Over 4,725 miles in Italy, over a dozen churches, ministries, conferences and evangelical events...

Busy About Seeking God's Will

We sure hope you have had a wonderful summer and have seen and experienced many blessings of our Lord.  We are SO grateful for you and your continued loving support, prayers and just even taking time to remember our family over here.

It’s hard to believe it has been over a month since we last wrote as so much has happened.  This summer, by the time it is all over, we will have traveled over 4,725 miles, covered nearly all of Italy to visit over 12 churches, ministries, conferences and evangelical events. Tired yet? And that doesn’t really describe the flights, miles, gas, tolls, car problems, cabins, motels, borrowed homes, etc. that was part of the experience or the local churches within an hour’s reach. Yet we are so grateful for all the great churches we have visited, all the amazing Italian Christians we have met, and the wonderful and encouraging experiences we have had.  And we’re grateful to you for helping make it possible.  This summer, we've been seeking to know God's will for how He wants us to reach Italians for Christ.

God graciously enabled us to travel 4,725 miles all over Italy this summer.

We’ve learned so many things during our numerous travels (see map above to see all the places God has brought us this summer; each pink marker represents a church or ministry we visited).  One thing that's been refreshing to learn is how God is at work in the evangelical church and the different expressions of this work in Italy, whether it be worship, evangelism, discipleship, etc. Before leaving S.E.E., we knew little about other churches or ministries in Italy. Yet, because of our association now with Italian Ministries and their commitment to work with evangelical churches and ministries all throughout Italy, we’ve learned there are many Italian churches and ministries out there doing great work for God’s glory and for the furtherance of the gospel.  And we’ve really made some wonderful connections and friendships that will clearly serve us in the years ahead. Psalms 133:1 says, "Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!"

Lee preached in nearly every church (in Italian!) we visited this summer and was very warmly greeted and thanked for his messages, including our needing to be light and salt to a dying world that is heading to hell apart from the gospel of grace.  Here is just a small excerpt from his most recent sermon (translated into English):

Jesus says to Christians, “You are the light of the world.” He’s saying at the very minimum, “You are to be like Christ.” If you are a Christian, you are a little Christ. In fact, that’s what Christian really means: “little Christ.” Jesus is the “Light,” you are to be the little light. Jesus is the “Sun,” you are to be the little sun. Jesus is the brilliancy of God; you are to be the little brilliant one. Christians are called to be bright lights for the gospel in their homes, in their jobs, in their cities, with their friends, with their neighbors, and even with their enemies. Do the people who know you, know that you are a Christian? Have you taken the time with them to share the best news in life, the news that will spare them from hell? And what about your life? Do they see a difference in you? That you have a love that is beyond all other loves, a joy that is your strength, and a peace that surpasses understanding?

Think for a moment: why don’t you share the love of Christ? Why don’t you go to your neighbor and introduce yourself or offer your help in some way if they need it? Because you fear man. Why don’t you share the love of Jesus with the baker, butcher or shop owner; the people you see every week? Because your pride makes you fear rejection. You do not want to be seen as strange.  Why do you not take every opportunity you have to share the love of Christ?  Because your love has grown dull for Christ and His gospel.  So you keep the best news in life to yourself.  But you are the LIGHT!!! Your nature is to bring light into darkness. To not share God’s love, joy and peace is to hide who you are!  And as a result, you keep hidden the key to eternal life!

We also were able in many cases, to work alongside the churches we visited to do evangelism and discipleship ministry.  In several cases, we saw Italians move one step closer to becoming saved by God’s grace.  We even did witnessing to Muslims for the very first time in the port of Genova.  We’ve placed a number of pictures above (in a slide-show) for you to get an idea of what God has been doing (“a picture is worth a thousand words” right?).

At this point, we are praying about starting something new in the Liguria region which is a place and area that God continues to seem to lead us back to in our thinking.  This is quite a large region that has very few evangelical churches.  And the few cities that do have one, in most cases, have an extremely liberal church present.  As well, though American missionaries are often quick to go to big cities like Genova (500k), few go to the surrounding cities like Chiavari (27k) or Rapallo (35k) which are only 30  and 20 minutes away respectively.  As a result, there is very little evangelical witness.

