Living in the Spirit for the Next 10 Minutes

Recently, I finished reading the book, "Forgotten God: Reversing our tragic neglect of the Holy Spirit" by author, Francis Chan (highly recommend!), and I was very moved by this statement:

"It is easy to use 'God's will for my life' as an excuse for inaction or even disobedience. It's much less demanding to think about God's will for your future than it is to ask Him what He wants you to do in the next 10 minutes"

Wow! Talk about convicting. With all the changes in our lives and with our ministry recently, I so want God to give me His 5-year plan for our lives (actually, even His one year plan will do!). Meanwhile, I have a list of things I cannot do until He gives me more direction! Youngs Translation says in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that we are a "sanctuary of the Holy Spirit." Think of that: a sanctuary. Twila Paris sings a song (off my favorite album by her of the same name) called "In This Sanctuary" and it goes:

There is no-one else,
No-one who is worthy,
Worthy to sit upon the throne,
In this sanctuary,
We worship You alone.

I'm challenged by the idea of whether I can allow Christ to reign on this throne, my life, for the next 1o minutes. I so want to know everything Lord. All of it now. Please let me see. But if I did, would I need to trust? I want the 1 year, 3 year or 5 year plan. But the Lord asks, "Can you trust me for the next 10 minutes?"

If, as 2 Cor 2:12-14 indicates, the things of the Spirit are only discerned by the spiritual person ("words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit"), and the natural person can't discern these things, that is the one who doesn't live in the Spirit ("the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned")...then how can we expect to do God's will?

I know it may sound fairly simple-minded but I've decided it's a worthwhile goal to strive to live by the Spirit for the next 10 minutes. And if I put enough 10 minutes together (back to back), I can live like the Spirit-controlled, spiritually-discerning person God intends me to be. And when He does have something He wants me to know for the long haul, I will be ready, spiritually-ready to hear and obey. Will you pray for me? Please? We will also pray for you in this same way. May we be ready, as God's army, to do His will at His call. The Lord is returning. Maranatha...may He come quickly.

Update: We plan on providing another update in a week or two (via this blog) but hopefully, you received our recent snail mail letter in the states (if you are not on our prayer letter list and you'd like to be, please let us know) detailing our recent change to Italian Ministries.

We are excited about what God is doing and still right in the thick of it all trying to figure out all we will be doing but will probably be flying to the United Kingdom to meet in early May with our director, Jon Gilmore, to discover all the opportunities that exist for us as a family in Italy. Two opportunities (out of a dozen) include the possibility of joining an existing church in Tuscany area that has been asking for a missionary family for a year and another where we would be involved in planting a new church in the same general area.

Today, we are praising God that all went well after a month long process to get all our many documents in order and photos filed, fingerprints taken, signatures, etc., for our Permesso di Soggiornos (permission to live here) for the next year (must be done yearly for the first 5 years) so all our cards should be ready to pick up in a month (yes, everything takes longer in Italy). We celebrated by going out to lunch as a family and having Kabobs! (really good sandwiches)

Really, so much is happening in our lives that it is very hard to really capture it all (new ministry, new church, new goals and strategies for reaching Italy, new permessos, new friends, new contacts to share the gospel with, lots of exciting stuff). Hopefully, these pictures will help to communicate some of what is happening in our lives and ministry. In order:

• Ramat (new believer) at our Resurrection Celebration in the bouncy castle (he is doing great, growing in the Lord, with a new apt and a weekly stipend to help him find a job)
• Hannah with a new friend from Africa
• Jeannette w/ a sweet little girl, also from Africa (little sister to Hannah's friend)
• Elijah, Abby & the pastor's son hitting a pinata, in order
• Abby walking on stilts
• Pastor Rob of Serenisimo Church, our new church fellowship; Rob has been in Italy with his wife, Sandy for 13 years now and are desirous of planting new churches and want to meet with us to share their vision sometime in April
• Other pics of our Resurrection Celebration outreach day (Italians, Africans & Americans! ... the next day, our church had a Pasquetta celebration for Italians only with 20 Italians!)
• Gelatto and time at the beach as a family (59 degrees but hey it's relatively warm for us!)
• Hannah's b-day celebration (Mar 31)
• Abby's b-day celebration (Mar 17)
• Hannah with a sweet American friend (31 years in Italy) who owns a bed & breakfast here; please pray for her marriage (Mary Ann and Eddy)

