September Update

We know, we know. We created this blog to provide more frequent snippets of the happenings in our lives and ministries here in Treviso. And while we have been giving updates, they have not been very frequent. So be gracious and please have a quick look at our brief recap (a real challenge for my meticulously detailed mind that wants to tell you everything!) of our most recent and most significantly encouraging events the Lord has been working through. Truly, God is doing great things in our midst!

Nino, Perside, Ruth, Esther and Sharon Converso

Ordination of Nino Converso, September 18

We are so excited to share with you the news of our first, soon-to-be ordained elder at CC Treviso. Nino and his family are Italian and have been with us for six years now. This is a very special occasion indeed when a local is raised up. 

Please pray for Nino as we simply acknowledge publicly what the Lord has already made clear for Nino’s life and ministry. Pray also for his family’s health. He has had kidney trouble lately while his wife, Perside, continues to live with severe arthritis and a pending hip replacement. 

CC Treviso Annual Retreat, September 9-11

Please pray for our team and those attending our annual retreat at the Calvary Chapel Conference Center in Millstatt, Austria. Pastor Jim Stewart and his wife Margie from CC Padova will be ministering the Word and serving the children’s group. Pastor Robin Turner from CC Spitall, Austria, who also is directer of the Castle, will be teaching for one of the main sessions on Saturday. We look forward to a blessed and refreshing time together. 

Frank and Renata. Pizzeria Da Pino in Centro Storico

Sunday Service with Pastor Frank Ippolito and other Special guests

We had the distinct pleasure of hosting Pastor Frank from CC Vineland, NJ for our Sunday service on August 14. Though many were still away for summer vacation as is typical in Italy this time of year, the Lord brought whom he wanted, and one family in particular was the highlight of our day. Pray for Andrea, Marta and their son Riccardo, friends from our children’s school. 

At a run-in encounter at the local park recently, I had the chance to talk with Andrea about Jesus and our life as Christians. They showed up the very next Sunday for service and afterwards commented repeatedly how touched they were by the message and music. 

Wow, what an encouragement this and various other similar occasions have been! Pray for Andrea, Marta and Riccardo with us! By the way, Luka and Riccardo are friends.

Foto taken by Frank Ippolito at the pulpit Sunday morning

A Season of Fresh Fruit

What is usually a discouraging lull in the Summer months has actually turned out to be the most encouraging season we can recall in all the years of our ministry here. Although most of our regular families and several individuals are absent during the summer months, as the picture to the left will show, God has been stirring the hearts of various unsaved local people and bringing them into our doors to hear the Scriptures and message of Salvation by Grace. 

On this particular Sunday service in the picture to the left, we realized we had 7 unbelievers happily listening to the Word of God.

What is more, these precious people keep coming back with hungry hearts for more Truth! Pray for commitments to Jesus in the lives of Valter, Veronica, Franco, Sabrina, Rosanna, Debora (and Andrea and Marta mentioned above).

That’s all folks! There’s actually a lot more but I’ve omitted it because space and time will not allow for it. My penalty for letting too much good stuff pile up between updates :)

Thank you for reading, a double thank you for praying, and may the Lord bless you greatly!

We love you,

Mark and family

Update - June 17

Renata and Keely on the road to the bungalows

Beware of covetousness, but we have been greatly blessed with two wonderful weeks of ministry. First in Tuscany for the CCs of Italy retreat, June 1-4 with Pastor Ken Ortiz.

The sessions were packed with down-to-earth, practical teaching for married life. But even singles came away so blessed, as God's truth is universal and applicable to all.

Shockingly, during the last session Keely's son Kyler (age 10) fractured two vertebrae in a freak accident. What was a peaceful time quickly turned into a chaotic rush to the hospital where the family had to remain for three days until he was released to Treviso.

The doctor wanted to transport Kyler home by ambulance to keep his posture in the right position. Thankfully, that didn't need to happen and the long story is coming to an end. Their joy from the weekend of blessings has not been robbed though, and Kyler is healing up quickly. We'll be visiting him tomorrow, please do continue to pray for his recovery and grace for the family as they adjust.

Sweet time of worship Sunday morning - led by Alex and the team.

Just after coming back from Tuscany, it was crunch time to gear up for the second retreat. This one was with the saints from Calvary Chapel in Spittal, Klagenfurt, Vienna and Salzburg, June 10-13.

One special dynamic is how the weekend started off planned to be a CC Spittal retreat only, but then slowly expanded into the first-ever, Austria-wide CC conference. Something they've been praying for but has never happened until now, and without actually planning it.

We're thankful for the privilege to be there for this special time. God is cooking in Austria and I get the impression we're only seeing the beginning of what is to come!

Renata and friend Laura - part of the castle team with husband Alex.