There are two couples that are praying about going with us to start an evangelistic movement in the area.  Please pray that God would give us and them clarity.  Our dream is to have not only a church but an evangelism and discipleship training center which would also serve as a way to do outreach into the community.  We also hope at some point to have the ability to hold camps (summer, Christmas and spring break camps) to train Italians and others on how to reach Italians for Christ.  However, this is a big dream and we know we cannot do it alone.  We will need a good team and the other resources to make it happen.  Please pray for us and about how God might lead you to be involved in giving toward our ministry. We will continue to share more details and needs as we become aware of them. 

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.  We are so grateful to you for standing by us.  Living in a foreign country is incredibly challenging...the honeymoon lasts about 2 weeks...in fact, one of the greatest hurdles to reaching Italy is the misguided thinking of many in America that think Italy is just a vacation land for the rich and famous; in fact, it is a lonely place and it is the hardest existence we have ever had as a family.  Yet, having you standing beside us, encouraging us, praying for us, making it possible for us to continue in ministry to Italians through your giving is so wonderful and such a blessing for us as we seek to sacrifice our lives for the Lord and for the gospel.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  We love you dearly,

The Walti Family

Some Updates on Some of Our Italian Friends:

We are excited to share that several of our contacts continue to move toward faith.  Ramat will be baptized on September 12!  So please pray for him.  He is very excited and on fire for the Lord now.  Also, a friend of Ramat’s (Hakim) that we have been sharing with and who has been accompanying us to church is now ready to receive Christ.  By God’s grace, he may be getting baptized soon as well.

Our friend, Loredana continues to move toward faith but she is distracted by a romantic interest who is probably not a good influence for her.  Pray that she would fall in love with Jesus first before all else.  Pray that God would give us wisdom on how to make His grace clear to her (burdened by guilt).

Today, we had a wonderful conversation with MaryAnn, our friend who owns a bed and breakfast here.  We have been friends for about a year now and today, we shared more clearly then ever before the gospel of grace (she is Roman Catholic).  And she listened very closely.  She loves us dearly (as we do her) but she normally has not been willing to talk about religion.  But today, God stilled her heart and her voice and we believe she was moved.  Pray for MaryAnn, that God would make Himself real to her like never before and she would see the difference in a gospel of grace versus a gospel of works. 

One of the most amazing relationships that has occurred recently are our new friends, Paulo and Marina.  They have been here 10 years (Paulo is from Ukraine, Marina is from Russia).  We have now met three times, the last two times for bible study and they have so many questions, it’s wonderful. and the questions are extremely profound! It is so encouraging to see God working the work of grace in a couple’s heart.  Though Paulo believes he is saved (and we believe also), we will continue to try to help him work through the issues related to his faith.  And he will most likely get baptized this fall.  But pray for Marina and for their daughter, Elena, who is Abigail’s age (they’re already great friends).  Marina still holds on to many ideas of the Russian Orthodox faith, does not seem as motivated by the issues of faith as Paulo and is really, just now, understanding that salvation is by grace alone.  And Elena, like Abby, needs to still come to a place of understanding, demonstrating repentance and faith.

Thank you for your prayers!  Thank you for your support!  Thank you for your faith!!!  We love you!

God is inviting us to coauthor our future

Greetings from the Walti Family in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ who was and is and is to come! By now, you should have received our stateside prayer letter (sent out quarterly, thanks to some of our sweet supporters) which shared about some of our journey to visit churches earlier this summer.  We also hope you enjoy our completely revised WaltiWorld Blog with new design and family picture.