Please know we so love and appreciate you and always, always, always love to hear from you. For us, your cards, notes, e-mails, phone calls are like a drink of crystal clear, wonderful water in what sometimes feels like a barren land! God bless you so much for your partnership with us in bringing the gospel to reach Italians for Christ!!!!

Love, the Walti family













































































































































































































If you would like to donate to our family, which we greatly appreciate, we would ask you to do so via our new ministry, Italian Ministries USA. You can give online...just go to:

https://npo.networkforgood.org/Donate/Donate.aspx?npoSubscriptionId=5267 and select the drop down box for "Walti, Lee and Jeannette"

Or if you would like instead to send your gift via regular mail, feel free to send it to:

Italian Ministries USA
Attn: Pam Sarjent
PO Box 2174
Fairview, OR 97024

Just designate on your check, For: Lee & Jeannette Walti

NOTE: All our supporters' donations must be moved over to our new ministry, Italian Ministries, by April 30th or they will be returned to the donor/supporter and will not be received by us.

Be Merciful to Me, the Sinner

Be Merciful to Me, the Sinner

There is something about overseas ministry that is very humbling. As missionaries in a different world culture with more changes than a new baby fresh out of the womb, the sin nature can find a way to rear it’s ugly head quick. Add that you are surrounded by other sinners whose sin always looks worse than yours, it is tempting to judge others more harshly than yourself. Instead of being like the tax collector, who humbled himself, unwilling to even lift his head because of his own sin, we can sometimes be more like the Pharisee, thanking God that we are not as bad as all the other sinners are!

Recently, I have been reading the book, The Prodigal God, by Tim Keller. Keller points out that in our reading of the prodigal son parable, we often miss the story of the elder brother… Christ was telling his story to the Pharisees… He heart was for them to hear the elder brother’s self-righteousness and be convicted by their own pride.

The elder brother was consumed with his brother’s sin and was unable to see his own. The elder brother could not fathom the grace of his father in light of his brother’s licentious and ungodly choices. He was so ready to judge others sin, he was unable to see the enormity of his pride. The result is he could not join his father in rejoicing over a sinner who’d turned from his sinful ways…his own brother.

Keller says, “Elder brother self-righteousness creates an unforgiving, judgmental spirit… If people wrong them, elder brothers feel their spotless record gives them the right to be highly offended and to perpetually remind the wrongdoer of his or her failure.” What can we learn from the elder brother’s poor example?

The gospel may be more grievously hindered by our own self-righteousness than it is by other’s blatant sin. As well, “It is the lovingkindness of God that leads us to repentance.” Mercy is equally sweet for all of us… and grace, well it’s good. Really good… amazingly good.

Where God leans, we lean… the famous town of Pisa

Recently, we got to travel to the Toscana region to pray and seek God about the possibility of a new church in this area. We looked at 6 or 7 cities both south and north of Pisa, the famous city where the leaning tower resides. Thousands of tourists travel to Pisa every year to see the funny looking tower and to position themselves in such a way that it seems they are literally holding it up!

In the last few months, God has offered us the possibility of going and being a part of starting a new church in this region. There are several towns of 60,000 and more in this area that have no evangelical church whatsoever! Imagine. Two of the cities we looked at were Grosetto (pop. 67,000), to the very south, about 2 1/2 hours north of Rome and to the far north end of Toscana, Massa, a town of about 69,000, about 2 1/2 hours south of Genova, Italy.

The important thing to note is that almost anywhere in this northern region, the number of evangelicals or evangelical churches is extremely small. There are only about .06% Christians...so in Massa, that means about 414 Christians (in a town of 69,000). Also, there is on average about 1 church for every 60,000 people. So in Massa, again, we found there is just one church (Brethren) and that's it...nothing else for the entire town.

