Incredibile! Quante benedizioni per comprendere misura sovrana del dio nelle nostre vite!

(Translation: Incredible! How many blessings as we comprehend the sovereign provision of God in our lives!)
God is so good! We arrived safely in Udine, Italy after a six hour Amtrak train trip to Miami (usually five hours) and an incredibly wonderful time with our sweet brother and sister in the Lord, Nando and Cindy! The Spirit of God met us as we fellowshipped and ministered to each other that evening and the next day...I know this is why God's Word says, "How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together!" This is the sweet couple from the SG church in Miami who are housing us when we return from Italy even though they will be in Puerto Rico for a big family reunion. And they say to us, "You are blessing us by coming!" What an amazing time. We have truly made special, life-long friends. And oh what a blessing their church (Palm Vista) and pastor, Al Pino, is! We really enjoyed meeting him and being ministered to by his preaching. We also thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone else including the associate pastor and Al's daughter, Vanessa, and her husband, Fernando! God willing, we may even be able to get Fernando and Vanessa to come over and visit Italy and do some short term ministry! Who knows! God works in mysterious ways!

Though the plane trip to Atlanta from Miami went without delay, we sat on the tarmac for over an hour and 10 minutes in Atlanta wondering if we would be able to take off for our final destination. Just as we had got in line behind 10 other planes waiting to take off, a storm seemingly came out of nowhere and we saw some of the most amazing lightning storms we have ever seen. As we saw the awesome display of God's power, it reminded us of Psalm 57 which in the very beginning says,

"In you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me. [You] will send from heaven and save me!"

Well, we ended up taking off as the worst of the storm had passed by and as we pulled up off the ground, the sky cleared, the sun came through the clouds and we saw the horizon filled with light. It was really beautiful. So true that the storms of life often bring us the greatest blessings...most greatest of which is intimacy with our Lord Jesus! If we'll only trust Him! We actually arrived only a half hour late in Italy but 19 hours later for the entire trip! In case you're curious, 11am Italy time is 5am our time but praise God both Jeannette and I got about 3-4 hours of sleep which is a record for us! And we are actually feeling rested (and we haven't had our first cappuccino yet!).

We are now preparing for the staff conference which starts in about an hour) the riposa (like a midday siesta) is part of the preparation (but we are choosing not to rest because they say it's better for avoiding jetlag). But we want to share that it was so sweet that the entire team of Saints Equipped to Evangelize waited around for us after they had finished lunch to arrive and saved us two big plates of Maria's famous lasagna (Maria is the cook for Saints Bible Institute and a very good cook at that!) and all of the team greeted us with hugs and kisses (you might not know this but Italians kiss and hug...much like our brothers and sisters in Miami...I even got a couple smackers from Mierco who is one of the 3 or 4 Italian missionaries with our team). Hey, we're told to greet each other with a holy kiss...praise the Lord! So we had a sweet greeting to arrive to...and what a blessing to see the joy of the Lord in the faces of those who share the grace and mercy of the cross.

Thank you for all your prayers. We are excited about what God is doing but none of it would be possible without your faithful and loving support and encouragement!!! More updates later but for now...

Ciao and arriverderci!!

Jeannette posing at Italy airport

and Lee at bible center window in dorm room where we're staying

God is in Control

Wow! What an exciting journey we are on! It's been amazing and exciting to see God guide and provide as we are in the preparation process to move to Italy as a family and serve with Saints Equipped to Evangelize.

One quick story of God's faithfulness has been in relation to our trip to Udine, Italy for our S.E.E. Staff Conference (June 30 - July 4) and our need to get our National (long-stay) VISA for our eventual move (currently scheduled for September 7).

About a month ago, we got our tickets to attend the staff conference...challenging with all that is going on to move only in a few months...but important. Of course, the tickets are double the price what they normally are in the off-months. But we trusted God and stepped out in faith. Well, not only did God provide the funds necessary through a couple of supporters for these two tickets (only Jeannette and I are going) but we also experienced some very neat things in God's providence in relation to this.

First, we actually bought tickets that were out of Miami to save $300 per ticket (compared to flying out of Orlando). At the time, we were kind of remiss in doing so (getting down there, etc) and even tried to change them a couple of times (seeing if we could get cheaper fares out of Orlando) within the allowed time limit but to no avail so we trusted God that this was His will. So then, a few days passed and it dawns on us...we have to get our VISA at the Italian Consulate and the one that handles Florida residents is in Miami!

