Heading for Italy, Abandoned to Jesus!

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ Who was and is and is to come!

We have exciting news to report. As of a week ago Thursday, we have been officially accepted to the ministry of Saints Equipped to Evangelize! Our heads are still spinning from God's amazing providence and from just watching Him lead us. We still can't believe it's true but God is sending us overseas to reach Europe for Christ...specifically Italy where less than 1% of people are evangelicals.

Believe it or not, we have prayed consistently that God would keep us from going if that was His will, "Lord, may your will be done. If you don't want this to happen, show us this is not Your will, don't let us get accepted to the ministry of S.E.E., close any and all doors, don't give us clarity and peace about issues dealing with everything from our finances/ministry support to Lee's health to our kids hearts about wanting to go, to not providing for all the various steps that need to take place, to giving us consistent counsel from godly leaders, friends and family not to go, etc., etc., However, instead of doing this...God has done exactly the opposite! At every turn, God is providing in amazing ways.

In spite of the fact that we think it would be a lot easier, more comfortable and much simpler to stay in Orlando (we had at least one job offer that would have allowed us to stay in Orlando indefinitely), God has been consistently showing us that He wants us to move. So who are we to argue? Actually, we are very excited about what God is doing. To give you just a few examples of how God has been leading...

"I urge you to not only to continue to support the Walti’s as they transition from Campus Crusade for Christ to their new ministry of Saints Equipped to Evangelize...but I’d also like to ask you to prayerfully consider increasing your support to make the allowance for the exchange rate. We hope you will join with us as we celebrate what God is doing in their lives as He leads them on to the next great adventure He has for them. Thank you." John Rogers

Our ministry 0f 16 years, Campus Crusade for Christ, is sending us off with full support of our new ministry, Saints Equipped to Evangelize, which Crusade considers a "partner ministry."

John Rogers (see pic above with wife, Dayle), Chief of Staff and Vice President, who reports directly to Steve Douglass, president of Campus Crusade, has written a very kind endorsement of us and our new ministry to all our supporters, strongly encouraging everyone to not only transfer their support of us to our new ministry but to increase it! Actually, John and his wife, Dayle, have literally been Christ to us in this transition. We are so thankful for their love, for their words of kindness in person, over the phone, and through e-mails, for John's constant attention to making sure this was a good transition for us, for our meetings over dinner or coffee, for their generous financial gift to our ministry to encourage us in this next season of our family's lives and more. As well, John has so represented the ministry of Crusade well. You should know that we also have been gifted everything from my work laptop to helping us financially in our transtition to S.E.E.! We don't deserve anything and yet God has been so good to us to provide for us through this time.

Really, God has been so incredibly gracious to grant us the incredible privilege of going as a family to reach Italy for Christ. Many times, Americans only think of Italy has a destination country...meaning only a place to go on vacation. However, that’s a big reason for the problem that we see in Europe...Americans go to visit or vacation but so few go to stay and reach the lost. The Church in Europe long ago had it’s heyday. Most believe that the evangelical church lost its relevance to the populace and was banished with the 18th-century Enlightenment. The result is that so few truly know Jesus as their Savior and Lord. However, regardless of what the wise men and scholars may say, the Lord has made it clear we are to go to the highways and byways and attempt to compel people to come to know Him.

The exciting thing is that God is making a come back in Europe. Increasingly in the discourse of the culture and what is happening (see the interesting Wall Street Journal article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118434936941966055.html?mod=googlenews_wsj), God desires to glorify Himself and make Christ known. Where intellectual assent is often the only thing that exists, our Lord wants to replace it with a saving faith that transforms people from the inside and out! And regardless of the fact that some in Europe think God is dead , evangelical churches are starting to make a comeback in some cities and towns. And most importantly, as people see God truly being glorified and worshipped and exalted and they see Christians who truly have love for others, people are coming to Christ!

We ask you please pray for us as we prepare for this journey to serve God overseas. We have so many things we must do to be faithful to the call that God has laid on our lives. This will probably be the hardest thing we ever do but it will also likely be the most life-changing thing we ever do.

We have many challenges ahead of us. It is going to require quite a bit of sacrifice on our part to get there. For example, we stand to lose a good amount of money in selling our home (due to current market-conditions). As well, we must raise nearly $40-50,000 needed in expenses to get to Udine and get settled (for passports for our family, visas, some shipping, air travel, three mos rent up front, a used van, furniture, and all the basics, etc., because it’s literally like starting over). However, we praise God that when people need the gospel, He still sends missionaries to go bring them that gospel even when homes don’t sell for much, missionaries must lose money and make great sacrifices to get there and it requires several cattle from the Lord's resources ("He owns the cattle on a thousand hills"). So with faith and dependence, we move forward knowing our God is a faithful God regardless of whether we sometimes lack faith (2 Tim 2:13).

Yet, please do pray that we would not be discouraged. That God would continue to lead and provide ("where He guides, He provides"). That what God has shown us and His faithfulness to lead us would keep us encouraged, passionate and faithful. Pray for all the details from our financial support to come in as hoped, for all our supporters to transfer from CCC to S.E.E., our new ministry, for all the passports/visas that our needed, for selling/leasing the house, etc., etc., etc. Our only desire is to serve Him with self-abandon. We care little for home, for material possessions, or for the things of this world. We want to be sold out to Jesus for His kingdom and His glory. Please pray for us! He is the vine and we are the vine-growers. If we abide in Him, we will bear much fruit!