Lupos On The Go

August 24th, 2024

“The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.”

Psalms 37:23-24 NIV

The question was asked at a recent connect group:

“If you were never to understand anything that God does, would you still have joy?”

As we went around the circle and each gave our answers, the Lord brought to my mind everything that our family has been through in the last couple of years. To the human eye, our eyes, our big transitions the past two years didn’t seem to make a lot of sense. It was not our plan to leave Egypt at the time that we did and transition to another region of the world. It was also not our plan to go to Italy. Thankfully, we’re not living our lives according to “our plans.” 

It’s safe to say we don’t understand a lot of things that happen in our broken world, but knowing who Jesus is makes all the difference. We have joy because we know the maker of joy. Praise the Lord that we don’t have to know everything or understand why things happen because we understand who Jesus is! He is good, He is perfect, He is omnipotent, and He is victorious! His plans for us outshine anything that we ourselves can put our minds to.

We don’t need to understand in order to trust, so we will continue to step in obedience with Jesus.

His Continued Affirmation

You know that feeling of home; that feeling of belonging to a community of people, or a place? We had that feeling almost immediately after we landed in this country. It’s amazing how the Lord can affirm your steps with a simple feeling, a sense of peace that’s beyond understanding. 

Even though everything is so NEW, we feel like we’re HOME.

What We Have Been Up To

Getting settled in a new home 

We were so blessed that we had help finding a home in Rome before we even stepped foot here. We had an amazing realtor that lives here in Rome that actually graduated from the same college we graduated from!

It’s amazing how we’ve seen God orchestrating even the smallest details of our assignment.

We’ve made many fun memories already in this home, like eating pizza and pasta from pizza boxes on the floor before we had furniture or a kitchen to cook in😂 (pictures below). We are so thankful to now have a fully furnished and functioning home that has become our place of rest and family time. We are also excited about our ability to host in this home in the coming weeks!

Ministry 

We’re so excited to be a part of such an incredible, tight-knit, welcoming church community. Our transition has been made so smooth because of the kindness and willingness of our church family. We’ve been gracefully challenged and stretched in our familiar ministry areas and new areas of ministry. The Holy Spirit has empowered us to do things we didn’t know we could do. Although each transition comes with hardship, we have joy in knowing our steps are in tune with the Lord.

Stephen has been helping with the business side of church, as well as media, young adults, and men’s ministries. He is also preaching once a month! 

Kristi works in the admin office as the Lead Pastor’s assistant, as well as with the creative team, kids ministries, women’s ministries, and worship team. 

We are excited about this new season and all the new ways the Holy Spirit is going to stretch us and grow us in our knowledge, abilities and global reach.

All for His glory alone.

We have already seen many incredible testimonies since we’ve arrived, and we’re excited to be able to share those with you as we continue to see the Lord move in this city. Touching one, touching Italy, reaching nations.

Thank you for continuing to follow us on this journey and support us in prayer along the way. We have been beyond blessed by the part each of you play in this ministry.

We each have a part to play in the Great Commission and it’s amazing to see the willingness of our supporters to be obedient to this call. You are a blessing and we are praying for you as you are praying for us. Thank you.

Prayer Requests

1. Continued Prayer for our transition as we are still learning the ebbs and flows of ICF Rome.
2. Prayer for the last couple projects we are still trying to finish up around our new home.
3. Prayer for supernatural language learning – that we would be able to learn Italian as soon as possible.
4. Prayer for the fall as we have so many ministry events and opportunities to reach the people in our community & our church family.