Well, if anyone has ever tried to get a VISA and all that is involved, you know that the documents, the copies, the notarizing, etc., can drive even a detailed-person crazy let alone two people that sometimes show weaknesses in this area ;-) So anyhew...

First we needed a way down...so, we looked into car, bus, and train (the only thing we didn't check was a boat but because Orlando is land-locked, that wouldn't work!). Seriously, we were so blessed to come across an Amtrak fare that normally was over $75 for only $56 (for the two of us!). Given we had saved $600 on our airline tickets by flying out of Miami, this was a drop in the bucket! And we don't have to drive or find a place for our car, parking, etc.

Next, we knew we flew back to Miami about midnight on July 9 so we really needed a place to stay if we hoped to go to the consulate the next day (Thursday, July 10...pray!). So about 2 1/2 weeks ago, I asked a good buddy of mine, George, if he knew anyone in Miami that could help us (knowing they have many friends there, have attended our sister church there in Miami, and his father lives not too far away). The first person he mentions is a gentleman by the name of Nando, who plays bongo drums, etc., for the worship band in the church in Miami. He says, "Nando is a great brother and I'll get you in touch with him."

Not more than what seemed like 3 minutes later, he walks up and introduces Nando! I was like, "What?" It turns out that he was in town for business-related work and attending our church even though he lives in Miami! Of all weekends! So right away, this sweet brother asks us if we can come stay with them the night before we depart so we can have a meal with them, attend church the next morning (our plane leaves that Sunday night, June 29) and though his wife and him and his family will all be in Puerto Rico that weekend, he can then give us the keys to his home so we can stay at their house during the days after we return from Italy!

Both Jeannette and I were so blessed and blown away by God's goodness. Then out of curiosity, I got on line and checked where his home was in relation to everything. They are 9 miles from the Amtrak, 11 miles from the airport and 15.6 miles from the consulate, all three in different directions, and their home is right in the middle! Praise God for His goodness to the children of men.

Then yesterday, after many days of preparing to get all our documents together, the Lord graciously provided everything we need including a lady, Emily, at our church who notarized everything....and for free! We have everything we need and we had just wondered if we would ever get everything together...What a blessing.

Another neat thing related to this, which we'd also ask you to please pray for, is that the kids have to appear with us the consulate. About a month ago, a good friend of Bethany's started making plans to come visit her. So here we are making our plans and realizing that we had to somehow get the kids down safely when we realized that Bethany's friend, Kelly, would arrive the day before (the 9th) and would be able to drive with Bethany and Hannah the kids down to Miami during the day together...what a blessing. They will also have the ability to go straight to Nando's home and get settled early afternoon so that Bethany and Kelly can come pick us up from the airport that evening on our return to Miami while Hannah watches the kids back at Nando's home.

Obviously, we would really ask you to pray for all of this, especially for protection and safety in travels for us but especially for the children. And we'd ask you to please pray for the time we will have over in Udine with our new team members, an important time to get more vision, get a better handle on future plans of the leadership, and just bond in the fellowship of our Lord. We will also have opportunity to spy out the land for an apartment. Though it's possible, we could actually secure a place, we are most desirous of just sensing God's lead on where, what, by who (neighbors the Lord wants us to reach, encourage), when, how, etc, He wants us to live. This is a very exciting but scary time for us. Exciting as we trust the Lord and scary when we don't :-)

But GOD IS IN CONTROL as Twila Paris sings in her song of the same name (I've added it to the playlist of songs on this page so you can hear it...it's a great one).

There is so much more we could share about God's wonderful sovereign providence in all of this. We are just so grateful for you and for your prayers. The three biggest prayer requests we would ask you to pray for include:

1) That God will provide the settling-in expenses and any additional monthly support we need, especially with the Euro exchange in mind. Things are going well but we just sent out a financial list of all our needs. Pray that it would be GOD that would move people to help. We don't anyone to give out of a sense of obligation. We know God will provide...we're just looking for who He wants to provide through. Yet it will require faith...this is no small task or journey. So we really desire that those who support us catch a vision for the 6 million people in Italy who need the Gospel...the seat of where the most powerful but most "dead" church resides, reigns and rules over the ideas and concepts of Italians let alone RC's all over the world...and of course, greatly influenced the theology and Christian thought of the entire world...what they think about Jesus, God, the Gospel, grace, forgiveness, justification, etc. We just continue to be amazed that with over 44,000 towns and villages, 42,000 have no evangelical witness whatsoever (no Bible study, no prayer group, no Bible bookstore, no support group, no church, no nothing). The town where we will be living (Udine) has 98,000 people and as far as we know, has only one evangelical church of 38 people that our ministry helped plant. So pray, and IF God leads, give. Give to the Walti's"