I taught through the book of Ephesians and personally both Renata and I came away enriched from our time in fellowship with the saints. So thank you Robin, Alison, Castle staff and all those who attended. You made the weekend special.


We returned home to the local battlefield of Treviso on Monday night. Matea was sick the next day with a high fever but we're all healthy again for the moment :)

Kids show at the preschool followed by parental involvement!

In between the retreats we had meetings for Luka's school where he begins 1st grade next year, and an end-of-year party for all the kids in the current preschool.

After the children did their show, we parents were asked to get involved. Initially the announcement seemed we would have to dance with choreography like the kids did, and I was determined I would not be part of that!

But then we realized we just needed to go into the class rooms and join the children in making the arts and crafts that will be put on display for the school. Once I saw a glue gun, I was a happy participant.

The teachers would not let me leave until I painted it!

Luka and I built an airplane with a plastic bottle, a cork, and a few clothes pins. Just when I thought I was done, the teacher told me I had to paint it. I actually got into it and almost fought with another child over the color I needed to use :) Only joking.

But it's not over! We've got another school dinner to attend this Saturday evening. Can you guess what's on the menu? That's right, Pizza!

This season is full of wonderful opportunities to share a meal and the gospel with others who are not from the body of Christ, so please pray.

We have come to really appreciate the importance and value God places on such activities wherein we can be salt and light in the simple day-to-day life. So often we relegate ministry to inside the church walls or preaching on street corners. Yet the greatest harvests are quietly reaped through the precious individual relationships that God brings our way behind the scenes.

Mom with her gifted artists :)

**We ask you to please pray for Renata's father who will have surgery this Monday to have a pace maker installed. He has had heart trouble on and off for some years but with the latest tests done on him, it was discovered that his heart was stopping during his sleep for up to 4 seconds, and then it would beat irregularly and repeat.

Quick update/prayer requests!

Just a quick one folks.

Pray for Febo, a young man (age 15) who is taking bass guitar lessons with me. We had a wonderful talk about the Lord today, and he's got a very soft and open heart to the things of God. He really is interested in our church and may come with me to our men's meeting on Saturday, May 28, if he doesn't come before that on a Sunday. Praise God for the great and many open doors into the precious lives of the Veneto people!

We're prayerfully going to host a concert outreach in June. This could be yet another great event for reaching out to others in the area. Details to come on that!

Last, but not lest, a reminder that tomorrow evening (Wednesday the 18th) is our pizza dinner with the gang from our English Club outreach. Please pray for our time together. We want to reconnect and reinforce the friendships that began many weeks ago, and to continue to shine the love of the Lord on all who come. We expect to be about 20 or more.

Bless you, and thanks for reading and praying!

Mark

May Events

Matea wanted a strawberry so Luka delivered some face art, with permanent markers

Somehow we seem to have jumped from March strait to May. April was a blur!

May has filled up too, with some exciting things to pray for.

This Sunday, May 8 will be a special time for us. First, we have the blessing of pastor Craig Quam joining us from CC Montebelluna. Following our service is an "agape" pot luck lunch for everyone to share a meal together. Then at 4:00 PM the children from our Sunday school will be presenting a show for us all.

Wednesday, May 18 we will be going out with the whole gang from our English Club, teachers and students, for a pizza dinner. We look forward to following up with these beautiful people and getting the chance to make Christ known once again!

Sunday, May 22 we have a church picnic after service that will then lead into a community outreach in the park. We have various games and activities prepared for children in the form of a mini-carnival. Candy awards will be given out, and we look forward to meeting and sharing with the parents.

Sunday, May 29 I have the privilege of dedicating little Milena, the beautiful baby girl born to our dear Helen and Emiliano.

Please pray for these up coming events. Also, we've been really stretched these days personally and in the church. While God continues to bring new hearts into our lives and out to our services, other issues are arising from within the fellowship. In addition, on a personal level, we've been getting hit with various attacks and things that we believe are intended to discourage and distract us. We confess that we NEED your prayers, so please pray! God is good!

Bless you!
Mark

March Madness

Just a quick update and a few things to pray for.

We leave for the castle in Austria today. I've been asked to come share with the discipleship group over the next few days. We look forward to the fellowship of the saints there and some time away with Renata and the kids. Especially after 3 months of non-stop sicknesses in the house. Please pray for our travels and for my words to be from the Lord's heart to ours.

Services in the new space have been a real blessing. One of the most important but missing elements to ministry in our old building was the opportunity for fellowship after services. But here, the congregation just flows into the fellowship hall and starts enjoying koinonia! This brings me great joy and I pray that it flourishes into stronger, healthier relationships centered on Jesus.

The English Club has been going wonderfully on Wednesday evenings. The penultimate meeting we had about 30 attendees with great conversations about the Lord afterwards. But the real treat is what we're starting to see beyond the Wednesday; the start of new friendships between believers and non-believers which lead to greater opportunities in a natural and simple way.

