Ancona and Verona, Italy

One of the first impressions that Italy gives in almost any city we visit is that Italy is old. Castles, old walls and forts date back to the time of Christ and before. Buildings testify of architecture and building techniques that have not existed for hundreds of years. Yet the cities are of full of life and youth. New highways and building cranes testify of growth and progress. There are walls and castles built in the Napoleon era and beautiful parks where the Team Expansion Ancona team often goes to jog and spend time in prayer and meditation, praying over the city of Ancona.
Greta and I are standing in this park with the city in the background and the two Casey boys, Harrison and Jacob, playing on the park grass. From this spot, Jason and the Ancona team often pray over the city of Ancona where they are making good progress in their work to establish an indigenous church. The team has been working in Ancona for seven years and have been praying for "breakthrough". If Jason, the team leader's feeling is correct, breakthrough may be very near. Join us in praying for that blessing.

Verona - Target for next year

The second part of our trip to Italy was to visit Verona, the city that calls itself "The Gateway to the North." Matt and Angie Crosser are to lead a new team to be located in Verona next year. They will be joined by John and Ann Blackburn and April Houk. The Blackburns have served in China for several years and April is currently working in Haiti.
Again we were impressed by both the age and vibrancy of the city of Verona. An ancient wall is still a prominent feature of the city and along with the Roman era coliseum, it attracts many visitors to the city.
We spent most of two days in Verona with the Crossers. We looked at an excellent language school the team can use for team members who need to learn Italian. Then we spent a great deal of time looking at various areas of the city that could become the site of the new church plant. Matt and Angie have led several survey trips to the city and will make at least one more trip before returning to the US for a period of home service. Its strategic location as "Gateway to the North" and its relative openness to the Gospel are just a couple of reasons Verona was chosen as the site for the next Team Expansion church plant effort in Italy. For more information and news and some great pictures of Verona, click on the link in the Links box in the right column.