Greetings Dear Friends!
The year mark has officially passed and we can finally say that we are on our way to Italy in less than a year. This is both exciting and scary, as we want to be present here in Indianapolis with family and friends and yet be consistently looking toward this time next year when we will be setting up our lives in a foreign country.
On the HOMEFRONT
Thomas was recently offered a position of PRN Chaplain for Community Hospital's Hospice division! This is a huge answer to prayer for us in accord with Thomas using his gifts as well as an answer to prayer in regard to our financial needs. He'll still be working in Behavioral Health as well. In the meantime, Elias starts all-day Kindergarten and I'm going to be finishing up my work with the precious boy I've been working with for the past six months. He and his family have taught me so much. I have been blessed by Shelly, his mother, in ways she will never know. Another huge blessing is that my sister and her family of five (that will soon be growing-she's pregnant and they are adopting!) recently returned from their five-year stay in China. She and her husband will be working with Campus Crusade in Bloomington, Indiana. It has been so fun watching our kids play together.
TORINO, ITALY
Recently we received an update from Donna, a friend of ours who is with Team One to Genova, Italy, a city about two hours from Torino. She wrote about a woman who came to see her because she had heard about "The Americans" in Genova. She shared with Donna how three years ago she had a vision that a group of Americans would be coming. She has since been praying for her city, as there are very few believers. It is exciting to us that this woman received this vision and that it has come to pass. We know God is at work in Torino and we fully attend to come alongside that work when our team arrives. We want to facilitate a reproducing church!
Would you take a minute to check out the this link-it's a very short video that better explains the vision of Avant and its missionaries
The commitment of our team is three to five years. We are currently raising support to be on the field this time next year. Our budget includes our housing, insurance, ministry expenses (we will have some sort of meeting place for the Italians and we have to raise these funds as a team), and overhead costs. We have around $6000 left to raise a month. WHY SO MUCH???? Because it's Italy and because the dollar is diminishing and price of EVERYTHING (besides fruits and vegetables I hear!) is HIGH!
Thank You for reading our updates! Please feel free to contact us via email (tandcmcewen@yahoo.com) or by phone (773-484-5733)
Shalom,
Thomas and Cristi
