Summer trip to Italy part 2

Baptisms in Sicily

After spending time in Perugia we went ahead to visit the city of Siena while we were on our way to visit my sister. Siena is a beautiful city, my favorite I would say. Both Perugia and Siena are cities full of history.

The rest of our time in Italy was spent with my family. We enjoyed celebrating my parents' 40th anniversary, spent time with grandma and really just hung out with family.

I lived my whole life in the same town before I met Josh and so going back to my hometown, Manfredonia, brings back many memories; school, friends, family, things that I did as a child.

 I loved Sundays at church. The church in Viale Michelangelo (my home church) will always have a great part in my life. They raised me spiritually, they encouraged me and taught me the basics of being a believer. Leaving is never easy, but we did that too! 

Our last week in Italy was spent in Sicily visiting the church of Acireale. This was probably the highlight of our trip. 

We were blessed to spend time with some friends from our time and ministry there. By God's grace these friends which were going through a difficult time last year, ended up giving their lives to the Lord and wanted to be baptized while Josh was there to visit. So he had the blessing of baptizing them. It was very kind of God to allow us to see their salvation and to be able to be part in their baptism. It was also very kind of Marco (the church elder) to let Josh perform the baptism. I put a video on top. I don't know if it plays well, hopefully it will. You can also see Mount Etna smoking in the background :) 

It was such a blessing to see how God transformed the lives of our friends Sebastiano and Vanessa. We left them as friends and found them as brother and sister in Christ.

Hannah and Benedetta also had a great time because Sebastiano and Vanessa's kids used to be Benedetta and Hannah's best friends. Again, it was so good to reconnect with friends and our church family in Sicily. 

We truly had an amazing summer! God was very gracious to us. We are thankful for the ministry opportunities He gave us and for the blessing to see family and reconnect with them.

Us with Vanessa and Sebastiano 

Acitrezza

Smoky Etna

Italy 2017

Seeing family after 2 years (3 for Josh)

 

A

   We have been in Italy for a little over two weeks now. We have all enjoyed our time here. Ruhamah our youngest has enjoyed some time with grandparents that she had not seen for the past two years. She loves hugs, playing with her cousins, had a difficult time speaking Italian but she is more comfortable now. Grandpa gave her 5 euros and not being used to getting money just like that she gave it back. We had to explain to her that that is what Italian grandparents do, they give you presents just because they love you. 

Hannah and Benedetta have enjoyed time with family as well, I think they like the market, pizza and gelato. Hannah is our Italian food lover :)

4 of my favorite highlights so far have been:

1. Going to the beach!!

2. Going to Vasto on a full family vacation with all of my Italian family

3. Having my mom cook for me some of my favorite foods...seafood that is (Josh had to revert to pizza as his passion is pretty much anything but seafood!)

4.  Visiting missionary friends in Perugia.

     From a ministry prospective Josh has been blessed by the opportunity to preach in my church. This was the first Sunday we were here and he was asked to preach the day before!!! He did a good job, his Italian is not what it was but he got his points across and many came afterwords thanking him for the message.

    We were also able to visit a missionary friend in Vasto. As I mentioned earlier, my parents brought us on a family vacation and since we were near Vasto we decided to check out the local church there. Josh had actually led an evangelistic team in the town with that church 13 years before, so it was neat to reconnect with them. In the evening we took a tour of the city with another missionary working with New Tribes.

    Both Sundays my dad was able to come to church. The first Sunday he came to hear Josh, and the second Sunday he was so kind to drive so that the rest of my family could go the church. Giovanni Greco (the pastor of the church) had a wonderful message on heaven from Revelation 21. We keep praying that God will open his eyes and his heart.

     This weekend we were in Perugia. We were visiting another missionary friend and Josh also had the opportunity to preach here on Sunday as well. We arrived Friday and took a tour of the city, a wonderful city with amazing history (the first settlers made Perugia their home during the time when Saul was the first king in Israel!). I know a few seminary guys who would love to walk around the city while learning about how Pope Paul III (the pope who called the Council of Trent into session) sent his army to quell the Perugians who were refusing to pay the salt tax). We were also blessed with the opportunity to be able to speak at a young couples and singles meeting. We got shared our testimonies and they asked questions. 