Last week, we traveled to the area for a vision trip of sorts to see how God might lead. We, of course, were not sure how God would lead and we just want so much to be in the center of God's will, seeking His pleasure and at His disposal to reach Italians for Christ. There is a young couple, Andrea and McKenzie, with another ministry, Pioneers (who we already love) who went with us to research this opportunity. Andrea and McKenzie are the first couple with Pioneers in all of Italy.

Like S.E.E., Pioneers is committed to reaching Italians through evangelism and church planting. But unlike S.E.E., Pioneers has no established church or ongoing ministry in Italy. The positive aspect of this opportunity is that the possibilities are wide-open, the first team would be developing a country-wide strategy for the entire country and there are no “bad” ideas. The negative side is the challenge of a transition and the lack of experience of all of us involved! :-)

If we were to take advantage of this opportunity, it could be as quick as the end of February when we make a transition. From the beginning with S.E.E., the plan was not for us to stay in Udine but by summer of 2010, to move to Bologna and lead a church-planting effort there. But recent developments including the other couple who will be delayed in arriving in Italy until summer of 2011 has us considering other possibilities. This vision trip for 4 days in early February will be a huge factor. Please pray for God’s wisdom!!!

Teaching English as a Second Language

If you weren’t able to speak English, what would you do? Well, in Europe, the default language is quickly becoming English and Italy is being left behind. Because Italians get their movies dubbed, watch TV only in Italian and rarely read or hear any English, they are wanting to catch up with their European countrymen.

Jeannette and I had the privilege of teaching English as a second language this last semester, finishing in December. We started with about 57 students and finished with about 32 graduates (others attended less frequently).

What is really amazing is how, though slow at first, after learning English, the Italians want to share all about their lives, problems, relationship issues, etc. Though we are not to present the gospel during the classes, we had regular opportunities to share about a relationship with Jesus at various activities.

We started with an official “American Breakfast,” which went over well with our Italian friends. Afterwards, we went around and shared one thing that most everyone would know about them and one thing that hardly anyone knows about them. What a conversation starter! And when of our new converts began sharing the one thing that virtually no one knew yet, it turned into an opportunity for the Italians to ask about the difference between Catholicism and Protestantism, why grace is different with Evangelicals and how it figures in to salvation.

We also had a great craft night for the ladies, a bowling night, a Christmas caroling night, and a wonderful Thanksgiving meal dinner (most Italians have never experienced this). Many conversations later about Jesus with our students, we ask you to pray along with us that God would harvest these many seeds.

A rare day trip as a family: a Film in English in Slovenia!

For most, watching a film in English is an everyday occurrence. Yet for our family, it’s impossible. You must go to a nearby country to be able to view a real film in a real theatre and all in English! (of course, there are Slovenian subtitles!)

So it was quite the treat for our family recently when we got to go to Slovenia (only an hour away) to see the Disney 3D movie, “The Christmas Carol.” We laughed, goofed off (esp. with those 3d glasses) and even got to let the kids ride some bumper cars afterwards (only 2 Euros each!). With Italian school for the kids six days a week, we thank God for times like this for our family to get away...and we’re thankful to you.

Happy New Year 2010 !!

Avoiding our death is avoiding God's plan for new life

Living in Italy provides us opportunity to die to self. We are definitely still adjusting.

Getting an insurance check takes 2 mos, getting a car fixed is 2 wks, and sending a letter, 2 days (when the post office is actually open!).

Yesterday, I went to 3 places to buy bus tickets...all were out. Why? It's Italy. Our money is 68% of its value. Why? Italy. The kids go to school 6 days a week so Sunday is our only day together and it's a work day. Why? This is the life. Or, you could say, this is death. We all have opportunities to die. But do you try to avoid your own death? We try. But maybe this isn't God's plan. Maybe by avoiding our death, we are avoiding God's plan for new life, both in and through us.