We hope this next update finds you and your family doing well and experiencing the blessings of our Lord.  Now, we have just returned from a trip to Sicily, Italy where we were able to visit 3 different evangelical churches (Messina, Milazo and Rometta), meet with other missionaries and pastors, break bread together and have some great fellowship, do a little witnessing and evangelism and even get some time for us as a family on the beach! [make sure to see the picture slide-show above!] And a very special blessing for us this summer was having Bethany back in Italy for a month, allowing us all to be back together again for the first time in a year.  We thank God for what the Lord has done in her life.

Tomorrow, we head for Genova to do evangelism in the city and near the port, reaching Italians and passing out tracts to the naval workers, including many Muslims who come in on the ships when they come to port.  We will be meeting with many of the Christian leaders in the city and Jeannette and I will have opportunity to share our testimony with the local believers.  Then it's off to Canelli on Sunday, an 1hr and 30 minutes from Genova, to attend church and for Lee to bring the message in Italian!  Then on Monday, we'll go to La Spezia where we will meet with local missionaries and then, a group of Christians in Sarzana that were asking for a missionary family last year to help them reach the city for Christ.  Two weeks from this weekend, we will be heading to Avellino, near Napoli, to meet the believers in the church there, do evangelism and Lee will also preach for the church.

We continue to seek God's wisdom and direction for our next assignment.  On one hand, we pray every day for more faith.  On the other hand, we've never been more full of faith that God will perfectly provide for us.  Maybe, you know what we mean when we say that being here, God has had a way of faithfully chipping away at anything and everything that might draw us away from Him.  At the same time, He has invited us to be a part of discovering His will for our future as a family in Italy.

I began reading a book I actually bought nearly 3 years ago but just picked up again recently, called, "To Be Told: God Invites You to Coauthor Your Future" by Dan Allender.  The book helps to describe a lot of how I feel lately about what God is doing in our lives.  He doesn't always answer my prayers, to give me perfect clarity for the future.  He hasn't made each step clear on what our family is to do or where we are to go.  But what He has done and is doing is invited us to be a part of a story He is revealing day by day.  Often, it's not as quick as we'd like but it's always in His perfect timing.  And it always is consistent with how He has made and gifted us and the story He's been crafting all along. Allender writes,

"You are a story. You are not merely the possessor and teller of a number of stories; you are a well-written, intentional story that is authored by the greatest Writer of all time, and even before time and after time. God is a being who loves to reveal and who invites us to join the process of revelation by calling us to ask, seek, and knock. God always intended for His children to join Him in completing creation. We are not inanimate entities that merely reveal glory but living stories that are meant to create glory."

Every trip we have taken this summer, every church we've shared a testimony in, every place where I've had the privilege of preaching a message, every person we've met, believer and unbeliever, is an opportunity for us to continue our story.  A story of glory for the only One who deserves it. Allender continues, "Our life theme is the significance of our life as seen by those who are close enough to sense how our life either reveals or fails to make known the character of God."  I REALLY like this. 

I know that none of us can determine perfectly where God is leading us in our lives or where we will be down the road in our future and our pursuit of greater peace, joy, love fulfillment, satisfaction, purpose...and most importantly, our ability to glorify God.  But what we can do...what God is inviting each of us to do...if we will agree...is to help bring meaning and value to each chapter of our story by participating with Him.  Each of us are gifted.  Each of us are called.  Each of us are telling a story.  And if we use our gifting, calling and each opportunity God grants us to tell a story of Him and of His glory, then even if and when we don't know what the future holds, we will still get to see and experience the blessing of coauthoring what our lives say about Him to others.  We all know He is SO worthy of a good story.  And you ARE that story.  We ARE that story.   And each of our stories are being read every day.  We should do all we can to tell a good one!  A story of the great I AM!

We leave at 7am in the morning.  We would so appreciate it if you would lift us up in prayer.  Please pray for safety.  Pray for wisdom and discernment of God's will for our next assignment.  Pray for the hundreds of Italians and especially, the Muslims, we will encounter on Saturday..that the gospel will go forward and those we meet will move closer to Him (even get saved).  Also, please pray for us as we meet the church and believers in Canelli on Sunday and I'd greatly appreciate it if you would pray for the message to the church that I will deliver.  And then later, as we travel and meet the other Christians and missionaries in the area south of Genova. 

