The last couple months have been busy, to say the least. Once we wrapped up 2016’s events and activities, we immediately started preparing for our church anniversary, which we always celebrate on the first Sunday of February. This year we had a missionary from Sicily preach for us. He and his family came up from down south and spent several days with us. For the first time, we decided to have an English service on Saturday evening with a lot of singing, followed by preaching. We have had several people come to our church who don’t speak Italian, and I had been translating all the services into English for them, so we thought it would be beneficial to have an extra service and promote for more English speakers. Another missionary family came from just over an hour away, and we had a wonderful time. Each family sang some special songs, and we all sang English hymns for almost an hour. There is nothing quite like expressing yourself to God from your heart language. The weather didn’t cooperate, and the whole weekend it rained, which hindered in several ways; but in the end, our anniversary was a good time for our church family to bind together more.
Recently I was reading a prayer letter from the Maulucci family in Bulgaria, and something reckoned very true. I repeat it here with his permission: “When one trusts Christ as his personal Savior in Italy, he is not simply making a conscientious choice to trust Christ. He simultaneously rejects, on some level, his patriotism, his ethnicity, his family, and his history.” Although living in Italy we experience firsthand the rejection of the Gospel, sometimes I forget that it is not like this everywhere in the world. While out soul winning this last weekend, an elderly Italian lady told me that we needed to consume Christ’s body and blood in order to be saved. On the contrary, two African refugees recently called on Christ for salvation. Please pray that our witness would be received and that people would choose a relationship with God over everything else.
After the busy beginning of the year, we welcomed my mother-in-law for a visit and awaited the birth of our third child. As the due date passed and the appointments added up, eventually Charlotte was born on March 11, 2017. Amy and Charlotte are both doing well. William and AnnMarie have been showering their little sister with a lot of love. It is allergy season again for me, but overall we are doing well. Please pray for the continued health and strength of my wife and Charlotte.
Missionaries to the people of Italy,
Christopher, Amy, William, AnnMarie, & Charlotte Yetzer
