JUNE 2020
Dear prayer companions,
As I write to you, I realize that another month has gone so quickly! However, we do not lose heart. Even though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self his being renewed day by day. We are thankful because our light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. It is always comforting to write to you thinking about your faithful prayers and many expressions of tangible concern for the saints of the small Chiesa Riformata di Perugia. We are grateful to God for having brought all of you in our lives!
Second anniversary in Perugia. This month marked for Cristina and me the second anniversary since we arrived in Perugia in June 2018. Despite my weak faith and tendency to look at the glass half-empty – we have so many reasons to be thankful and encouraged! As far as I am concerned, it has been a joy for me - as shepherd of the flock - to know the people and their families better. Their cordiality and warm welcome we received have made the change we faced pleasant and a reason for gratitude to God. Although we have had to leave many people dear to us in Milan, we have found other people equally dear here in Perugia. In particular, as a pastor, I greatly appreciated the flock who have shared their difficulties and problems with me and asked for advice and help in prayer.
Church life. As we are slowly going back to normal after the COVID-19 crisis, I resumed my expository preaching on John’s gospel. I am excited to dedicate myself to preaching the Word of God as I discover anew every week that the Bible is truly "the book of books"! In our brutalized world, we need to know true beauty. In his "Diary of a writer", Dostoevsky writes: "There is nothing that is more beautiful, deeper, more sympathetic, more reasonable, more virile and more perfect than Christ, and not only does it not exist, but it cannot even exist". How true! In conjunction with these observations concerning preaching, I note also that we have been encouraged in this past month by the number of visitors who are relatives of some of our church members. In particular, I ask you to remember in your prayers two people in their mid-seventies: Luciano and Carla.
Prospective new members. We are also looking forward to receiving soon some new people in the fellowship of the church. First of all, Rev. Mike Cuneo and his wife, Ivana. Pastor Cuneo is a PCA missionary/pastor who worked in Italy for 15 years and I’ve known him since he first arrived in Italy (I notice in passing that Rev. Cuneo served for about one year a URCNA congregation in Canada after Seminary). Mike and Ivana will join our church looking forward, in the next two or three years, Lord willing, to start a new church plant in another location of the Perugia area as there are plenty of opportunities. Also, please pray for Sara Bolletta and her two sons, Emanuele and Marco. Sara and I are working our way through the Three Forms of Unity as she seeks to become a Christian and profess her faith in the next two or three months. Sara has been attending church for more than a year now, driving quite a bit to be with us on the Lord’s Days. Her constancy has been a great encouragement to us. Moreover, our first son, Simone, and his new fiancée, Alison Marshall, plan to move to Perugia and form a family here and will become members of our church. So, God willing, in the next few months we’ll see an increase in our membership that for us is quite substantial!
Please, pray with us for the following prayer requests:
pray for me that I may be found faithful in the ordinary things pertaining to my vocation as husband, father, and minister of the gospel;
pray that the Lord may bless the preaching of the gospel and our witness of our members to their relatives and friends;
pray for a deepening of the Christian bond of love in our congregation and the growth of a spirit of service in our midst;
pray for the prospective new members and that our church may become a burning and shining light in the 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.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Pastor Andrea Ferrari