Happy 3rd Bithday Micah!

Yesterday we celebrated Micah's 3rd Birthday.

I can't believe how fast he is growing. We spent most of the morning inside the house because it is too cold to do much out side. In the evening we went out and picked some things up for his birthday. We had chocolate cake for desert, it was Micah's special request. Today we will go out and buy him a soccer ball, that is what he has been asking for.

Please leave Micah a happy birthday comment below...

More scenes from Montebelluna

This used to be a bunny rabbit, now it's what's for dinner

Cheese anybody? This ia the typical cheese selection in an Italian Market


A snapshot of the centro or downtown area.





By grace! We are continuing to do good. As an update on the house for those of you that are wondering. We didn't get the house, the Lord has something better in store for us. We heard back over the weekend that the owner decided to rent to a friend of his. Italians are always a bit skeptical of foreigners. Our prayer was that if it wasn't the Lord that He would close the door, He did just that so we are rejoicing that He is leading the way for us.

Our time is still filled with studying Italian and familiarizing ourselves with the city. Please continue to pray as we begin our search for a car as well. We will need a car as soon as we find a house. We will probably end up living a good distance from the church. The weather has been very cold, their have been a few nice days 40-50. But the nights are real cold, they get down to the 20's or so.

Thank you guys for your prayers, please stay up to date with us. We are so blessed and encouraged by everybody's comments and emails, thank you all for stepping with us one day at a time.

Day to day scenes and activites from our new lives...

Our lives have changed quite a bit in the last week. We are doing well, although the transition isn't easy, we have the promise of God's Word to remain by our side.

Things are going well, we continue to wait to hear back from the housing agency whether or not they will allow us to have the house we have been praying about; getting things done in Italy is never a simple task. It seems the only time they work is when they really feel like it.

Above is a collage of scenes from our new lives as the title stated.

- The center picture is of Italy's favorite past time, a part from playing soccer, drinking cofee. For those of you who know me, know that I fit right in.

- To the right of that is David Downs, we are blessed in that we get to see his face first thing every morning, he has opened up his house to us until we can find a place of our own. It has been a tremendous blessing, thanks Dave!

- To the left is the toilet, not visible is the booday? I am not quite sure how to spell it, nor use it. They aren't automatic nor heated like they are in Japan. If you have any tips that would be great!

- Their is also a box of pasta pictured, it is our new rice.

- We spend quite a bit if time studying the Italian language, it has been a formidable task for sure but, these books help tremendously. Please pray that the Lord would help us out in the matter.

- Lastly, is our Italian Bible. We are blessed with a lot of time to read and study the Word of God, although we haven't started reading the Italian Bible, prayerfully we will be soon.


Anyways, we are doing well please keep us in your prayers! Thank you for everything and all your prayers.

Calvary Chapel Feltre Italia

The city of Feltre

The church front is the doors on the right side of the bottom floor.

Pastor Craig warming up with his imaginary pulpit

Greetings friends!

These pictures are of a small town in the Dolomite mountains called Feltre. Pastor Craig is in the middle of doing a church plant in this town. Iy is the first Evangelical (non-catholic)christian church ever in this town. Currently he has been pastoring the church in Montebelluna and for two years now has been teaching a mid-week Bible study there in Feltre.

It is a beautiful town tucked into the middle of a valley in the Dolomites. Please pray for this church as it is starting.

Please pray for us...

Please pray for us as we have selected this house. We have been praying for several months now that the Lord would allow us to find a bigger house that we can use for His service. The Lord has placed the desire upon our hearts to be able to host Bible studies, mission teams, missionaries, friends and family as they come to visit. We desire to have enough room to keep people there as they travel through Italia serving the Lord. It is a great place and we want to use it for the kingdom. Please pray with us as we await approval from the owner. They want to make sure we can qualify to rent it.

It is an older house, it has 4 bedrooms, 1.5 baths and a big downstairs room that could be used for Bible studies or to teach english out of as a ministry. We are excited in all that the Lord is going to do with this house as He fills our hearts with vision for ministry and as we take this step of faith. We look forward to hearing back from you, our friends and family.

Our first couple of days...

