Dear Family in Christ,

Greetings from Frosinone, Italy.

I just came back home on Wed. the 3rd, and of course when you have been away for almost six weeks, everything will pile up and you have to work harder to catch up with many things. The best part it's that God watched over my travelling and I had no problem at all, other than being a little tired.

For those of you who didn't know, or didn't remember, my travelling took me from:

From Chicago O'Hare IL,                    to         Fridley (Minneapolis), MN,

From Fridley    MN,                              to         Decatur, IL

From Decatur IL,                                to         Tulsa OK

From Tulsa     OK,                              to         Oklahoma City OK

From Oklahoma City OK,                   to         San Antonio TX

From San Antonio TX,                        to         Houston TX

From Houston TX                               to         Dallas TX

From Dallas TX                                   to         West Memphis AR

From West Memphis AR,                   to         Indianapolis IN

From Indianapolis IN,              to         Chicago O'Hare

A total of 3,600 - 4,000 Miles, including the local driving!

Now we need to start working for our Spring-Summer projects and work as hard as possible with the help of God, to gather new lambs in His flock, while feeding those who were already in!

Unfortunately, I am not a photographer, so usually, I am not thinking on taking photos, but then I am mostly speaking, so those who took photos while I was speaking have not yet sent them to me. So, no photos of the travelling yet! :-)

During this time I made new contacts with Pastors and Churches in the Chicago area, in Tulsa OK, in San Antonio TX, Three of them in Houston TX, and one in Indianapolis. Of course it takes time to build up a relationship between a missionaries and Churches and their leadership, but I am sure that God will help that relationship build up and grow, so we will all be able to work together for the kingdom of God.

One of the special part of this trip has also been the fact that for the first time after four years, I was able to visit with our first son Jonathan and his family (Mandy, Caleb, Ava and Leila), who live in Indianapolis. We enjoyed the Thanksgiving Holiday together and I could also enjoy them as a family, especially with our three grand-children, Caleb, Ava and Leila, who were so happy to have their grand-pa in their house for a few days. So far we were only able to see them for a few hours each time, in Massachusetts with the other three children and grandchildren we have there, but never in their house in Indianapolis. I was also glad to attend church with them and meet their Pastor for breakfast before I left.

In Houston I was also able to visit with our nephew John Paul and his family (wife Arleta and daughter Gabriella). I was also able to attend church with them and meet with their Pastor. Again, since we have been on the mission field in Italy since 1985, we barely had the opportunity to see them every two or three years for no more than a few hours, so, for me this was a very blessed time with them.

Since I came back on the 2nd, I was only able to see some of our church members last night (Thursday), for the prayer meeting, so I need to see them on Sunday, to see the faces of most of them. Of course I already know that they will be glad to see me after being away for 40 days.

Today, the 8th, it's been a holiday in Italy, we had already organized a regional youth meeting in San Cesareo (near Rome), where they let us use a small theatre, and we had plenty of room for gospel games and dramas. We really had a blessed and powerful meeting.

Our youth leaders are growing and gaining more experience every day and they are also growing in the Word of God. We let them deliver a brief message in rotation every Sunday, so they will be ready for the evangelistic work in the streets.

Anna's (my wife) health is back to normal, so we need to thank God for it and all the other things are going well too. Her mother is also well, Much better that she was two years ago. We just need to keep praying for Josh's work. It seems that he will be having a few meetings in a couple of weeks, so I am sure that God is preparing a good job for him.

The other thing we need to pray for, it's for our finances! I know, it's a world crisis, and many things are going bad, but God is still in charge, and we just need to seek, ask, knock, and then have faith in God! The fact is that I didn't have many speaking engagements, so at the same time, I had not enough love offerings to cover the expenses, which were a total of $4,800.00, while the total offerings were $2,350.00. As you can see, we were $2,450.00 short. So, even if I wasn't able to see many of you on this trip, if you feel that you can contribute in covering our travelling expenses, with a love offering, we would truly appreciate it.

We realize that your prayers had much to do with my protection while travelling. In a couple of occasions I have truly seen the hand of God covering me and sparing me from a sure serious accident! Yet I am also thankful to God and you for your prayers, for watching over the rest of my family in Italy and in the States. So, a big thank you goes to everyone who love us and are partners with us in this part of the world for the Kingdom of God.

In Galatians 6:9 and 10; The Apostle Paul says: "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."

We love you and we pray that God's infinite love will be all over you and your loved ones and we march on towards the Goal He has set before us.

God bless you so much and we hope to be able to see you either here in Italy or to the USA next year.

To every Pastor who has known us for a number of years and especially those who have been in Italy and have seen our ministry, I will be sending you a brief message of about one minute (not more), (which you can edit), which we hope you will record on a video camera, put it on a DVD and send it to us or, you can put it on a website and send me the link where I can get it. We would like to produce a new video, which we will send to new churches and Pastors, to introduce our ministry to them. So, please expect this message, and if you will not receive it within a couple of weeks, please let me know so I will send it to you.

Finally dear Family, …have a very blessed and Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year!

Thank you and God bless you so much for your love and for your care for us and for Italy.

In Christ's love,

Abel, Anna and Joshua