But most of all, pray with us and we will pray for you...let's commit to all pray...for a story in and through all of us that will proclaim the great God that He is and the great gospel grace He offers. 

And from the bottom of our hearts...thank you, thank you, thank you so very much for your very much coveted prayers and your kind and generous support...all of which is our lifeline to continued ministry.

Love from the Walti's,
Lee, Jeannette, Bethany, Hannah, Jacob, Elijah and Abby

Jesus and us: Spring 2010

Dear beloved supporters and friends,

We hope this update finds you happy, healthy and passionately in love with Jesus. In fact, if you are not the first two, we hope, at a minimum, the last thing can be said of you. Happiness is truly fleeting, health mostly stays with you in the early part of your life but Jesus? He is with us always and so desires all of our hearts that He might work in and through us for His glory.

As I write this, we are bringing our 2^nd eldest, Hannah, to the airport in Venice to return to the United States for a visit for the first time since leaving two years ago (we’re excited that when she returns, she will bring Bethany back with her to Italy so that we will be altogether as a family for the first time in a year). Hannah is a good example of what our time has been like in Italy. She left at 15, a very critical time for a high school kid. Just before, she cancelled her own baptism we’d scheduled for her at church, not believing she was ready yet. Arriving and immediately starting Italian public school, she knew but a few words of Italian. Many nights until 1am or 2am in the morning, we’d all struggle to translate the Italian into English, let alone to understand what was being taught (that’s with four of five in public school). With 13 subjects and no interpreter, Hannah tried her best, even trying to have a good attitude, but it was horribly difficult. Having a bully in her class program who showed his interest in her through mean and immature ways, it felt at times as if it were just a bit more than she could handle. Hannah eventually would get mono and be out for over 23 days. Later, her doctor would tell her not to return to school for another month…this was her experience in only the first 6 months. But the story doesn’t end there…

Hannah began to search for God. Where before she would not even pick up a Christian book, she was now waking up every morning, reading the Bible and any Christian-growth book she could get her hands on (yes, in English). As the year progressed, Hannah began to respond to her trials and difficulties and extreme difference of the Italian culture with an unusual peace, joy, and confidence in God’s plan for her life. She went from saying she was ready to go back to the U.S. to being excited for ministry opportunities that God had for her here. It wasn’t much later and Hannah asked to be baptized and proclaimed before the entire congregation that if it were not for having come to Italy, she believed she would not have been saved. Now she has many ongoing relationships with Italian girls where she is building into their lives, sharing the gospel, and seeing fruit. One young lady, Chiara, 22 years old (5 years older than Hannah) loves Hannah, loves to hear about God and Jesus and has now attended church with us twice. Chiara looks to Hannah like she is her hero…she sees Hannah’s faith and is moved. Another lady, Mary Ann, thinks the world of Hannah and sees in her an incredible example of Jesus, the way Hannah has served her and her business without expecting anything in return.

So it is with our family! Trials, tribulations and challenges that would fill a book but oh, the blessings of growth in Christ! And with God’s sovereign providence in our lives, we are able to look backward (isn’t it always this way) and see all He has been doing. Would we have chosen this path knowing all we would experience ahead of time? Heck no! But thank God, the Lord knows us, knows our frailties and gives us truly only what we can handle. And then turns the ashes of our pain and suffering into beauty…beauty that displays His glory.

We are looking at our recent transition and new opportunities with Italian Ministries with thankfulness and faith even with all we’ve been through. We would have never known or seen the blessings of the future with a ministry like this, to seek God’s will for our lives, unhindered, simply seeking the lead of the Lord, His Word, His Spirit and His people. And we wonder, why us? Why do we get the privilege of doing this work, meeting with Italians as a full-time job, getting to tell them about the best news in life? We bemoan the fact that some days, we can’t get through a day without complaining about the difficulties of living in Italy (our one car broken down again for the 8^th time, computer drive crashed again for the 4^th time, waiting for 2 hours for our permesso di soggiornos in a hot, humid, stinky police headquarters with people lined up 4-wide but no one knowing who is before or after who, and still no furniture, no clothes dryer, health problems, etc, etc, etc). But such small things when considering all that God has given us and praise God, the Lord is at work!