Sandra is so blessed that she can start cooking for us again, we are blessed too by her cooking. The kids are adjusting well, but miss their friends in Okinawa. They ask often when we will be returning. We try to tell them that Italia is our new home, it is the place we will be serving the Lord. The food is just as we remembered, just wonderful. We are very limited when it comes to making phone calls and even checking email right now until we find our own home. We will be keeping intouch soon, be blessed.

Our journey to Italia

Well! We finally made it to Italia. The flight was really long, but we made it. Things are going good so far. The Lord has blessed us big time with David Downs, who has been allowing us to saty at his house till we find a place. He has also been taking us around town helping us get settled.

The kids are doing well, the weather is pretty cold, to us, but warm, for them. We heard that this has been the warmest winter in nearly 1oo years. Please keep us in your prayers as we look for a home. We have seen several thigns already and have chosen a place. We will be updating with pictures of it soon. Also pray that this is the Lord's will as we are awating approval from the owner. We look forward to hearing back from you guys.

Dinner with old friends

Phil, Damian, Danny
 
Sandra, Michelle, Rebekah
 
Damian and Danny
 
 
This week Sandra and I had th opportunity to hook up with some old friends from Vista. Danny and Phil were instrumental in my early life as a believer. They were their to disciple and encourage me as I had begun a new life in Christ. They are both awesome men of God, they both have since gotten married. Phil has a baby girl named Eden and a little boy on the way.

Phil and Rebkah are currently serving the Lord in Costa Rica. They have been there serving for 10 months now. The Lord is doing wonderful things in their lives. Danny and Michelle oversee S.E.N.D. Ministries, they focus on taking small teams into the nations for a period of five months at a time. They are just returning back from a trip to Morocco and Spain. Please pray for bother families as they both have many steps ahead of them. 

Visit to New Mexico!

 
This is a picture of me with my cousin Max, my brother David and my uncle Dominic
 
This is my father Pat and my brother David!
 
My mother Virginia, Granmother, brother and nephew Beau
 
New Mexico landscpe

I have recently retruned from my trip to visit my family in New Mexico. It was really a great trip, even though it was only 2 days. It was also very cold there, it was around 10 degrees F the day I left. I was glad to be back in California where the the weather was nice and warm.

I had th opportunity to see some cousins and uncles that I haven't seen in several years. Please pray for my uncle Dominic who is battling with cancer right now. 

 
Rick, Joseph, Derek and Kristy
 
Phil, Derek and Danny
 
Danny, Michelle, Allison and Jackie
 
Silly Kids: Hannah and Micah 

Week of the Missions Conference

 
 
 
 
Greetings friends and family!

We have been very busy lately. Last week from the 2-5 we were at the Calvary Chapel Missions Conference. We had a great time. We were able to link up with a lot of friends that we haven't seen in a long time. We had some really great speakers, the Lord greatly encouraged us through the testimonies and words spoken by all of them.

We had many opportunities to meet missionaries from all over the world. Not only were the speakers great but the fellowship was also wonderful. The Silva's came from mainland Japan, Matt Andersen and Derek Forbes came from Okinawa, along with the Barnett family. Phil and Rebekah visited from Costa Rica, whle Danny and Michelle made the long drive from San Dimas. Overall it is was a great week, this week we have been at the Youth Workers Conference, it too, has been a huge blessing and encouragement. We will be posting more pictures soon. 

Happy New Years

 
 
 
 
For New Years, Sandra and I celebrated with our family in San Diego. We had a great time eating, talking and celebrating. We miss our friends in Okinawa but were blessed with the opportunity to be here in San Diego.

We stayed up to ring in the New Year together, then we were off to bed. The kids stayed up with us as we all shared a glass of Martinelli's Sparkling Cider as a tribute to our friends in Oki, Niel and Vanessa. New Year's day, Sandra woke up nice and early and fixed everybody some Spam and eggs :) one of our favorite breakfasts.

We look forward to all that God has for us in the year 2007, it is my prayer for us and all of you that we would walk closer to God than ever before. That Jesus would be that "One Thing" in our lives that we desire more than all other things.

" One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple." Psalm 27:4 ESV

I pray that you guys have a blessed New Year, your are in our prayers... 

More New Years Pictures

 Sandra's sister Donna and her boyfriend Vermon
 Sandra's brother Edwin with wife Ace and nephew Skyler
 Sandra's mom and dad, Mr. and Mrs. Santiago
 Can you guess which one is Sandra? I tell her all the time that her, and her brothers look alike.