twelveStone November 2010

This year I have been more involved with the youth at the Civita church. Something that I have started to implement in this group is something called LTG (Life Transformation Group). The purpose of such a group is to challenge the individuals involved to study God’s word and to live their life in a way that brings glory to the Lord. About a month and a half ago I started to implement this with the older of the girls in the youth group, Giulia. We meet weekly and go through a list of accountability questions and then discuss the bible reading we chose for that week.  I have been so excited to see how well this has gone with Giulia, especially in the bible reading. We have read through I think 7 books of the bible so far, maybe 8! In the next few weeks Giulia and I will continue to meet and then start to meet with another girl each. So there will be 3 of these groups going. Then Giulia and I will also help to teach 2 of the older guys how to do this and they will start together then once they feel comfortable they will split and start groups with the other guys. I am really excited about this. It is a great way for these kids to become more unified and become more serious about their faith.

Tony, the elder at the Civita church, had also asked me to teach the kids more about various evangelism methods. I started that about a week ago. We talked about how we can better share about Jesus in daily conversations with friends, co-workers, classmates, or even strangers. Basically we talked about sharing our testimonies. One of the older youth mentioned that he was really taking away, from everything I shared that night, how important it is to listen to the other person and their story so you can share the Gospel in a way so they will understand it, and see their need for it. I also stressed to them the need for each of them to take time on a regular basis to go through their life and remember all that God has done for them, and to regularly write down how God is daily working in their lives. Sometimes when we think of sharing our testimonies we think that it has to be a story about how we were saved. The youth understood by the end that sharing our testimonies can be anything that God is doing in our lives, or has done, that we use to testify about Him to others. We can share testimonies with other believers, something they are very familiar with in their church, for the sake of encouraging one another and praising the Lord. We can also share testimony with unbelievers, but the purpose here should always be to share the gospel with them. When we do this it can happen through normal daily conversations, especially when we take time to listen to others around us. The next time we meet for evangelism “training” we will be putting this into practice!

Praises:
* The many blessings the Lord is pouring out in my life
* The amazing time Giulia and I have together through the LTG. It has been such a blessing to both of us.
* positive things going on with the youth and that those would continue.

Prayers:
* unity with the youth through LTG groups
* the start of 2 new LTG’s with the girls and for the start up of them among the guys.
* The youth to come up with creative ways to do evangelism
* The youth to develop a heart for the lost and a desire to share the Gospel message with them
* Wisdom and grace as I work with the youth and as I make personal decisions.



twelveStone September 2010

August was busy to say the least! And part of it was vacation! My parents arrived around August 15th. Part of their decision to come visit me this summer was because my father had a conference to attend in Spain. We decided to make the attendance to the conference a family affair. I even attended part of it. One of the things at this conference that was of real interest to me was the seminar on group story telling and the many ways story telling can be used, even for bible study. It was very exciting. After Spain we returned to Italy and had some time together as a family here in Southern Italy. It was a really great time as a family, the only people missing were my sister and her family. All the same it was a good time together. When we returned back to my house my parents were around for another week while things were getting started up again here. We had some time to spend with a few of the believers from Civita and Monterosi. Having mom and dad here was also really good for my connection with others in the community. It is a really odd thing in Italy to be a single and not have family nearby. So it is a really great thing when they get to put me together with my family, see where I come from, see we have good relationships with each other. It was surprising to me that even the lady at the pizzeria remembered them visiting almost 2 years ago! My neighbors made more of an effort this time to interact with them as well! All very exciting. 

After mom and dad left things have started steadily falling into full swing. Last weekend we had a youth evangelism. The kids from the Civita church worked hard on this evangelism. The first night they performed music and and a skit in the town many of them live in, Corchiano, and the following night in Civita Castellana. The first night there weren’t many people present, but 3 were very curious and engaged us in conversation. The second night there were tons of teens all over the piazza the event was held in. Many bent a listening ear, even though they tried to look like they weren’t. As I looked around it was interesting to see that a group of late 20′s early 30′s seemed to all be listening pretty intently. 

Just to highlight a prayer below. It is time for me to renew my visa again. Please be praying for this process. Pray that the authorities would be favorable towards me. Pray for a smooth, unhindered process. Please also pray they will renew the visa for 2 years or longer and that I will receive it quickly (Feb. or March).

August was a really good month and I am looking forward to the rest of September. Here are some praises and prayers for you to bring before the Lord.

Praises:
- The opportunity to do evangelism in Corchiano and Civita with overall smooth running.
- everyone back from vacation safe and refreshed.
- good time with parents and safe travel

Prayer:
- smooth adjustment to new ministry roles and getting back in the swing of things after the summer
- Application for my visa renewal
- youth in Monterosi and Civita to grow in the Lord this year.
- wisdom and discernment for me in all areas of my life and ministry.

Thanks so much for all your love and prayers. This ministry can’t happen with out you. I am so grateful that the Lord has brought you in to be a part of it.
Amanda

twelveStone August 2010

This past month has really been such a blessing. From digging deeper into some friendships to GEM annual conference (AC) and meeting up with some of my youth at a camp they attended in Assisi; there seemed to be some common threads that ran through it all. The Lord is at work! Not only in people I am working with but in me as well.