A few days ago we responded to an invitation to dinner at Emanuela's house. She wanted all the teachers from The English Club to join her family and a friend for homemade pizza. What an amazing evening we had talking about the Lord. Please pray for her, her friend Daniela, her partner Adolfo and their children Andrea, Mattia and Marco.

Last Saturday Pastor Jim Stewart from the CC Padova church plant came to share with our men's group. A great time in the Word! Not to mention an awesome breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, fresh toast and fresh Italian pastries! We burned off those 2,000 calories playing ping pong! Great time. Pray other men will catch the bug and join our small group.

**Prayer!

This morning we found out that our little nephew Kaleb, the son of Renata's brother, is in the hospital. He is being tested after a few strange symptoms, such as a high fever, tremors, and one hand turning blue. So far he's tested positive to a bacterial infection but more tests are being done to identify what the infection is from.

Just after hearing about Kaleb, we received a call from Helen about 30 minutes ago. She had given birth on Saturday to a beautiful little girl named Milena and we're thankful for a smooth and safe delivery. But please pray for Milena. She is already quite small and underweight and now is in the neonatal intensive care unit because she is not keeping down her feedings.

Love and blessings to you!
Mark

New Building, New Challenges, Same Faithful Lord!

Main entrance and reception area

Much has been happening here in Treviso to keep us on our toes. We've got news on the church, family and more, so I'll be brief to bring you up to speed quickly. Please pray as you are led in these following areas:

Church
Our day has come for the church to move into the much-prayed-for building. One that is better suited for ministry. It is a rather unique scenario in that we will not be holding a contract but instead renting the space in a pay-by-use type of deal. This enables us to have double the square meters in an environment that really is much more conducive to ministry.

The place is beautiful and in a great location with plenty of parking. Before we start meeting there we need to put up a couple of dividing walls to close off a few rooms and run some wiring. Lord willing, this wont be more than two weeks from now. We'll keep you posted. The picture up top is at the entrance/reception area of the space. The following picture is a semi-side view from the middle of the main seating room. More pics will be put up later as work progresses.

Home
On the home-front, we're battling sicknesses. Matea is finishing up her antibiotics and hopefully will return to school on Monday after her second round with bronchitis. Luka had it too but got over it much more quickly. Now daddy is sick and mommy must stay healthy to care for everyone else :-)

Living in Italy means we need to teach our children our mother-tongues of English and Serbian. Even though they both are able to speak our native languages, they need to learn reading and writing. Pray for them, and for us in this area. Luka has begun lessons with a sister from the church in exchange for me giving guitar lessons to her son. I am also teaching Luka classical guitar, and he's doing amazingly well. Here's a little video from our lesson where he is covering half and whole notes, and counting through a measure while doing an i-m exchange in his right hand (you classical guitar players understand). Enjoy!

Family
Just got sad news today that my (Mark) parents are not well, especially my father who is now in the hospital with pneumonia and injuries from a fall yesterday. He was found on the floor of his bedroom incoherent and unable to get up from a contorted position that may have caused a break in the leg. Xrays will be done to determine what happened on the inside. Please pray for both my mom and dad, age is definitely showing. It's hard watching it from such a distance....

Christmas/New Year's Update

Bob, Renata and Lorenzo leading worship

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve service. With visitors from Padova and Montebelluna added to the mix we were quite full and that was a nice surprise.The worship was sweet and God spoke through His Word as He is always faithful to do!

Our text for the service was John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth"

Following are a couple more pics from the service. Click to enlarge them.

Edney translated for Mark

Saturday we had a great day with friends over for lunch and through out the day. Renata and I cooked (I handled the meats, sauces and sides and Renata made two killer dips, artichoke and crab in addition to the array of cookies and pies!) while our guests brought other delectables. I wont tell you all the trimmings lest you become overly jealous and stop praying for us =) I confess we ate entirely too much but loved the full day of fellowship with great company. Thankful for a sweet Christmas even though we're so distant from our families in the USA and Serbia.

Delightful cookies made with the kids' help. Renata was BUSY!

Spider-Luka and Matea on their new scooters

One of our favorite times of year is the break between Christmas and New Year. The kids have off from school, I have a big decrease in my work teaching English, and I'm off from teaching at the Bible College. Not to mention I am BETWEEN seminary courses at the moment, so the family time together has been truly awesome. We have had a little extra opportunity to slow down, cuddle and play with the kids. We're so thankful for these two sweet little faces that bring us immense joy.

Other than that, we're trying to catch up on repairing our home, rearranging furniture, correspondence with you all and a few visits with church friends. I (Mark) am even getting a chance to play some classical guitar. What a treat!

Well, we'll stop it here. More updates soon to come. Stay tuned and have a blessed New Year!