2) Pray that God would rent/lease/sell our house. Whatever He wants to do. If God wants us to, we'd give the house away for free and walk away. We are more than willing to lose every bit of equity we'd built up to follow God's will for our lives.

3) Pray for our time in Miami at the Italian Consulate getting our VISA. Graciously by God, Jeannette and I have great faith for the consulate granting us our long-term VISA (for religious activity) the first time we go. We know that many have had to go 2, 3 or even 4 times before they are granted their VISA because of how tight or picky the Italian Government can be about these things. Pray that God would truly give us favor as we walk in that door on Thursday morning, July 10, with our entire family...right through each step and document and detail and with whoever God ordains to handle our case. God is in control!

4) Faith and growth in godliness as we walk through the details of all of what God is doing. Please pray for us individually, for us as a couple, for the children. They are excited but it can be scary at times for them too. And it can be stressful for them like it can be for us so please pray for each of them (Bethany, Hannah, Jacob, Elijah, and Abigail). God has given them faith for the journey and it is so very encouraging for us to know, He is calling them as well. Praise the Lord.

Well that's it for now. We love you and appreciate you and are so thankful for all your prayers and encouragement. We're having fun but holding on to His grace and sweet love as God moves us to another country for His glory (Soli Deo Gloria...His glory alone). Please drop us an e-mail or a post here and let us know how we can be praying for you!

The Walti's with our sweet friends, the Romanacce's and Hannah's good friend, Claire.

Bethany's Graduation

Faith for the Journey Comes One Step at a Time

Roll with the Changes

If there is one thing that is true about moving overseas to reach Italy for Christ, it is that you have to be ready to roll with the changes. And there are so many!

We are sorry we haven't posted sooner since our last blog entry. We have, of course, sent our prayer letter out to all our supporters just a few weeks back but some of you are not yet on our prayer letter list so if you'd like to be added, just post here and let us know and we'll add you to our list (at least for sending letters while we're still stateside).

Lots of things have been going on...some great, some so-so and some less so. But of course, we are as some of said, "strangely called" as we sense God's call and confirmation with every step we take toward our expected launch date. We had spoke early of mid-August but we are now thinking more likely it will be early, the 1st week of September, God willing.

Some of the great things that have been happening include Jeannette and Lee completing Italian 1 at a local community college, finding 2 couples desirous of renting our house, getting all our passports done and returned for the entire family, VISA invite letter from one of the officially approved 7 churces in Italy on its way (should be here this weekend), selling Lee's motorcycle before the bill was even due (we had a 5 months no interest, no payments) for the same price he bought it for (he rode it like a dozen times but bought it so Bethany could have his car for going to work and school and originally had hoped to save money on gas back when he was driving to work). Other great stuff includes completely re-doing our yard with sod (Jacob had accidentally sprayed the yard in 3 spots hoping to kill weeds and we ended up with three very big spots of dead grass). But after Lee, Mike Moran and all our boys and their boys got out there and worked it, we now have one of the nicest looking yards in the neighborhood and the association is happy! :-)

Some of the so-so stuff is just realizing that though we will probably lose $30,000 to sell our house, given the current market where values are going down by 1% per month and with the very real possibility of it getting worse for some time, we are now starting to lean toward selling. We don't think we can cover enough of our expenses to make it all work with renting. One important thing that we'd ask you to pray for is that we'd be able to get out of our loan without a penalty (required to be in it 3 years and in July, it will be 2). We've learned that if you have to move out of the state for work reasons, you can be released sometimes. Well, maybe Italy will qualify! But all of this, the financial loss, is one of the things where we say, we did not become Christians to make money and we surely are not going to not do what God is calling us to do because we lose half of our equity in our home! God is in control and since He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, He could replace that it a heartbeat if He wants. So we trust God and His sovereign providence! Another so-so thing (good but challenging) are expenses from various things lke Jeannette's dental work that was badly needed ($2,300). Please pray for this though as it is beyond our means as well as the Italian immersion class that Lee would really like to take later in the summer ($2,500) to help him be prepared. If any feel led to help, please know we'd greatly appreciate it. As always, our supporters our our lifeline for ministry. It is a partnership and we could not even dream of doing any of this if it were not for you.