As I was pondering on our past and how we spent our lives, I remembered a song that I loved growing up. The song said: “I miei anni piu' belli voglio spender per te, per te mio Signore che moristi per me,” which translated means, “my best years I want to spend for you, for you my Lord who died for me.” We can spend our lives however we want but what better way to use it than serving the Lord who saved us. Sometimes we find many excuses so that we don't serve within the body of Christ. Often what happens is that when we are young we want to enjoy life and we use excuses for not serving, then we get married and we have kids so we hear people saying that they can’t serve the church because they don’t have time. The reality is that in our youth, we have more energy and we can do much more for the Lord....and we should. We should spend the most beautiful years of our life for the Lord, not that when we get old we can't serve anymore or those are the ugly years but I am glad that I can look back and be pleased with how we spent our lives and how nice it is to not have regrets. 

Live for the Lord always. And pray for us as we travel that the Lord may show us what his next step for our life is.

In Him,

The Daugereaus 

Struggles go on in everyone's life and you can close yourself in a dark room and cry or still live and find joy in the little things.

It all started about 6 years ago, Josh started having red spots on his face, the doctor told him he had just a bad sunburn. Time went by but the redness remained. We came to the States and for the longest time he wasn't able to see a dermatologist to figure out his skin problem.

The past couple of weeks have been crazy between doctor appointments and visits. The doctor has tried to figure out if it was skin cancer, or an autoimmune disease called Lupus. So this past few weeks have been tense between the biopsy and blood tests and waiting...lots of waiting. In a way I was thinking, what would I be doing during our anniversary this week? Celebrate the fact that we arrived at 15 years together, or being sad knowing that we wouldn't have many more? 

The worse part was the wait, waiting for the biopsy report and then once we got that one now we had to wait for the blood report and hope that what the doctor had found wasn't the worse.

I am so thankful for a great God that once again has showed us mercy. Today we celebrate 15 years together and yesterday evening we both read the email from the doctor with our hearts on the edge.

Josh does have Lupus of the skin but it is not internal, it is not the general Lupus, the life threatening one.

You know, because 15 is a big number I wanted to celebrate by going somewhere together, in all honesty I wanted to go to Disneyland. I know it's for kids, but there is nothing more magical that Disneyland and princesses and the castle and walking around as if you were in a fairy tale...after all this is our fairy tale! But I am just glad that we have a good news, I am glad that I don't have to think about how to spend the next few years together and how to raise kids by myself. I am glad that I get to keep my best friend, lover, and supporter for a bit longer.

Life goes by fast, and I am just so glad I get to spend it with you Joshua. I hope that we have many more years together and that we get to see each other with white hair and help each other when our bodies wont be strong anymore.

You are an amazing man, I love the way you love God and others beyond the way they act and hurt you sometimes. 

I love how good you are with our kids, you play even when you are tired and you show them what a loving father is, reflecting our Good Heavenly Father. 

I love your sacrificial love, you are a great husband and I always pray that people might see God's love by the way you love me.

I love you so much!

"And the gladness still keeps running down:

One of those endless fountains

That flows for two people who love like this.

And, my, doesn't always taste right!

like a hundred-proof patience and gentleness and strength.

There is no better flavor than your love.

But then of course I shouldn't doubt the Lord's good taste."

~ J. Piper

"My beloved is mine and I am his"

Song of Solomon 2:16

A seminary life

I was reminded by facebook that 6 years ago I was in the States visiting the Master's Seminary.
6 years ago, I was 7 months pregnant with my youngest baby and because of an American Visa requirement, I had to come to the States. I came with my sister while my husband stayed in Italy with my kids so that they could continue school. It was my sister's first time in America and we stayed with my dear friend Katie. She was so kind, she took care of us and even drove me from San Diego to Grace Community Church (2 hours away) so that I could take a look at the Seminary.
I have to say, I will always remember the looks on our faces when we finally found the church. Let's say that it wasn't in a neighborhood that we expected. The other thing was that I had only been in Washington State before and landscape here in Southern California is a little different.

At the Master's Seminary

That day I met Ray Mehringer and Christine Dixon, and I was on Grace Church's campus for the very first time. Seminary classes weren't in session on that day, but we walked around campus and that was my first impact with what would come to change our lives forever.

