Serving the Lord in Italy

Greetings all from St Paul de Vence, France!


This beautiful town sits above the city of Nice in southeast France. One of it's most famous attraction is the medieval walled city


On those clear days you have a good view of the Mediterranean Sea below.




We are starting the task of packing everything up for the journey home. It has been a wonderful 10 days here at the International Baptist Church of St. Paul. Over the course of last week's VBS, we had the privilege of seeing 5 children come to accept the gift of Jesus. Many fond memories and relationships were made during this time. Many of the children that attended last years VBS were back this year so some old friendships were renewed.

Mary hit it off well with all the kids she met during the week. I was excited to see Christian (next to me) again this year. He and Johnny had a ball hanging out together.

Nothing was as important as getting the Word into the hands of all the children who attended.

Claire and Rose enjoyed some time together following a day of festivities.


For those of you who have commented that you have not seen Judy in the pictures, this one confirms she was indeed with us. Here she has fun with a group of the kids.

It's hard to believe 8 weeks have passed us by. Thank you for sharing this trip with us. Your prayers and support are so appreciated. We're looking forward to getting home and sharing many God sightings with you.

Also, pray for travel mercies. Johnny is not feeling well and we're praying for healing and his ability to handle the 12 hours of travel.

May God richly bless you all
Brian

This week, Was Busy!!! We have VBS (Vacation Bible school) all week long, It was so cool to meet new people, It was really awesome cause i met up with this one girl, and i knew her from MI, she does Gymnastics with My friend, Kelsy. So it was great to spend time with her and get to know her more.
During VBS, i got ot speak French with alot of little kids! it was a little hard :)

All of the Kids, Love to do there Bells! They are pretty good at them to! :)

Me and Cathrine Always loved to show the kids are amazing Hand shakes!


John Whitley, Was the most amazingness Massager in the world!!


Alexander, Is one of the boys that Only speaks french, So the only thing i could say to him every mornging, is How are you, and Hello :)


All of the Amazing Helpers that helped out with VBS!


This is- Nacho, The Awesome one :). It was great meeting someone about my age, and Crazy like me! :)













THE BIG WATER FiGhT!!!!!

Getting ready

AAAA DON'T DROP It!!!!!


BOOM





How Wet can you get?!

I want to thank you all for your prayers regarding the fire incident I informed you about last week. Can you imagine trying to get Insurance companies on two separate continents to work together and resolve a claim in 1 week?!

Nothing is impossible with God. It happened and I am free to move about on schedule. There is nothing like God to reconcile matters at the last minute. It must delight Him to see the expressions on our faces and the delight of our hearts when He rectifies situations for us. God is for us, who can be against us. Last night’s message was regarding why we face trails and troubles. That was an easy message to deliver. The whole group was rejoicing. Life is full of great lessons that bring us closer to God if we’re willing to throw ourselves into it.

We’re leaving for Nice tomorrow morning by train. The France group had a wonderful first week of VBS in Marseille. They had over 50 kids this year (double what they had last year). Two children received Christ on Friday. Praise God!

Blessings to you all.

Brian

Greetings all,

Were moving into our final week here in Italy. I have to confess last week has been an eventful and challenging time.

Please pray for the families of 2 soldiers stationed here who were killed in action recently in Afghanistan. We do not know who they are yet but we will be attending a memorial service on post this Thursday. There are additional troops, some we have become close with, who are deploying next Monday. They will also be attending the memorial service. Lift up Jason, Lloyd and Barry in your Prayers. If anyone would like to pray for one or all of these soldiers, let me know and I can forward their contact info.

We have had a rash of illnesses go thru the house. Thank God all are close to being back to full health.

Also, I want to make you all aware of a situation that came up here last week. The short of it is that I am responsible for a fire incident that occurred at a local gas station here in Vicenza. A vacuum system we were using caught fire and was destroyed. The fire also damaged a canopy that was over the unit. Cadence has indicated to me that since I was on a m ministry sponsored event, their insurance will cover the expense. However, the police has informed me that I cannot leave the country until this matter is resolved or I face criminal charges. I am in touch with folks back in the states and hope to have this resolved as soon as possible.

However, should something happen to delay this, it will impact our leaving for Nice this weekend.

Please pray that God will resolve this quickly. Pray the insurance company will move in supernatural speed to review, accept and process the claim. We have submitted ourselves to God's schedule and will be patient in the wait. So many good things have come out of this situation that I hope to share with you soon.

Thank you all for standing with us.

Brian

It has been an amazing couple weeks! We have made many close friendships and have enjoyed exciting adventures together! God is definitely at work here; there are so many hearts eagerly seeking Him. The Spiritual theme discussed often is the process God uses to renew our hearts and minds.

Prior to leaving for Italy, our family has been enjoying a new season of fellowship with folks eager to see God working in their midst. We're finding the same type of brothers and sisters over here as well. What ever we may be doing together, the conversation moves to the spiritual and we are all edified and encouraged by it. Praise God!

Our regular events of the week are going well. We have enjoyed very encouraging and challenging Bible studies on Tuesday nights.





Friday night potluck is a large and lively group with a great time of prayer and worship.







And of course, there is always some sort of game being played somewhere in the house, swing dancing, and lots of trips for gelato. Gotta love that stuff. :)







We have enjoyed getting to know some of the kids that attend the youth group on post, Club Beyond. We had a great time at the end of the year Luau cookout!





Now for our excursions around Italy: We got caught in an intense hail storm in the city of Marostica with Jenn and Jessica.







So our solution was to wait out the storm by checking out the local pizzeria!





My dad then used his impressive driving skills and drove our hulk-of-a-van up the mountain to explore the castle ruins.









Last week we went hiking in Asiago (FYI,the cheese does taste more amazing in its home town!). It was amusing watching all the army guys decifer maps and find trail heads.



The countryside of Northern Italy.





Jason, Lloyd and Barry try to keep up with Johnny







The giant duck wasn't so kind to Claire. You'll have to ask her what it did to her jeans!*evil grin*



The gang drove up to Venezia (Venice) last Sat. We got the front seats on the water taxi (which is quite a feat for a group of 14!) and enjoyed the sights of Venice during the day and lit up at night under a full moon. Cosi bello!















We had a trying experience on Saturday on our way to Venice - we had an incident at the local gas station where we caused a fire in their vacuum unit (long story). Anyway, everyone is safe, but we did make the newspaper. We clearly saw God's hand at work from the time of the incident to here and now. It is always a humbling reminder of how vulnerable we humans can be! But God allows everything to happen for a reason and He works and resolves in mighty ways! We are very thankful for His protection and provision.

This week Laura, Jenn and Jessica are away at the second week of Beach Break, the post's youth group summer camp. We are praying for God to touch many young hearts this week and to give the leaders strength and wisdom.

Also this week we are very happy to be involved in the VBS at chapel - So far the week has been a success! The energy and excitement are contagious and the kids are just so joyful!

Prayer Requests:
* for Jason, Barry and Lloyd as they prepare for deployment.
* for Robert who was wounded and is back at the post in Vicenza.
* for the salvation of 130 kids attending VBS this week. Many have a parent currently deployed.
* for the youth group attending Beach Break.

Being at a military post has been such an eye opener for me in regards to this war. Back home in the States our lives continue as usual, for me at least, and we barely (or not at all) feel the effects of our country actually being at war. But living here, you see the effects that the war is having on the people who are fighting it (struggles in relationships, emotional, spiritual). It has really touched my heart and made me appreciate our troops all the more. Please continually pray for our men and women in arms and their families. The enemy is strong, but our God is stronger!

God bless! Katie