One not so great thing is that Lee's trips to Mayo have yet to prove to tell us anything different. However, we have our last trip in this series on the 28th where Lee will take a series of breathing tests that he already took but this time after being on steroids and antibiotics. He's feeling a ton better, has a ton of energy and has been working like a fiend to address all the issues coming at us in all directions but some of that is due to the drugs and we really would like this not to be the long-term treatment prognosis. So if Lee does very well (at least a 12% improvement...which we don't think will be a problem), then they will be willing to recommend some alternative treatments. They say for some, it's been amazing the response but there are some side-effects...don't know yet though what.

However, one of the big stories of our lives right now has been Bethany graduating! We know what they mean when they say, "More busy than a one-armed paper hanger." Together, Bethany and Jeannette did Bethany's invite, Jeannette designed the graduation program for entire school, Lee coordinated getting the pics for the PowerPoint style presentations and all of us have been getting really excited about the final day (June 1st). Bethany will be graduating with a 3.65 grade point average and has done all sorts of wonderful things during her high school tenure but the most wonderful of all is Bethany's love for the Lord! We thought you might enjoy seeing Bethany's life verse and other info from Bethany's graduation night.

God bless and we love you all. Thank you for all your prayers and please keep praying. And if any of you wants to e-mail us, we'd love it! Just post to this blog or e-mail us at abandoned2Jesus@gmail.com. And tell us how we can pray for you!! Love you tons!

Bethany Walti

Life Verse

1 Timothy 4:12

Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.

High School Accomplishments

Bethany has excelled in her grades and extracurricular activities throughout her high school experience. She has played junior varsity volleyball with the Flames, been a top swimmer with the Otter Creek Otters, and has been a part of several missions trips including sharing the gospel at juvenile detention centers, working at two Christian camp summer programs with Native Indian children in New Mexico and North Carolina and working with a Sovereign Grace church in Bolivia last year. Bethany has loved sharing God’s love with those who need the Gospel, especially children. Bethany is grateful to have attended her last year of high school at Valencia Community College where she excelled academically. She has also thoroughly enjoyed being part of Deluge the last three years and serving on the leadership team her senior year.

Future Plans

By God’s grace, Bethany is excited to be moving to Italy with her family, and God willing, attending Saints Bible Institute in San Lorenzo, Italy in the Fall (www.saintsbibleinstitute.com). She earned the Bright Futures scholarship and will most likely return to Florida in a couple years to finish her degree in journalism. Please continue to pray for Bethany and her future….her relationship with the Lord and the plans He has for her.

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!

Trusting in the Providence of God

Happy Resurrection Day! It is so exciting to think that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ not only lived a perfect life, died on the cross for us, but also rose from the dead! The Apostle Paul told us that if Jesus didn't raise from the dead then none of us have hope! He said, "If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead!" (1 Cor 15:19-20).

Life has been fast and furious lately. But God is faithful. He is continuing to give wisdom and direction regarding our future as a family in ministry. We continue to try to be a witness to our neighbors (see 2nd pic) and to those God brings in our path (Lee and Jacob went witnessing at the park in Winter Park, a very ritzy area in Orlando). The kids are nearing the end of the school semester (praise God!). A big event in our family recently is that Abby just had her 5th b-day! (with a big party that was a hit because a friend of the family, Alyssa Romanacce, dressed up like Hannah Montana). Lee dressed up like her father (Billy Ray Cyrus?). It was hilarious!! The kids had a blast and it seemed the parents had fun too.

Abby wants everyone to know, including Abbie Wells, that she is so happy that she is five years old. Abby Walti wanted to talk with her today but she fell on her bike and wasn't feeling good. And then she even had a bad stomach ache. But one story she wanted to share was after her b-day was over, Abby came up to her mom, in a sweet, gentile way and said, “Mom, it’s not about presents, or having fun, or about doing stuff...it is all about God.” Jeannette was caught totally off guard because she said she felt like she'd been all about the doing of stuff and not a lot about God the last couple months. Isn’t it amazing that He uses the youngest to encourage the “oldest” to look to Himself. So, Jeannette immediately said...”Go tell daddy what you just told me...we all need to hear this. :)” And both Jeannette and I shed a tear together. From the mouth of babes...

