After returning from Biella, I chatted on Facebook with my dear friend, Angelica. Suki and I visited Angelica at her home last year after Tony Anthony’s visit to nearby Modena (which I wrote about in last year’s post Encouragement from Above). From that visit was born a very deep and dear friendship. Angelica is one of those people who God has put into my life to encourage me, so visiting her was one of my priorities upon returning to Italy.
Angelica is Albanian by birth, so I wanted to tell her the exciting news about going to Tirana to pray for Albania with Operation Capitals of Europe, about Bogdan (her countryman) going with us, and especially about taking Albanian worship to the Feast of Tabernacles in Poland in October (all of which I wrote about in my last post Surprises).
Here’s our Facebook chat, after we set up a day & time for me to visit:
Angelica: can you stay here till sunday afternoon ?
only, if you can
Me: No, I can only stay for the day.
Angelica: ah ok
Me: But we can plan for a longer visit sometime
Angelica: would be great !
Me: I have something exciting to tell you!
Angelica: wow ! I can’t wait.
Me: But I want to tell you in person.
Angelica: good
Me: See you tomorrow!
Angelica: I have something good for you too…
you will like it a lot
Me: We will both have to wait
Angelica: hehehe yeah
I was so excited about telling Angelica my news that her surprise for me was almost completely eclipsed. I must admit, this is also what I do with any surprise. I am like a little kid when it comes to surprises and gifts, I get very excited and can’t think about anything else (if you notice, I’m also that way about the coming Rapture!). So what I do to enable myself to function is that I deliberately make myself forget that there is a surprise coming. This time it was so effective that I literally had forgotten all about it until after the lovely meal Angelica had prepared for me. First, I told her my surprise, about going to Albania and taking Albanian worship to the Feast of Tabernacles in October. Then she told me her surprise for me: she has talked to her pastor about having me speak at the Women’s Retreat in June. The pastor countered with an invitation that I speak briefly this coming Wednesday at the Women’s Tea.
This is a fabulous opportunity to encourage a local body of believers. I have never been invited to speak to any church or church group in Italy (or anywhere in Europe) before, not even my own home church in Milan. Of course, I said that I would do it.
After I returned home, Angelica wrote to me that her pastor said she had already gotten a speaker for the Women’s Retreat. The disappointment that she felt was obvious. However, a lot can happen between now and June. I have already prayed that if God wants me to speak at the retreat that He will open the door for me. I feel peace about it. After all, it’s out of my hands now. If God wants me to speak there, then nobody can stop me. Still, I am invited to speak on Wednesday evening at the Women’s Tea. So I have been praying for the guidance of the Holy Spirit about what to speak about. I have an idea what He wants me to talk about, but I always leave room for the Holy Spirit to flow and say whatever He will through me.
It’s possible that the pastor doesn’t really have someone else, and is just putting Angelica off to take the pressure off until she’s heard me speak. But whatever the case may be, I feel at peace about it because I have put the whole matter into God’s hands. I just want to be His instrument to bring healing, hope, and encouragement to these women, whether it’s only on Wednesday or also in June. God is good!
Tag Archives: Tony Anthony
Encouragement from Above
A Facebook Friend, A Powerful Testimony, A New Brother in Christ
Recently, I have suffered some very hard blows. These attacks really hit me where I live, and were difficult to take because they came from dear, trusted friends. And they caused one of my closest friends to suffer, which is even harder to take than my own suffering. Initially, I saw only the people involved. I reacted as I usually do, with my Texas-style bluntness—speaking the truth without tact. But after prayer, I began to discern the enemy who had used these friends against my friend and me. Can those relationships be restored?
That was my question to God Tuesday morning. Immediately, I got several encouraging messages through e-mail and on Facebook. These friends and their messages so encouraged me that I began to believe that these relationships can, indeed, be restored.
One person who encouraged me greatly is Angelica, a missionary who lives very close to Milan. I was so moved by her kind words that I felt an immediate and deep desire to meet her in person. She was very enthusiastic about the prospect of meeting me, too. So I started making plans to go visit Angelica immediately.
No sooner did I make that decision, than I heard from another friend, Casey, who lives in a small city in Tuscany. Casey invited me to come hear Tony Anthony speak at a church in Modena that evening. Since Angelica’s town is halfway to Modena, and since Casey told me that we had accommodations for the night, I said yes.
Tony’s testimony is powerful and very moving, and I encourage you to follow that link to his website. On the train to Modena, Casey met an African man from Ivory Coast. She talked to him about Jesus, and invited him to come hear Tony speak, too. And he did. He asked Jesus into his heart! That’s what it’s all about: sharing the Gospel!
Between trains, I’d only had a moment to hug and greet Angelica on Tuesday, but Casey and I returned to Angelica’s home for a proper visit yesterday. We had that immediate intimacy—a meeting of the hearts—that only comes from sisterhood in Christ. We laughed, we cried, we prayed, we praised God. We had a marvelous visit. Now that I know how close she is, I can go visit her whenever I’m home in Milan.
Anyway, God used all of these things to encourage me after the difficulties and disappointments of recent events. But more than encourage me, God has strengthened me to believe that the relationships can and will be restored—if I can let Him speak more tactfully through me. Please pray for me to speak the truth in love, but also with delicacy and tact that can mend bruised relationships. God is good!
Walking By Faith in Europe 