2007 – 04

Dear Family, Friends, and Faithful Supporters,

CIAO TUTTI!! Considering that we sent a newsletter every month for two and half years, we hope it’s okay that we had to take a break for a while. The last newsletter was sent in October, when Julia was born, so yes we’ve been a little distracted and busy since her arrival. Life with her is sweet, and Jake has adjusted to being a big brother. Thanks to those who stayed in touch with us over the past few months, and thanks to all for being patient with us in not keeping you updated.

We want so badly to share with you about everything and everyone from the past months, but it would be impossible to let you know all that has happened in detail. So just be assured that God has been doing things in these past months that we haven’t seen happen in our whole time here.

Jason has given our website a new look but at the same address, and while we won’t be regular bloggers we’ll at least be putting up some blogs as things come to mind. We’ll also go back to sending monthly newsletters. We hope you enjoy the website. Funny, I’m a person who doesn’t like change and when something works I like to leave it as is (ie: our old website); however, Jason had an urge to give the website a new look and feel! For you regular visitors, you’ll find everything there from the old website.

THREE YEARS AGO TODAY we arrived in Milan for the first time, eager and nervous to begin this 3-year assignment. It’s time to go home for a break. We’ll have 6 months at a church home in Richardson, TX. We arrive back home in the States on May 9^th. As you can see these few weeks are going to be full with so much going through our hearts and minds. Can you believe it’s been three years? We’ll let the following praises and requests speak for themselves. We sure miss you guys and NEED your continued prayers. Hope all of you are well!

“Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom, because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” I CORINTHIANS 1:24-25

PRAISES:

· PHYSICAL PROTECTION:

1) Since December Allyson has been involved in two minor car accidents. Julia was in the first one and Jake in the second, but nobody was hurt. With the first one our close colleague, Janet, was present, and that was a huge provision from God since Allyson didn’t have a clue as to how to fill out (or even understand) the paperwork! The process with the second one turned ugly for a little bit with the lady who caused the wreck. Her and her lawyer husband tried to take advantage of and intimidate us, but God resolved that situation.

2) In January, Jason and Jake were on a tram that jumped the tracks and hit a tram coming from the other direction. Thankfully it was on a sharp curve, so both trams were going pretty slow. Just a few weeks later, Jason and Jake went to the post office to pay bills and just happened to arrive right before a robbery took place. (Post offices are of course used for mail but seem to function more as a bank since people pay all bills there and pension checks are given to retirees.) The robber put the gun in Jason’s side but for some reason he decided to let Jason & Jake go before taking money. Jake was holding Jason’s hand the whole time while the man was pushing and yelling, but he was protected from seeing the gun. He just told Jason afterwards, “Daddy, that man wasn’t very nice. He needs a spanking!” WE PRAISE GOD for His amazing protection in these two incidents.

· Since last March, we’ve been attending a precious little congregation, Chiesa Stadera, and this has been a source of much-needed encouragement and fellowship. Through this church we’ve stood in awe as we get to be around Milanese Christians (something that for so long seemed like such a rare thing!!), and God has given us DEAR friends. After much prayer and waiting during these years, God has answered our prayers for this need in our life. Especially for Allyson whose close friend, Melissa, is the pastor’s wife – their daughter was born just 7 weeks after Julia. Allyson has also been able to participate in an Italian Bible study for wives of ministry leaders at the church, led by the wife of the partnering miss. pastor.

· God is bringing workers to the field here in Italy! With our board alone, God has brought numerous families to Rome and Naples just in the past year. (We’re still waiting for Him to bring us some help up here in Milan!) We have also heard more and more from people back home who say God is placing Italy on their hearts for service.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

· Please pray for Mario, Cioffi and Mastro. They’ve been meeting with Jason every Sunday evening for a Bible study on the book of John, usually from 9:30pm to 1:00/2:00am (this is such a late culture!). We’ve just stood back in wonder as we’ve witnessed firsthand over the past three years their hearts slowly being softened and sensitive towards the Lord. There is still much to be done, but them being willing to meet for Bible study is a huge step. Mario is a believer but still in the baby phases. Mastro has made a decision, but both him and Cioffi are still fighting various convictions. It’s a classic case of two people running from God, but the Holy Spirit is running just as fast after them and lovingly pursuing them! Pray also for our patience (and to not get too discouraged) because every time Jason sees a step or two of progress, it always seems to be followed by a step backwards. We often just want to beat our head on the wall, but we love these guys dearly. We are most concerned about them when we leave. Pray that they will be open to being guided by some of our Italian Christian friends. Pray that Mario and Mastro, especially, would understand the importance of being part of church and eventually becoming baptized.

· Pray for those 3 guys in addition to Joy & Stefano who all attended church to witness Julia’s dedication service. They heard the Gospel and the reason why we don’t baptize our babies at birth. Pray that the message they heard that morning would continue to speak to them.

· Jason’s involvement and leadership with the Athletes of Christ group in Italy has blossomed. God is blessing this group. They’ve switched their focus from being just a group for fellowship among the Christian athletes to now being a group who wants to reach out and witness to non-believing Italians. The main request is that more ITALIAN Christian athletes would come forth. The group has more athletes who live here from other countries, but it would be better to have more Italians witnessing to their fellow Italians. The website that Jason has created for them can be found at www.atletidicristo.org.

· One athlete in particular, Nicola Legrottaglie (Juventus and Italian national team), has become a good friend to Jason. In their particular way of life, these professional athletes often don’t have true friends, and we’ve seen that Nicola has great trust and confides in Jason. Please pray for Nicola’s ex, Jessica, and their friend, Elena, with whom Allyson has been in contact. Both of these ladies are on an intense spiritual journey and hungry for knowing the Truth. Please pray for protection over these friendships because Satan has already been attacking them personally, wanting to cause division and doubt.

· Continue to lift up Marco whose has been a Christian for the past year and a half. He’s an amazing person, growing in the Lord, and staying positive through his extremely difficult circumstances with trying to find work to support his family. Continue to pray for the salvation of his companion, Marina, of 12 years, with whom he has two children. If God would allow us this blessing, we’d love to see this precious friend baptized before we leave.

· These last days here are obviously very busy but also very bittersweet emotionally. Pray that we can all stay well, because we see over and over here that we often get sick when something good is happening. (We don’t need another hospital visit since we’re already more than experienced in that part of the culture!) Also pray that we’ll be able to make the most of our time, despite all of the packing and cleaning, while seeing some of our friends and contacts for the last time before we leave.

Ciao and God bless,

Allyson and the J’s