This past week was a pretty intense schedule with travel to Poland for AC and then to Assisi the day after arriving back in Italy. My time at AC was a real blessing as I had plenty of opportunity to meditate and reflect on ministry. It was good to be challenged, and have time to reflect, with some good questions. Questions like: If someone were to come and hang out with me for a month, what would they really learn? Am I living as a sent one?Do I see myself as living out a calling or filling a role? Have I formed an alliance with fear? Do I confuse disillusionment with failure? The Lord is first in my life but is He my center? These were just a few of the questions that were asked during my time at AC. After returning and at the camp in Assisi I faced other, similar, questions (of course this time they were in Italian). The theme of the camp was SVEGLIA or WAKE UP! The passage they focused on was Romans 13:11-14:

“… The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently as in the daytime… clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature” (NIV)

Everyone at the camp was challenged to examine their lives and choose whether or not we would live our life with Christ in mediocrity or in complete surrender to Him no matter how far outside our comfort zone that might take us. It was good to have these 2 events back to back. I was reminded that I probably don’t ask myself these types of questions often enough. It was encouraging to examine my life before the Lord over the past week. It was also a great reminder of the things I need to stay focused on. Something that stood out to me in both these events was a sense of urgency. An urgency to respond to the Lord’s call and direction when He asks me to. Not to hesitate, but to take more risk.

One of the parables that was shared at AC was constantly on my mind and heart while listening to the message at the camp. Matthew 25:14-30 the Parable of the Talents. This parable speaks of 3 servants, each given responsibility over an amount of money according to their ability to be fruitful with it. 2 of the servants invest the money and are able to return not only the money the master entrusted to them but an increase as well. One servant, that entrusted with the lest amount of money, didn’t take any risks and though he returned the money the master entrusted him with his master was very disappointed with this servant because he didn’t even put the money in a bank to gain interest!

This parable struck me in a new way at AC but it was really during the camp that I was hit hard by it. While at the camp one of the girls was telling a story about going to visit some nuns in a convent where they had taken a vow of seclusion from the world around them. They had limited visitors, if any at all. One of those nuns had been there for about 80 years. She used this as an example to explain to the young ladies in her group that although the Lord calls us to be separate/holy from the world around us we are entrusted with being obedient to the part of God’s Word that is very clear that we are to share the Good News we have received with the world around us. I immediately thought of this parable that was just mentioned at AC and thought about how very sad it would be to stand before the Lord and give an account like the last servant who did NOTHING with what he was entrusted with. I can honestly say I am not the last servant in the parable but I would like to stand before my Lord one day being able to thank Him that He  entrusted with more because of my faithfulness.

So this month, since the Lord has been impressing on me the importance of remembering to evaluate my life before Him, asking some questions that aren’t always comfortable but are very important to be asking, I would like to challenge each of you to do the same. Before the hustle and bustle of the fall roles in. Before all the kids go back to school and busy schedules surface as summer fades away, would you take some time to evaluate your life be for the Lord? We are all in this walk together. We all want to see each other run the good race that Paul speaks of. Please let me know if I can be praying for you in any way! May the Lord bless you all in the coming month.

Praise:
- some good time of reflection and evaluation before the Lord
- mom and dad able to come to visit in a few days (leave US Aug. 10 get back to US Sept. 9)

Prayer:
- preparation and planning for youth group and restart of all ministries in the fall/September
- safe travel for and with my parents as well as good family time.

twelveStone July 2010

Things have been so crazy busy! Which is a good thing but bad because it has been difficult to keep up with correspondence. For that I apologize and thank you for your understanding. I actually wrote a couple updates that I never had the chance to send!
Since there has been so much happening, and since a newsletter was just mailed, I will just update on a couple things and share a few prayer requests.
With the arrival of summer in Italy comes lots of ministry opportunity. One of the highlights this summer was a camp that my GEM colleagues and I have planned for the past year. It was a music camp. As a GEM team we had a number of different hopes resting on this camp. One of mine was that it would help to encourage and give a vision for musical worship to our youth within the churches we are connected with. Each day for the camp I took two of our kids from Monterosi. One of them is the son of one of my Italian brothers (from my adopted family here). This kid is so special to me and it was SO exciting to see him grow and open up during this camp. He has been asking for guitar lessons for at least a year and a half, but his family can’t give them to him. In addition his two uncles who play the guitar haven’t been able to help him learn. This camp allowed him to start learning how to play the guitar. I can’t tell you how exciting it was to see him shed some of his shyness, he even performed for us one night what he had learned! It has been such an encouragement to the church in Monterosi too. They were excited to see the fruit that came from the camp and are looking forward to the possibility of a camp being held again next year!
Over the past few months I have been praying about the possibility of taking on the youth at the youngest daughter church of Monterosi. You may recall me referring to this daughter church as the Civita church. God has defiantly lead in this and with the elders of Monterosi and Civita we have decided that I will take on this group of teens. I am very excited and have high hopes for this group. My greatest desire is to see them grow in unity and maturity so they can be the leaders and role models the Lord wants them to be. I will still be involved with Monterosi and the youth here as well. Please keep me and these kids in your prayers. For me to have a lot of wisdom and discernment. For their growth and unity.
Thanks so much for your love and prayers! It is a really exciting time right now with ministry here. I look forward to sharing more with you all soon!
Praises:
- Successful music camp
- exciting developments in ministry
- good start to healing process from some back issues.
Prayers:
- unity with the youth at the Civita and Monterosi churches
- strength and growth in my own walk with the Lord
- continued healing from some back problems
- preparations for applying to renew my visa: I will be getting documents together and then need to send in the visa application in Sept/Oct. Please pray that the Lord would go before me and that this would be a smooth process this time with no issues. Please also pray that my visa will be renewed for another 2-3 years.
-my parents will be coming in Aug. to visit me. Please pray for safe travels and good time together as a family.