I was recently reading John 11 about how Jesus waited before going to help Lazarus. Have you ever read this? That Christ, though He had the opportunity and loved Lazarus deeply, He did not go to Bethany in time before Lazarus died, as Lazarus' sisters desired. Instead, after hearing Lazarus was dying, Jesus intentionally stayed for 2 days in the place where He was (He said, "so the Son of God may be glorified through it" - John 11:6). Mary says, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died" (v.21). But isn't this what Christ had for Lazarus, for them, and, what He has for us? He is seeking our death. And there can't be new life until death occurs. There cannot be a lifting up of God in and through us until there is a dying to us. There can't be a spirit-empowered, grace-infused life apart from a divinely-ordained, Christ-directed death.

So He wants us to die. But we die so we may live. I forget about the "new life" all the time. I usually am focused on this life. And when I do remember the new life God has for me, I'd like to avoid experiencing any pain or discomfort or difficulty to get there. I don't want to even consider the death of my hopes, dreams, or desires that may be necessary in the process. But Scripture indicates it's my desires that are my problem ("Aren't [your problems] caused by the selfish desires that fight to control you?" James 4:1). Desire for comfort, ease, satisfaction. And more often than I like to admit, I don't mind if these desires are fulfilled apart from Him, His plan or His commandment for me to love others.

Maybe you don't satisfy them but at least satisfy me Lord. Okay, maybe you're trying to change me by not giving me ease but can I opt for plan B? And comfort...oh yea, I like comfort. I know, I know, many are heading to hell but not right now Lord...I've got lots going on with my family, my brother Lazarus is sick, I need to attend to my problems...wasn't it you that said everyday has enough problems of its own? You are not going right now? Lord, don't put me out. Don't require death!

Well son, the Father says, that's actually what I'm up to...your death. Because if you die, you'll receive the life I have for you that is so beyond your comprehension...one that can truly give me glory...and you'll experience all that I have for you. In Galatians 2:20, Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Christ also said if we try to find our life, we will lose it. But if we lose it for His sake, we will find it. We're not to live for self. Ouch. Can you imagine waking up every morning and saying, "Okay, I can't live for self today. It's all about God and others. Nothing for self. Not one thing." That's death. And I have to tell you, I don't like it. Not one bit.

It makes sense then that a vital focal point of our faith is the death of Christ and His victory over it. Spurgeon said we cannot think upon the death of Christ too much or too often. Living for others in your lives, like us trying to live for reaching Italians, requires accepting our sentence of death so that you can get to the really good stuff. To accept it means being willing to accept the death of everything important to me so that I can get everything important to God (that verse about the things of this life being worthless compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, is ringing in my ears). Spurgeon said, "When the sentence of death assumes the form of despair in regard to everything that is of our own selves, then it has thoroughly wrought the cure...If a man does not trust God then, when will he? And if this does not take him off from self-confidence, what is to do it? This treatment never fails when the Holy Spirit uses it."

We want to be willing to despair in regard to everything that is of our own selves. We want to be taken off from self-confidence. But it ain't easy. And it usually is not fun. Paul said, "The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." We feel weak. Helpless, in fact. We keep wiggling off death's table (notice, I didn't say the "surgeon's table"). In spite of this, God continues to do amazing things here in Italy through us, some un-amazing people (it's interesting God made man out of dust!...possibly, a way to keep us well-grounded in insignificance). We praise God for the relationships that are bringing fruit (we highlighted many of these in our recent letter to you).

As you pray for our death, please also pray for:

• 2010 and the ministry God has for us in Italy
• For Ramat and his growth in faith as a new believer
• For Edi and Maryann's marriage (we're trying to help)
• For Tatiana who is interested in becoming a Christian
• For Andrea who has great interest in Christ but is a strong Roman Catholic
• For Laura who thinks the cross is only a symbol of the burden we are to carry in life
• For Denis and Bernadetta, who are so open to the gospel but have not yet been challenged
  
• For our financial support (at about 85%) and especially a good year-end response in giving (by Dec 31st) so we will have a solid foundation for our family and ministry for 2010
• For where or what city God would have us go to plant a new church in Italy in the future
  