On a completely different note, we are praising God that Lee has been able to get an appointment with Mayo Clinic (on the cutting edge of medicine) to get a full check-up (it's unique at Mayo because you have all the specialists in one place instead of the allergy guy saying its asthma and vice versa). So please pray for this as we are hopeful we'll get to the bottom of everything.

THE SPATOLAS

We are finishing a prayer letter to introduce everyone on our support team and prayer letter list to the ministry of S.E.E. Last Wednesday morning, we (Jeannette and Lee) picked up Sam Spatola and his wife, Chris, at the Tampa airport. They are a great couple and it gave us special time with them over lunch and then coffee. We have been in much prayer, seeking godly counsel, looking to God's Word, and just generally watching the providential circumstances God brings our way. Please pray for the Spatolas, for Sam and his direction of the ministry and protection against the attacks of the evil one. And for Chris, who has been having a challenge as far as her balance and walking. Pray that God would help them get to the bottom of it and ultimately, that it would be God's will to heal her.


PEOPLE MATTER

As we've been seeking God's direction for the future, some of asked us, "Wouldn't you want to stay with Campus Crusade?"

We’ve been open to that and so over the last 3-6 months, we have been exploring opportunities to stay with our ministry of some 16 years.

Yet one thing that’s become apparent is there are some alignment issues for us in staying with CCC and JFP. Like CCC, we want our ministry to be about Jesus and the gospel. Yet, we also are highly committed to the use of God’s Word in the day-to-day work of ministry, good for “all of life and godliness” (2 Pet 1:3-4). And this has increasingly become less emphasized in some CCC ministries, especially office-type or more business-like ministries, in pursuit of other admirable goals. Just as importantly, we believe it’s really all about people. Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” It’s hard to explain but as ministries get bigger, sometimes valuing people gets lost in the growth. And it’s vital to us that people are valued and loved well. If people are not valued and loved well, we believe the gospel is hindered.

EUROPE NEEDS JESUS

The good news is that the Presidents Office of Crusade has been more than gracious to us as we've been looking at a transition. As we've been looking at overseas ministries, especially in Europe (with special interest in Italy -- Lee believes that his family is from Italy after finding a draft card for his great, great grandfather - see pic), they have actually been very encouraging of us because Crusade does not have a significant presence in some European countries. What has made CCC successful in countries where they do not have a presence is by partnering with other ministries, secunding or offering staff who actually join other ministries, or giving direct financial support and other resources to help other ministries begin an outreach effort in that country.

We are humbled that God might want to use us overseas in such a great ministry. The director of S.E.E. said recently, “If you want to be lonely, reach out to cold hearts and not see much fruit, join us here in Italy.” After visiting north Italy, we understand. The fruit is present...just very slow. The missionaries in Udine, Italy are true pioneers. You would not think that in Italy (where the R.C. Church started), but it is ground-breaking work for church planters. The evangelical church is almost non-existent. But, praise God He is in the business of changing hardened hearts! Please pray for Italy. To our surprise, most of Europe is so closed to the Gospel...but like all of us, desperately need it. Will you pray for us, including the children, as we consider being ambassadors for him in a foreign land? We dearly thank you.

The most important thing to us is that we glorify God in whatever we do! We want our lives to be about worship. There is nothing and no one more worthy of our worship. We thank God for salvation! We thank God for Christ's death! And we thank God for His resurrection from the dead!! HE IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED!!!

Italy's Need

We are learning new stuff everyday about the ministry of Saints Equipped to Evangelize and the ministry in Italy. We got the following info from our friends' web page (Tom and Maureen Little) who are with S.E.E. Tom serves as an administrator to the director, Sam Spatola, and Maureen oversees the ESL courses where Italians are provided English lessons for free as a platform for relationship evangelism in independent events or opportunities.

We had heard that less than 1/2 of 1% of the people in Italy are considered evangelical Christians. However, we did not know how prevalent the occult and satanism is in the country. Consider these statistics and Italy's need:

Italy's Challenge

The following statistics are from ‘Operation World’, 21^st Century Edition, P. Johnstone & J. Mandryk, 2001.

• 80% of Italians claim to be Catholic, but only 10% practice their religion. The church has lost 10 million to new age thinking, the occult and materialistic secularism.

