege, though one not without cost and not without much grieving of our spirits. We know God has him securely, and we are praying for a prodigal to return home soon and receive great healing. Though we can't offer many details, we ask you again to intercede on his behalf. A mighty war is being fought for this soul.

The next six weeks are going to fly by, and then September 1 will arrive, and we will celebrate with great thanksgiving our first year in Italy. What a time it has been! The past week has been a great confirmation of God's continued plans for us here. It is good.