Quick update on our family. We recently moved to an apartment in Girasole (Sunflower), San Mariano di Corciano. It has been quite a job to get our family moved and to buy furniture for our new place. We were thankful to have family here to help us out, and the girls enjoyed the time with their aunt for a month, and their grandparents for about 2 weeks. We are starting to feel settled in.
The girls are doing well although they struggled a bit with the whole transition. They also have been getting sick quite often. Elisa is currently on antibiotics for bronchitis, that has already passed through all the other members of the family.
Thanks for your continued prayer for us and our various ministries!
After that Daniel’s classes at the University for Foreigners started. He has over 30 hours a week of class plus 2 hours a day of commuting with public transportation… this made for a long 3 months for him and for the family. He is now at half way point of his courses, so 3 months left to go and then Lord-willing he will be done. It was not our intent for him to start school as soon as we got here, but it was the only way he could get a Visa and a residency permit. Once again our plans aren’t always God’s plans. His time at the University has been profitable in building relationships with students and sharing about our church and radio station.
Daniel has also continued to carry on his role as the director of Radio LUCE and taken on responsibilities at church helping run the sound system and train those already involved in this area.
Elizabeth has been able to take on some ministry responsibilities when not busy taking care of the girls and the house. At church she has been able to provide nursery for kids up to 5 years old during the Sunday School hour for the first time so parents can focus on the lesson. She also recently started a discipleship and counseling relationship with a woman in the church and is thrilled to be able to help people think and live biblically.
Cristina and Elisa are well, slowly adjusting to our life in Italy. Cristina still often mentions good memories from America and says “I wish we could go back to America!” Soon life in Italy will be what is normal to them and they will not feel like America is their home!
]]>In this past year God has blessed us greatly… answering so many of our prayers. These are some things God has done in 2010:
- May 15 Elisa Abigail joined our family. She has brought great joy to our family and has been a very happy and relaxed baby.
- All our needed regular financial support and outfit and passage funds were received so we could plan our departure.
- We were able to pack up all our things and move to Italy on September 9.We picked up Daniel’s Visa and Passport on our way to the airport, which made it possible for us to leave!
- After arriving to Italy we applied for our residency permits and Elizabeth, Cristina and Elisa received an unexpected blessing… residency permits without an expiration date!
- We were able to purchase a van suitable for our family’s needs.
- The girls have been adjusting to life in Italy and have been healthy for the most part.
God has been so good to us!
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Waiting to board the plane in the Philly Airport
We are so thankful to have arrived in Italy…
The day before our departure we weren’t sure if we would be leaving or not. Daniel’s Visa and Passport had not arrived in the mail and we were afraid we would need to postpone our move to Italy. God was gracious and answered our prayers allowing us to pick up his passport and visa (for 6 months) at the Italian Consulate in Philadelphia on our way to the airport. His timing is always perfect. We were thankful that we were flying out of the Philadelphia airport! The trip was long, but uneventful. The girls did very well on the trip: Cristina enjoyed being on the airplane and Elisa did well sleeping, even if she had to sleep on the floor of the plane. All our suitcases made it and we had no problems. We look forward to settling into our temporary apartment and adjusting to our new life in Italy. We are anxious to rejoin our missionary team here and get back into the ministry here. A special THANK YOU to all of those who joined our support team so we could be where God has called us.
]]>Just a few weeks ago God worked in great ways bringing in the rest of our needed monthly support allowing us to purchase our plane tickets and start working on the last few things that need done before we can leave (Visa, medical clearance, packing and preparing to move). In less than two months, Lord willing, if we have Daniel’s Visa in hand we will be leaving for Italy (Sept. 8). We have enjoyed some time at home, a just a few more trips until we can focus entirely on packing and moving out of our apartment. We have started talking with Cristina about the fact that this house will no longer be our house, that we need to speak Italian because that’s what people will speak in Italy, and that she won’t be able to have her favorite cheese (shredded) in Italy. This last one is a major topic of conversation… Cristina is growing up fast and enjoying being a big sister, she learns so fast, everything she sees she does, everything she hears she says! So now she knows how to better care for all her babies, after watching mommy and daddy care for her baby sister. It’s fun to watch her learn and grow. Elisa continues to be a blessing to us and brings an added joy to our days by smiling and talking as well as she can with her sweet little sounds. She especially likes to smile and talk to her big sister! We look forward to the day we can settle into our own place in Italy. It seems impossible that the time has finally arrived for us to move back after these years of preparation! We are so thankful for how God has brought us through these years and has taught us so much about Himself, about ourselves and about trusting Him and His timing!
]]>On May 15 at 9:42 pm Elisa Abigail Ransom joined our family! The past two weeks have gone by fast as we have been adjusting to being a family of four and Cristina has learning all about being a good big sister and what it’s like to not be the only child in the family anymore. Elizabeth’s mom, Rachel Whitman, was able to come for a few weeks to help out during these first few weeks. Cristina has enjoyed spending lots of time with her “nonna” that she usually doesn’t get to do. She is also looking forward to the day we will get on a plane again and move to Italy.
In the past several months we have continued to travel to several churches and took a short break for the arrival of the baby. We currently have 89% of our support committed and we are waiting on decisions from a few churches. Please continue to pray with us that the rest of our support will come in so we can plan our departure for this summer.
Some news about our family…
- Cristina turned TWO on Nov. 26 and continues to be a blessing and joy to our family and anyone we spend time with! She’s growing up fast. Her favorite sentence now is “How does that work?” She’s always wanting to learn new things, including English and Italian.
- We are expecting our second child, a girl! She should join our family on the outside in about 4 months.
- Tomorrow (January 17) Daniel, along with our friend Tim Van Dalen, will be ordained by our sending church, (Clarks Summit, PA).