• Occultism is widespread. There are over 100,000 full-time consulting magicians. Satanism is strong in the north, Turin being one of the global centers of its activities, which includes praying for the removal of all evangelical missionaries from Italy.

• Only 1,500 of Italy’s 33,500 communities have an established evangelical witness. The northeastern Veneto Region has 4 million + people, but only 38 churches and 2,000 evangelical Christians.

• The Friulians are an unreached minority with their own distinctive culture and language.

• There is very little outreach in this region with the good news of Jesus Christ.

A Solution

Saints Equipped to Evangelize (S.E.E.) has been serving in Italy since 1995. S.E.E. is committed to apostolic church planting and is aiding in this by equipping and sending short term teams who work alongside the nationals and local churches (this includes the teams that the Saints Bible Institute in San Lorenzo sends). S.E.E. has a three pronged ministry:

• Church Planting

• Evangelism

• Education

Saints Equipped to Evangelize is one solution to the spiritual crisis in Italy. The solution is planting churches through a variety of resources.

• Career Missionaries planting churches in northern Italy.
• S.E.E. operates two schools - Saints Bible Institute and the ABC Language School
• Saints Bible Institute offers American Bible college students a semester abroad for the purpose of immersion into missions in Italy.
• ABC Language School offers English as a Second Language to Italians for the purpose of evangelism.
• Short Term Mission Trips - Every summer they invite churches and individuals to come to Italy for a Short Term Mission Trip experience to help them in their evangelism efforts. Many short-termers come back for extended internships.
• Outreach Events - One of their largest evangelism outreach events occurs each year at Thanksgiving. They invite all of their Italian language students for a traditional American Thanksgiving Dinner and present the gospel.
• Philippino Ministry - There are many Philippino refugees in Italy and S.E.E. has been involved in planting seven Philippino churches. The ministry is now assisting them in sending missionaries back to their homeland in the Philippines. S.E.E. is currently building a new bible institute in the Philippines which is almost completed, that will serve the local church planting efforts as well as new and growing pastors, layleaders, etc.
  

S.E.E. is located in the far northeastern region of Italy, Friuli-Venezia-Giuli (click here to see where it is according to a Google map). The center is about a two hour drive from Venice or from Trieste. It is only 1 1/2 hours from the border of Slovenia.

This is a kids class of ESL

This is a kids class of ESL (English as a second language). Maureen has some 70 kids coming to a number of classes, ages 6-11.

This is an advanced class of ESL. Jeannette and I actually got to attend this class. It's exciting to see how much these Italians not only want to learn English but are so ready and willing to share every aspect of their lives (boyfriend problems, future career issues, etc). Maureen and the other ESL teachers then seek to have times outside the class time to connect and hopefully share the Gospel, with the Spirit leading.

Please keep praying for us. Right now, our biggest prayer requests are:

1) Lee's health. Pray that we can get a good maintenance program for his Asthma

2) Clarity. We don't want to do anything but God's will. We are hopeful for the future but continue to desire God's wisdom and discernment in every step we take.

3) Financial support. There are two issues related to this. First, is that if and when we do transfer to our new ministry, our supporters will desire to keep supporting us. Second, is that we probably need to raise another $750 in monthly support or more. If God does desire us to go to Italy with S.E.E., it may be more not to mention that we will most likely have some serious settling in expenses.

Thank you for your prayers and love in the form of e-mails, phone calls, etc. We so appreciate that you are our friends and are for us, whatever the future may hold for us as a family.

Coram Deo (Literally, "Before the face of God"),
The Walti's


The Walti's and the Faught's, who will be leaving the field in Udine, Italy in December of this year to go to seminary at Southern in Kentucky and to give their family some time to grow up. They will be representing S.E.E. in the states. They are a sweet family (two little boys) and we know that they will be sorely missed by the rest of the team back in Italy.

