Amidst the Struggles, God Is Near

Dearest in the Lord,

We wanted to give you a brief update on our service in beautiful Italy.

1) From the family:

After the welcome visit of Jonathan and his family, Paola and I returned to our evangelistic service in our area, often accompanied by our daughter Elisabetta.  Since June, she has been off work as a special education teacher.
The intense heat is causing us some problems, but we’ve still managed to make new friends.

2) From the Church:

After the issue with the roof covering (which had been lifted by strong winds), we had to face problems within the church.
Some individuals—who had repeatedly lashed out at the other elder and me without actually finding any scandals of immorality or unbiblical doctrines—decided to leave the fellowship.  This caused a drop in membership numbers in both Borgofranco and Mirandola.

For a long time, those who left were infected by gossip and slander. Sadly, we were the very ones who had led almost all of them to Jesus!  You can imagine the deep sadness Paola and I felt—and still feel.

Amidst this spiritual storm, the bright spot was that the other elder and I remained united.  Furthermore, God encouraged us through the support of other pastors who knew us well.  In addition, the Lord brought various people across our path whom we were able to evangelize.  We do not want to give in to opposition and suffering; instead, we want to continue proclaiming the Word for as long as God allows.

We believe all these struggles are signs of the spiritual deterioration that heralds the imminent return of Jesus.  We encourage you to support us in prayer. We are praying for you, too.  May God continue to bless and sustain us. Thank you for regarding us as servants of God.

A big hug in Jesus!

Mirco and Paolo