We are continually encouraged by the ways the Lord is at work through the people of Grace Baptist Church (Chiesa Battista della Grazia) in Milan, and one such encouragement has been the faithful service of our musicians, who have continued to bless us week after week. I don’t personally listen to a lot of music, but I am so encouraged and helped by the accompanying music in our church, as well as by the dedication of those who practice throughout the week and put genuine effort into playing well for the glory of God. Praise the Lord for the talents He has given to those in our church and for their willingness to use those gifts to the edification of the body.
That same spirit of selfless service has also been evident in our church’s giving. Last year, instead of exchanging Christmas gifts, our church began taking up a Christmas offering, which was sent to a family in need in Sicily who attends a sister church there. This year, the offering was sent to one of our missionaries. In both cases, it was a great encouragement to see, during a season often marked by selfish desires and the materialism of commercialized Christmas, God’s people willingly sacrifice in order to give to others.
Even in more challenging circumstances, the Lord has continued to encourage us through faithful participation in the work. The weather has been the coldest we have experienced in Italy (–4°C). While that isn’t extremely cold, it does affect people and how we go soul winning. On one particularly cold and rainy day, we went into Milan and stood under a canopy at the entrance and exit of a train station, handing out tracts. While it was not an ideal setting for lengthy conversations, we were able to distribute more tracts than usual and stay protected from the rain. Once again, it was a real encouragement to see one of our church members join our family in the work despite the weather, and the Lord even allowed the sun to finally come out for a little bit.
Over the last several months, I have completed a project that has been in progress for about six years. Without going into all the details, I felt it was beneficial to have Diodati’s non-copyrighted Italian Bible text digitized, especially since there has been some request for it from a few missionaries, and the version currently available online does not accurately represent the Diodati text as it is used by some churches in Italy. I began this project in 2019, and little by little, here and there, it finally came to a conclusion toward the end of 2025. This text is now available in several formats and can be enlarged, for those who are have difficulty seeing on digital devices, or printed without concern for copyright restrictions. It is part of an answer to prayer requests we have previously made.
We ask for your prayers as we prepare for an upcoming weekend of preaching. In years past, we have generally celebrated our church anniversary at the beginning of February and invited a missionary or preacher already serving in Italy to join us for the weekend. This year, however, due to our experience with poor weather in February and the Olympics being held here in Milan, we have decided to postpone our anniversary until March. Lord willing, this will give us more time to promote our guest speaker and his family, and the event will not be overshadowed by the publicity and busyness surrounding the Olympics. Please also pray for our son William, who has now graduated and is working on developing material for teaching English to foreigners, as well as preparing to attend driving school and continuing to seek the Lord’s will for his life. Finally, we would appreciate prayer for our health, as this year’s cold has had a lingering effect.
Missionaries to the people of Italy,
Christopher, Amy, William, AnnMarie, and Charlotte Yetzer