• For our relationships with God...that we would grow in Christlikeness in the midst of serious spiritual warfare and constant temptation to quit the race here
• For our children, for growth in the Lord, including Bethany working and attending school in Orlando and for Hannah, for encouragement for living in that she is here without her older sister and very few friends or activities
• For Jeannette and I to keep our relationship precious among the barrage of things constantly vying for our attention, time, and energy which sometimes takes away from our need to spend time together each week, praying, planning and enjoying each other

Thank you so much for your incredible kindness toward us here in Italy, thousands of miles away from our family, friends, church and all we know to be normal. Words cannot express how grateful we are to you. We often remember you with tears when we think of your steadfast love toward us. We pray for you often and love you dearly. Please let us know if there is anything at all that we can do to be a blessing to you and your family.

The Walti Family

[The pictures in order are: Jeannette and I for a 20th anniversary lunch; Michael and Adey, our friends from Malta; Ramat, a new believer, and I during a trip to the local mountains with the boys, Elijah and Jacob; Jeannette and our neighbor, Bernadetta, who is also an ESL student of ours; Denis, Bernadetta's boyfriend, the kids and I around the fire eating s'mores during a game/song night for ESL students at our house; the kids dressed up, having fun singing, at our Italian friends' house, Lele and Laura, who have been our friends here in Italy longer than any others; 3 pictures in a row of our ESL students during our ministry Thanksgiving meal for them...Italians don't know much about and most have never had a TG meal; Maurizio and Sabrina, Italian friends holding Abby at the ABC church; Hannah poses for a pic during a recent night out as a family; our own Thanksgiving with friends and Italian neighbors at our house; Ramat, who is now living with us while looking for a job, along with Jake, Elijah and Abby; Bethany, our eldest, dressed up for Christmas in Orlando where she is studying with 14 units at a local university and working 24 hrs a week at Crusade Headquarters]

Our First Summer in Italy Brings New Relationships

Buon giorno! We hope all is well with you since our last post...Summer has come and gone extremely fast! I (Jeannette) wanted to give you an update on our family and ministry and just fill you in on all the goings on here! We have been so blessed to have met so many new friends this summer and become closer to our team here in Italy. As we often tell God, we want to tell you also...thank you so much for our constant prayers and support, it means so much to us and we are so very privileged to be here serving the Lord. Of course, without you, it would not even be possible for us to be in Italy reaching the 99% unbelievers of Italy.

I love pictures so here are some with a little description below of the pictures you see above!
1. Elijah and I (Jeannette) with our sweet neighbor, Tecla. She, her husband (Sandro, who Lee gets a kick from cuz he's fun) and family live across the street and we love them!
2. "Anguria" (watermelon) with many of the friends from our church plant in Udine...they are so good here and the fellowship is just as sweet for us!
3. Haircut time for Elijah...Beth is a fellow missionary on our team. Thank you Beth!
4. Our family with our new/used car after two months without one...thank you Lord and thank you supporters who made it possible!!!
5. Lee and Elijah go grocery shopping on their bike (before getting our car).
6. Abby at the river to celebrate Beth's birthday...we had an Argentinian grill out!
7. Beth and Hannah in coordinating black and red outfits.
8. More fun at the river!
9. Elijah buried in the rocks.
10. Lee and Jeannette talking to Emanuele, a new friend, about the Lord.
11. Ramatullah, our friend from Afghanistan...he has an incredible story of how he escaped the Taliban even though his whole family were killed in front of him!

We hope you enjoyed seeing a little glimpse of some of our friends and co-laborers...

Well, our new school year begins in a few short weeks, so we wanted to fill you in on what the Lord has been up to in our lives this summer.

We started our summer, as we shared last time, with the summer teams coming to Udine and Jake and Hannah going down south. It was definitely a little lonely after all the teams left, and we really cherished the time...but then it was back to life as "normal"! Without a car, we were forced to take public transportation and though initially a little disappointing, it turned out to be such a blessing! I actually miss it now! Both Lee and I woke up this morning saying that we miss taking the bus and riding our bikes, so we decided that we are going to try and not take the car every time we have to go somewhere.

