APRIL 2020
Dear prayer companions,
In these sobering days we are experiencing in a special manner a sense of the fragility of our fallen humanity while pondering anew the amazing grace of being part of redeemed humanity. At times, I try to imagine what would it be like not to be united to Christ in faith, hope and love. We are grateful for having received a kingdom that cannot be shaken! Even though in our pilgrimage we are often afflicted in every way, we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but we are not driven to despair. It is therefore with a sense of our living hope that I share with you some news about the Chiesa Riformata di Perugia.
New website. We are thankful and thrilled for our new website www.chiesariformataperugia.it. We have been blessed by the sacrificial labors of two brothers: Kyle Lee of Christ Reformed Church, Washington DC and our own elder Andrea Suraci. These brothers spent hours to prepare this tool to expand the witness of our church, so we praise the Lord for the generosity and service of his people. Having watched both of them at work has been a blessing and a model to imitate their example.
Church life and the Coronavirus. As we pray for our sister churches in the USA, Canada and in other countries, we have reason to be thankful here in Italy as it seems that the epidemic is losing its grip on our nation. Even though the situation is still critical (especially in Northern Italy), both the number of new cases and of deaths are slowly but steadily decreasing. In our region of Umbria we still have only a little over 1,300 cases and as for today, just 54 deaths. On the other hand, the numbers of those who are being dismissed from hospitals is encouragingly increasing daily. We don’t know yet when we shall be able to gather for our public meetings and we continue to use Facebook on the Lord’s Days and Zoom during the week so that we may see each other, talk, meditate and pray together. The words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer come to mind:
We easily forget that the communion with Christian brothers is a gift of grace of God’s kingdom, a gift that can always be taken from us and that perhaps shortly we will find ourselves in deep solitude (Life Together, 17 of the Italian edition).
Hopefully, this time of trial will teach us to appreciate the fellowship of the people of God more deeply and to participate with renewed commitment to the life of the church, welcoming joyfully each other with all our strengths and our weaknesses.
Plans for the weeks and months ahead. Having had to change our plans for next summer, we now look forward to the hope to go gradually back to our “normal” ways of living, especially as a church. After Easter, some businesses were reopened and it seems that at the beginning of May – if things continue to improve – there will be a more extended resumption of work and activity. We don’t know yet anything about churches, even though schools won’t open until the beginning of the next academic year in September. Once we are able to reopen our church building to the public, it is our plan to start an extended open-air promotion to get people to know our new location and to invite them to our meetings. Considering that I’ve been in Perugia for only a year and a half, it must be said that at our former and more decentralized building thus far we have had an encouraging number of visitors. With the new church building, we shall be more evangelistically engaged, besides using social media.
Please, pray with us for the following prayer requests:
pray for the new website that it will serve as a an useful resource both for church members and to reach those from outside;
pray for a renewed appreciation of the communion of the saints;
pray for the decline of the coronavirus, for a return to gather as a church and for our evangelistic outreach;
we ask you to pray for our second son Daniele and my widowed mother Ivana who live in Milan.
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.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Pastor Andrea Ferrari