NOVEMBER 2019
Dear prayer companions,
In his “sacred prayers” from the book of Psalms, paraphrasing Psalm 2, Italian theologian Peter Martyr Vermigli beseech God as follows:
O God, convert the kings of the earth to yourself so that they may understand and acknowledge and embrace and kiss your Son. Make them realize your anger, and may they at last be filled with terror by the fury of your wrath!
We ask you to join us in making that petition ever present before the throne of grace so that the Gospel might be preached, believed, and lived in Europe and especially in our beloved Italy!
Gratefulness. Speaking of intercessory prayer, I recently felt humbled and much encouraged receiving an email by a member of one of our sister church telling me about a visit to different URC churches. The letter ended with these words: “Praying for you brother. I was glad to be present at 3 different URC’s who are all praying for you during pastoral prayer”. I said to myself: “Wow!!! What a manifestation of God’s kindness toward me, undeserving sinner!!!”. In addition to that, another great encouragement I received is the closeness of a number of fellow URC ministers. I am grateful for all those who took time to write or to have a video-conference to speak and to pray with me. That has been one of the greatest blessings since Cristina and I moved to Perugia. Even a few lines written down have been highly significant for us. I am grateful for the communion of the saints.
Visitors and small increase in membership. With two professions of faith in the last few months and the baptism of little Vittoria Suraci on November 24th, our membership increased a little: we are now 18 people. We also had a number of visitors (especially during the summer) and a few of them keep on coming back. Carla – a lady who is in her late sixties coming from nominal Roman Catholicism – has been attending quite regularly since last Good Friday in April. Sara and her two sons Emanuele (8 years old) and Marco (6 years old) began recently to attend our services even though they drive 45 minutes to get to our place. Anna – a lady from Eastern Europe asked to make a profession of faith. Alison Marshall is a Presbyterian from a Scottish “kirk” in Australia and she is studying for two semesters at the University of Macerata, about one hour and half from Perugia. Alison has been a great encouragement to all of us and she usually brings some fellow students to our worship services. In particular, a Chinese young lady has been visiting with us for 5 Sundays. Her name is Hanqi and she is 23 years old.
New building for the church. Since July 2018 we met in a somewhat decentered area, a town (of 15,000 people) called Magione, roughly 15 miles North of Perugia, and close to Lake Trasimeno (which is located between the Southern part of Tuscany and the Northern area of Umbria). However, that was only a temporary solution because when I moved to Perugia in June 2018 we needed a place for our public meetings. After one year and half, I now know sufficiently the geography of the region and I considered with elder Andrea Suraci various possibilities where to look for a new place. Since last June, we looked for a better area and considered a number of buildings to rent. Finally, we found (about a month ago) a place in OLMO, which is a suburb of Perugia in a very good location, and it is easily within reach for all of our members, both those who live closer to the Lake Trasimeno and those who live in Perugia itself. Considering that Perugia is built on a hill and that it is not easy to get to the city center (it is not possible to reach the center by car unless you are a resident), OLMO is easily accessible by car as well as by public means of transportation. People can drive in 15/20 minutes to OLMO from every area in Perugia's belt. For example, from the historic center of Perugia where there is the University, people can drive to OLMO in 15/20 minutes or take a bus and arrive in 25 minutes. Moreover, in that area there are no protestant/evangelical churches. The place is about 150 square meters, and there is an outdoor garden of about the same area, which will be very useful for fellowship in the summer and for the children.
Please, pray with us for the following prayer requests:
pray a growth in grace, in knowledge, in maturity and in number;
pray for the regular visitors;
pray for the relation with the owner of the new building where we’ll be soon moving, and for the witness of our church in the new area in the Perugia’s suburb of Olmo.
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.