A QUICK UPDATE:

We had a wonderful time with Loredana just this Friday night, going to an American burger and fries place. She comes over nearly every week to ask us to do something. Loredana, a single mom who is an English teacher working on her masters, struggles with great feelings of guilt. She is 48 years old and she still feels so impacted by the fact that at 3 years-old, the nuns would have her do penance for her sins. Her parents riddled her with guilt, teaching her she could never be good enough – true, but without the grace of God, she is full of shame and guilt. And then a husband who made her pay for their relationship each step of the way, trying to get her to sign a contract that she would not have a child until she got a job, as if it were all her choice. But now she is hearing the gospel. A very lovely gal, on the inside and out, she is hearing of God’s grace and the other night in tears, she was telling us that she knew we were right. That she needs to accept God’s love for her. Please pray for Loredana.

And this weekend we took Ramat and Akim, Ramat’s new friend to church with us. This is our 3^rd time with Akim. He’s been over for dinner twice, gone to church with us twice and stayed the night once with Ramat. Ramat, a new believer himself, has been sharing about Jesus to Akim (also from Afghanistan). Akim has gone from not wanting to have anything to do with Christianity to telling us that he has never seen or heard of anything more beautiful (the church experience, hearing of Christ’s love for him, etc). Just Saturday night we started watching the JESUS Film in Dari, his language and we hope to finish it together later this week. God used this film to save Ramat and we are hopeful for the same for Akim.

Also, please pray for Sandro. Lee has been developing a relationship with him for some time now and he vocalizes complete agreement with the idea that a relationship with God is based on grace and seems to really love Lee and wants to spend time together but he is very busy and often working or helping his family. But on more than one occasion, he has expressed his desire to be more like us, knowing God, the Bible and how to live life in a way that is pleasing to God. Please pray for Sandro, that Lee and him would have more time together, and for Sandro’s wife, Tekla, and Jeannette’s relationship with her.

We now have two churches interested in partnering with and encouraging us, one that is in Sacile and another in Trieste, Italy. Both are very supportive of our family, are committed to the same values, and would love to work with us to help us determine where and how God would like us to move forward in reaching a community. Please pray that God would lead and direct us as we seek His will for a new church and community in which to serve.

Finally, we have just returned from a successful trip to Great Britain to meet with our director, Jonathan Gilmore, and his wife, Annette, and kids, Rosanna (19), Alex (16) and Kristen (14). We had never been to England before and so it was nice to see the countryside, meet our director, strategize about where we would visit this summer (out of a dozen and a half opportunities to serve; we already have 5 to 6 inviting us to come and stay with them and explore ministry) and generally talk about ways we could serve. So the plan is that this summer, as a family, we will visit many of these and explore where God would have us minister and try to reach a community for Jesus. While there, we got to spend a day in London for Jeannette’s b-day (highlight for me was getting to visit Charles Spurgeon’s church, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, where Spurgeon would sometimes preach to over 10,000 people) and then later, we got to attend a Sovereign Grace evangelical church in Newport, Wales, staying with a very kind couple, Bob and Anne Marie Mc Cann (he is a pastor there) who were both very encouraging and insightful.

Well, that’s it for now. We are so grateful for your love and encouragement. Please drop us a note and let us know how we can be praying for you. We will be sending out a snail-mail letter here shortly (we are a little limited on how often we can send this being that we live here in Italy) sharing about all our summer plans and some ways you can pray and support our time exploring God’s will for ministry.

Thank you and we want you to know, that God sees your faithfulness and generosity and is and will bless you for your commitment to further the gospel in Italy.

Love, the Walti Family

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.