Back in Orlando

What a blessing today to worship back in Orlando at our wonderful church, Metro Life! God is so good to give us such a great place of worship, with incredible times of praising Him, godly pastors, good biblical teaching and a culture of gracious people who love the Lord. Today, after our service, we had a cool thing happen. We went to a parents meeting for the younger youth (junior high or Jacob's age) and sat at a table for pizza and a time of hearing from our pastor (just to let you know, there were about 8 tables in the room). We found out that seated at our table was a couple who have been at our church for 2 years but we had never met before. One of the other couples at the table who knew us also knew we had just returned from Italy to check out a ministry and so they asked how our trip was. We started to answer the question including the fact that we had visited the city of Udine and the wife quickly piped up and asked, "Ken and Ruthann Wells?" We answered yes but asked how in the world did they know the Wells? Well, their names are Alan & Laurie Niblack. Laurie and Alan answered that they support the Wells ministry in Udine! What a blessing it was to talk to the Niblacks. They shared with us a number of neat things they knew about the Wells ministry and family and we were able to update them on some recent things that have been going on with the Wells, including that Ken Wells, while in Rome recently, was by God's grace able to lead a lady to the Lord with her fiancé probably soon to follow in her footsteps. God is so good. The Niblacks were so encouraging of us in our future decision about pursuing this opportunity, told us they would faithfully be in prayer for us and wanted us to keep their family updated. Amazing that in all the time we've been at the church (about the same amount of time as the Niblacks), we had never met and then the first Lord's Day after our return from Italy with the Wells, we meet a sweet couple that not only know the Wells but support their ministry! Pretty cool.

Please pray for the Wells family who have been serving the Lord in Udine for about 3 years. They are thankful to be there in Italy doing the work of the Lord, by God's grace. However, they do have needs. Though they didn't really say it and definitely did not ask us to tell others, they have need for additional monthly support for their family of eight. Please pray and consider supporting them. Their names are Ken (who I just found out turned 50 yesterday! Happy B-day Ken!), Ruthann, Hannah (21), Adam (19), Peter (16), Olivia (13), Jared (12) and Abigail (9). They have a very sweet family who are a great testimony to the goodness of God and to faithful parents who are raising their kids in the love and admonition of the Lord.

Also please pray for the people of Udine. Udine, Italy, in the northeast part of Italy, is virtually an unreached area. Unlike the south of Italy, it is untouched by much of the evangelical effort that has taken place there over the last several decades. In Sicily and other parts of southern Italy, it is much warmer and the people are much more open and relationship oriented. As a result, many evangelical missions have based their efforts in the south. As well, some of the more successful religious efforts in Italy have been the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons in that order. Thankfully, the Pentecostal church has had some inroads in the south of Italy but northern Italy is virtually unreached. Because it is colder both weather-wise as well as people-wise, Christian evangelicals tend to stay away. Of course, in the case of Italy, we've learned that missionaries have to fight the battle of convincing potential supporters that Italy is in fact an unreached people group that desperately needs the Gospel and not just a vacation destination. Regardless of what people in the USA may think, Italy does need the Lord! Here is some other interesting trivia we were able to find:

Municipal coat of arms
Country	Italy
Region	Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Province	Udine (UD)
Mayor	Sergio Cecotti
Elevation	113 m (371 ft)
Area	56 km² (22 sq mi)
Population (as of December 31, 2007)
- Total	97,880
- Density	1,748/km² (4,527/sq mi)
Time zone	CET, UTC+1
Coordinates	46°04′N, 13°14′E
Gentilic	Udinesi
Dialing code	0432
Postal code	33100
Frazioni	see list
Patron	Sts. Ermacoras and Fortunatus
- Day	July 12

Did you know that on July 24, 1930, a tornado cut an 80km long swath of damage through the Treviso-Udine area of northeastern Italy killing 22 or 23 people?

Did you know that Joe Napolitano who is apparently a successful TV director (JAG, X-Files) and assistant director in movies (Parenthood, The Fisher King, Throw Momma from the Train) lists Udine , Italy as his birthplace?

Please continue to keep us (the Walti Family) in your prayers. We appreciate it tons!

Trip to Udine and San Lorenzo, Italy

Well, we just returned from our trip to Udine (pronounced "Eew-di-nay") and San Lorenzo, Italy. It was an incredible time (more later). We have been looking at a few local ministries which are great ministries but it was clear to us that we were supposed to go to check out Saints Equipped to Evangelize's church plant in Udine (www.seeteams.com) and the bible institute located an hour away in San Lorenzo, IT (www.saintsbibleinstitute.org). For a cool YouTube video on the bible institute, see www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuEa55tkrxk

Jeannette and I decided that we probably need a blog to keep our friends up on what is happening with our family because things are happening so quickly. We've never had a blog before but here it goes. This January (2008), it became clear to us that we needed to move on from our ministry of 16 years with Campus Crusade for Christ because of a lack of alignment with the ministry. Ultimately, we were offered the opportunity to seek out other roles within CCC but after much prayer, we have decided to leave and seek God's will for our family's lives. CCC has been a great blessing and most wonderfully, our 13 1/2 years with FamilyLife were simply life-changing.