On the way back from that trip I fell on the escalator in the airport in Rome and I started having contractions. I knew if I had told the plane crew that I was having contractions they would have probably not allowed me to board the next plane to Catania, Sicily. It had been a long trip and I really wanted to go home to my family.
I cried and prayed that I would make it home, after all, it was only a one hour plane ride. I really didn't want to end up in Rome in a hospital away from my family and all alone.
Josh was waiting for me at the Catania airport with a change of clothes, ready to bring me to the ER. Thankfully I made it to Catania, the baby was fine, I ended up spending many weeks on bed rest.

But that was my first TMS (The Master's Seminary) encounter. Now I have been here in the States for almost five years. Josh has graduated with his M.Div (Master's of Divinity) and is now working on his Th.M (Master's of Theology).

Me and Katie near the fountain at Grace Church

Being in Seminary has been definitely a growing experience.
What Have I learned in Seminary?
If I can summarize in one sentence I would say that God is Sovereign and He moves things for the good of those who love Him. I have learned (and am continuing to learn) to trust Him when there are challenging times from a financial perspective, I have learned to trust Him in ministry opportunities and to trust Him for our future (I mean, I am not perfect in those areas, in fact it's a process and God is continually working in me). Romans 8:28 became not just a likable verse, but an actual reality.

He has open doors and opportunities and closed others. For example, our kids have always wanted a minivan when we were in Italy, they prayed and prayed, but nothing, until we came to the US. Even here in the States people told us that we wouldn't be able to afford a minivan with our budget, but God instead saw fit to answer our kids's prayer. We had always wanted to send our kids to a Christian school, but for several years the Lord didn't allow it until his timing was right and now my kids are attending a great Christian school.
These are just a couple of practical and almost silly examples of God's goodness towards us.

We have had our difficult moments too, many difficult moments, but He has always taken care of us and provided all that we needed. He has helped me accept the new life style that seminary imposed on our family of five.
When I sit here and wonder about our future after seminary, trying to answer the same question (that people ask all the time): "what's next?" I can only go to Jeremiah 29:11
" For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to give you a hope and a future."
I know this verse wasn't meant for me, it's for Israel during their deportation days, in a time when they needed to learn their lesson. They were in time-out so to speak but God still had amazing things planned for His people. The same it's for us, He has amazing things stored for our life. He has plans and they are always good plans because are designed to bring Him glory with our life.

News of Great Joy

Today my heart is elated. Two days ago a friend sent a picture of a lady giving her testimony in the church plant we were involved before coming to the States. This lady happens to be our dear friend. We spent many days and hours talking about the Gospel while we were there, 7 years ago, but nothing happened.

As I am going through the book of Acts and learning from Paul, his calling, his missionary journeys, his sufferings in ministry, I am reminded that God is faithful and His Word sewn in peoples heart will produce fruit at the right time and according to His will.

I love looking at Paul's life, he leaves his sending church and as he travels speaking to the Jews about Christ and speaking to the Gentiles, he finds himself in many difficult situations, in riots, verbal and physical attacks, and when he finally goes back to Antioch to give a report he finds out that there has been established a "rule" for the Gentiles; they needed to be circumcised to be saved. 

So Paul has to sit down with them and discuss the question with the church of Antioch showing them what God was doing among the Gentiles and showing them that there was no need for circumcision in order to be saved.  As Paul is happy of the results of the "debate" and turns around to inform the churches he had planted of this good news, he finds out another piece of sad news; this heresy had already spread to the new churches.

Ministry is challenging and full of difficulties, we have seen it and we have been through it, sometimes you move a step forward and two backwards. But I will rejoice in knowing that God has perfect plans and sometimes in His plans we must endure difficulties in order to grow and mature in our faith and spiritual walk. 

Leaving Sicily was so heartbreaking because we knew our work wasn't done and yet we knew God wanted us here in the States. We have seen the church go through all kinds of struggles and we have seen the blessings from afar. 

For all of those that have supported us during these years I just wanted to let you know that we feel blessed to be able to be ambassadors for Christ, following in Paul's footsteps and fulfilling the Great Commission. We feel blessed to be able to see people who heard the Gospel and are finally coming to Christ, even if He took almost 7 years to bring them to His side. We truly rejoice with the angels and wanted you to rejoice with us. Embracing Christ is so difficult in Italy that it feels even more special a person commits their life to Christ.

 We will be in Italy this summer and visit the church and hopefully see our friend and now sister-in- Christ being baptized.  

Praise the Lord with us because He has done great things and He has not yet finished His work. 

What an amazing God we have.