JUNE 2022
Dear prayer companions,
As we live in the City of Man seeking to abide in peace with all persons and love our neighbor, our hearts already dwell securely in the City of God being nourished by the daily bread coming down from heaven (Revelation 12:6, 14). We are grateful because God’s compassions are new every morning (Lamentations 3:21-23) and we contemplate his presence with us seeing his kingdom growing and bearing fruit in unexpected ways (Mark 4:26-29). We are very grateful for your prayers on our behalf and we pray that the grace and peace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may abound in your homes and churches.
Anniversaries
This year is especially important for our family. First of all, by God’s grace, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of both my ordination as Minister of Word & Sacraments and our wedding: Ebenezer!!! Cristina and I spent nine days in Sicily, where we lived our first ten years in marriage and where our two sons were born. We spent our time visiting the people and the places that meant so much to us. Our trip gave us the precious opportunity to reflect upon God’s faithfulness towards us and our family in the past. Also, this trip allowed us to consider the promise of God’s presence with us in the future, as –by grace– we are learning to concentrate on living the preciousness of the present moment one day at the time, following Christ.
Meeting with Rev. Richard Bout
At the end of May, I had the opportunity to meet with Rev. Richard Bout, the URCNA Missions Coordinator, in Rome. Rev. Bout was going back home after a trip to Eastern Europe and he was so thoughtful to invite Rev. Michael Brown and me for a couple of days of fellowship and prayer in Rome while waiting for his flight. We enjoyed a profitable time discussing about the progress of our work in Italy.
Communion of Presbyterian and Reformed Churches in Italy
Welcoming a proposal coming from the Consistory of the Chiesa Riformata Filadelfia of Milan, on June 12-13 the officers of four churches met in Perugia for a fraternal meeting to discuss the development and organization of the Communion of the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches in Italy. There were seven of us: Rev. M. Brown, Elder V. Calderaro, and M. Altobelli from Milan in Northern Italy; Rev. A. Ferrari and Elder A. Suraci from Perugia in Central Italy; Rev. M. Cuneo from Passignano sul Trasimeno in Central Italy; and Rev. V. Coluccia from Lecce in Southern Italy. We began on the Lord’s Day evening with a prayer meeting in which we sang God’s praises, meditated on God’s Word, and devoted time to corporate prayers. After a late dinner and a good (but too short!!!) night’s sleep, we met the following morning starting with a similar prayer meeting followed by a meeting in which we discussed for three hours and deliberated about some shared initiatives, in order to continue to build a solid foundation for the organization of a Presbyterian and Reformed denomination in the future. These two days were deeply encouraging: it was evident from the starting prayer meeting that the Spirit’s blessing was upon us. In the next few months, we will continue our labors on Zoom until we meet again in person in Milan at the beginning of December.
Please, pray with us for the following prayer requests:
pray for Cristina and me, that I may be a faithful Christian, husband, father, grandfather, church member, and minister;
pray for the blessing of God upon the efforts being made to form an Italian communion of churches, and especially for a true spiritual bond among our ministers and elders;
pray for the witness of our church in Perugia and in the whole region of Umbria.
On behalf of all the members of the Chiesa Riformata of Perugia, I express a felt sense of gratitude for your faithful prayers and generous support.
Those of Italy greet you (Hebrews 13:24)
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Pastor Andrea Ferrari