So, we think we are crazy. We are leaving a cush situation with pay, benefits, a month of vacation every year, travel all over the world, etc. to discover God's next step for our lives. Our greatest desire being to find a direct ministry situation where we can evangelize, disciple, train and equip Christians for ministry. Many believe they are called to secular ministry -- that is, ministry in a secular job setting, and we praise God for that calling. Some of us (we sometimes think we are crazy) believe we are called to a ministry job setting, where, by God's grace, the majority of time is spent evangelizing, discipling and enlarging the kingdom for God's glory. We know that it would be impossible to even attempt to reach a lost world with the Gospel if it were not for those who in a secular job setting partner with us, supporting our ministry not to mention missionaries all over the world.

How was the trip? Life-changing. We know that whether we go to Italy to minister as a family or not, we and our Christianity will never be the same. Our eyes were opened anew to a world of lost people who desperately need Jesus. It's been years since we were so moved to evangelize the lost. We know many are not like this but in our own lives, we see so much laziness, comfort and ease, complacency, materialism, and the Christianity we have been embracing is one that has forgotten those dying and going to hell. It was so eye-opening and renewing to experience a ministry like S.E.E that is absolutely committed to reaching the lost.

Just recently, contrary to most people's understanding, western Europe has been being added to the category of "unreached people groups" in evangelistic and missions ministries. They are now realizing that after decades of trying to reach the 10/40 window (Praise God but this is mostly India, East Asia, etc), Europe has been languishing. The church is mostly non-existent. In Italy, 32,000 towns and villages have no evangelical witness. 32,000 towns and villages. There are only 34,000 towns and villages. That's over 94% of the country that has no evangelical witness whatsoever...no church, no bible study, no Christian tracts, no Christian books, etc. The estimation is that less than 1/2 of 1% of Italy are evangelical Christians. Many think Italy is religious...but the Roman Catholic Church is just a ghost of its once powerful presence. Many churches are used for museums or for secular humanistic purposes (while in town, one church in Udine was holding an evolution presentation called "The Naked Monkey" -- see pic beginning this para).

The people of Udine and northern Italy are especially cold and hard to the Gospel. So it is a lonely and difficult place for the work to go forward. But that doesn't stop the church in Udine or the students from the bible center. The team there is committed and excited about the Lord and the power of His Word to change lives. There are about 30-35 in the Udine church with about half of these being Italians. The process is slow, requiring a relationship process of building a friendship before the Gospel can be shared...with about 3-4 people having come to the Lord in the last two years. The school gets about 20 or so students every semester with a goal of about 40 in the next few years. They learn missions, evangelism, church history, art, etc. with special emphasis on Italy, the early Church here. All the students we met were simply top notch. We were so impressed as well with the quality of the team in Udine...loving, self-sacrificial, devoted to the Lord and the Gospel and so welcoming of us.

What is the Walti family going to do? We have no idea. We are so totally dependent upon God. There are two other ministries in addition to S.E.E. that we've been looking at, one of which would be very comfortable for us (would mean us staying in Orlando). The other would involve going overseas and though they are a great ministry, we are not totally in agreement with their theology and the ministry is not established in places like Italy or western Europe (though they now have added it to their "unreached people groups" as well) and so going with them overseas could mean not having a team initially.

The work in Italy is not easy and would require a Christianity and a level of sacrifice that we know would absolutely require the grace of God to happen (Pic to the left is one of Ken Wells, pastor of the church in Udine. The Wells family has been in Udine serving faithfully now for 3 years...his heart reminds me of the Lord's when He said that the Shepherd left the many to reach the one...). We clearly do not have it within ourselves to go do a work like this. Everything in our flesh tells us to run and hide. It would require a self-sacrifice and denial that we greatly admire but are just not sure we are up to. So please pray for us. We greatly covet your prayers for our family in this time. We don't know what the future holds for us. However, we do know the God that holds the future in His hands!

Let us be unlike God's people who would not listen to the Lord...

"They refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of hosts. 'As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,' says the LORD of hosts, “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations..." (Zech 7:9-14)