New Song Christian Fellowship in Nashville, TN
We met with leaders from our local church this week to discuss our progress and re-integration, as well we considered strategies for the coming year. Coming back to the states after a year and half in northern Europe didn’t present the challenges of culture shock that we anticipated, rather a kind of church shock that was completely off our radar.
In Estonia, we recollected with much fondness the processes we had undergone that did much to strengthen and renew our family. Processes such as small-groups, bible school classes, mentors, etc. And while those processes are still core values at New Song, we had changed and those processes had changed in our absence. Re-integration was not easy.
In this most recent meeting, we collectively brought to light a few areas where we have yet to become properly reconnected to our church family. We discussed small groups, serving, spiritual parents and mentors, and ended our discussion with the first sense of strategy that we’ve felt in a while here. Our leaders were gracious and caring, our hearts were encouraged and strengthened, our hope renewed.
United World Mission in Charlotte, NC
Spent one of my Saturdays this month talking with UWM as a potential mission-sending organization for our family to Italy. Talks included a wide range of people: everyone from a peer-level observer, folks just signing on board with UWM, a potential supervisor in Europe, the executive VP of UWM and even the president of the organization. All the way around, I felt like we would be very accepted as a mission-family and our heart for the Italian people was well-received. I had ample opportunity to share my vision for Italy with the entire chain-of-command and there was a grand sense of resulting affirmation.
Currently, the UWM executive team is devising a potential budget for our family in Northern Italy, after which we will take a scouting trip to Rome and Mantua to dialogue with some national contacts they already have on the ground there. While there are no current UWM missionaries in Italy, potential partner ministries may include Campus Crusade for Christ (http://www.ccci.org/) and a national Italian called Italy for Christ (http://www.italyforchrist.it/). Both organizations have a strong presence throughout Italy and would be very collaborative partners for us – giving us access to a wide range of resources, personnel and initiatives already underway.
An interesting side note is that our own Italian teacher and missionary-mentor, Patrizia Franklin Nelson of Italian For Fun here in Nashville (http://www.italianforfun.com/) is a former associate of Italy for Christ and good friends with their founder and president. So, the connections we’ve made this month appear to be both providential and foundational to our progress towards Italy. We solicit your prayers along this line as well: the connections as well as the partnerships that we’re forming now will become the foundation upon which we’ll conduct ourselves as missionaries later on. We need additional supporters, the right Italian contacts and a very clear, precise vision.
so thankful to all our family and friends who grieve with us at my mother’s passing. thanks for your prayers, your well-wishes and for keeping us company over the past few days as we’ve said goodbye to the matriarch of our Alex family. death messes with our theology, philosophy, emotion and memory alike and we certainly have not been immune to these challenges. and yet, through it all, there is an unrestrained hope.
life presses upon us now with renewed vigor toward the goals ahead. we will be updating this site soon to edit out the previous “Estonia Endeavor” material (which ended late last summer) in order to more appropriately reflect the new project that we’re calling our “Italia Initiative”. thanks for your patience as we’ve taken the first portion of this new year to reflect on seasons past, as well as to mourn the loss of a loved one.
grace and peace from our home to yours.