Well, God had a plan on the bus...every night after the teams went evangelizing in the parks and piazzas, the kids and I would take the bus home (Lee was helping drive the teams back and forth to the bible school where are teams stay). But every night we would see the same people, and have great conversations. Elijah is a great people meeter and evangelist!

One evening we were talking to our new friend Emanuele and he had expressed an interest in the Lord. Elijah would sing him songs and the entire bus would listen to our conversations. One night, he asked Elijah if he had a song, and he said no. But then Abby piped up and said that she did! So, Abby sang him a song. It was like a party on the bus, and we had a captive audience. Emanuele is from Nigeria here on a student visa to the University of Udine. He is a proclaimed Catholic and also an educated man who is jobless now, but he has come to church several times and he and Lee have had some really great conversations. Because Emanuele is without work and has to ask people for money in store parking lots, he is searching for more to life. He is also intrigued about a relationship with God that is not based on works but on grace. My heart breaks for him in this situation, but its so cool that he is wanting to know more about a relationship with Christ. He is beginning to meet weekly with Lee for a bible study so please pray that he is either able to work or continue his education, but more so that he comes to know the Lord.

Another relationship that God has given us is with a sweet Italian woman named Sabrina and her husband, Maurizio. She has been a believer for a long time and has actually helped lead many Italians to the Lord, but has consistently struggled with depression and paranoia. Lee and I have spent time encouraging her and praying for her. During this time, it seems like God has been changing her, and through Lee encouraging her to put off wrong thoughts and replace them with truth from the scriptures, she has been doing much better. It is sad how we as Christians allow the lies of the devil and of our own self-condemnation to overwhelm us. Please pray that she would be free from the depression and completely rely on the Lord. We are seeing such a change in her countenance and attitude and her husband is so thankful.

Lastly, pray for Ramat, another new friend of ours. He told us the amazing story about his family killed before his eyes by the Taliban (parents, grandparents, aunt and uncle, sisters and brothers). He was the only one to survive (they thought he was dead). At 16, he walked by foot through Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey taking fields and only late at night, crossing streets. He then used a discarded blow-up raft and paddled to Greece (didn't know that was the land ahead. Then he was told by the man who owned it to stow in his truck on a boat heading to Italy but the truck did not stop for hours (the man must have forgot). I think my life is difficult! Talk about being convicted. The details are unreal but one amazing part is while paddling to Greece (8pm until 4pm the next day), he heard God tell him over and over, "Jesus is God." Pray for Ramat...He's depressed and was thinking about returning to Afghanistan. But he gave us his word he'll stay and, to him, that's a big deal. And it seems like God has begun to turn his spirits. Please pray he comes to experience the love of Jesus.

Actually, we are so thankful for being here, reaching new friends and growing our relationships with the team. When we lived in the U.S., I was hard-pressed to think of one nonbelieving friend, but here that is all we have. Our neighbors have been a huge support and encouragement and as we look back on this year, we are not sure we would have made it without them! They helped us navigate car repairs, school homework, buying a used car, insurance issues, loneliness, gifts of food when they didn't even know we needed it...we've been humbled by their constant kindness. We pray we will in some way be able to return the kindness. Our greatest desire is they would come to know the Lord. He has given us so many opportunities to talk about Him! We have people over for dinner, American breakfast, coffee, and whatever and God always seems to allow us to talk about a relationship with Him!

Well, summer is nearly gone, but we pray we will be able to continue our conversations and build these relationships that these friends might come to know Jesus. August is a month when all of Italy seems to head to the beach...yet with the economic crisis, it seems like this year many people have just spent their time at home. Many are without work and desire something more in life. Our prayer is that God will fill that void in their lives with His Son.

Thank you for taking the time to catch up with us....We would love to catch up with you! If you have a moment, can you please write us a little note on what you have been up to? We would love to hear all about you and your summer! And how we can pray! Much love to you! And please know, we are so, so, so thankful for your prayers and support.

Tanti Baci (many kisses!)

jeannette for all the Waltinos!