We're Back in Ancona

After a whirlwind tour of four prospective cities, we are back in Ancona. Our survey/prayer team had an amazing trip of seeking the Lord's guidance for the next church plant in Italy. It's not completely over just yet. A couple of the survey/prayer team members leave tomorrow, but the rest of us, with the help of the Ancona team are going to be compiling all of our data. We should have this available to our supporters and prayer partners in the next couple of days.

I should have all the rest of the pictures up tonight, so that will make it easier to pray through them. Upon leaving the four cities, we can see that the need for a church is great in all four places, however there were some interesting encounters and findings that help determine better the direction we will go. Whatever decision is made, be praying for God to work in all four of those cities and the people would be receptive.

Bringing it all together.....

I have been trying to upload pictures of our time in the four cities whenever I have Internet access. Below is a list of links to see the pictures that I have posted.

To see where all the current and future albums are go here:
http://public.fotki.com/mcrosser/2007/

City #1: Treviso; Day One:
http://public.fotki.com/mcrosser/2007/prayersurvey-trip--/

City #1: Treviso; Day Two:
http://public.fotki.com/mcrosser/2007/prayersurvey-trip-c/

City #2: Venezia-Mestre; Day One:
http://public.fotki.com/mcrosser/2007/prayersurvey-trip---2/

City #2: Venezia-Mestre; Day Two:
http://public.fotki.com/mcrosser/2007/prayersurvey-trip---1/

City #3: Verona; Day One:
http://public.fotki.com/mcrosser/2007/prayersurvey-trip---3/

City #3: Verona; Day Two:
Coming Soon!

City #4: Parma; Day One:
Coming Soon!

City #4: Parma; Day Two:
Coming Soon!

From Verona to Parma

So this morning we went out to breakfast in small groups, as has been our custom for branching out into the neighborhoods. As we go, those of us who know Italian speak Italian, the others take the opportunity to find people who can speak English. Upon finding out who can speak English, we then have more information about the need for English as a means of reaching out to the community to a desire of theirs. This morning, Eric and I went to a Cafe several blocks from our hotel. It was run by a small blond Italian. Eric and I first got our breakfast and then we began a conversation, me in Italian and Eric in Spanish/English. Her name is Elisa, but she goes by Eli (pronounced Ellie) because she doesn't like her name Elisa. She was born in Verona and lived there her whole life. She said it is a great city, because it is close to the mountains, the lake and the city is beautiful too. I asked her how was the spiritual life of the city? She said that people say they believe but don't go to church or practice their faith. She said she doesn't anymore either. I asked why. She said that she believes, but doesn't know about the church (the Catholic church). She doesn't think you have to go to church to be a christian. Then the phone rang. She came back after the phone and she asked, why we were asking these kinds of questions. I said that I am a christian and a pastor. She replied, 'oh, ok'. I said that my wife and I have been in Ancona for years and we are praying about coming to a city in the north to start a new work in that city. Studying the Bible, helping people know more about Jesus, etc... I told her that we are visiting four cities and Verona is one of them. She gave us her opinions about the other cities, but then said she thought that we should choose Verona. After we paid, she said if you choose Verona, come back and find me. As we were leaving I gave her a business card, with my cell phone number and email address.

We had other opportunities in Verona and then we caught the train. We arrived in Parma in the early evening and explored the city, had dinner and then explored the city some more. At a cafe tonight, we me Diego, Nadia and Emmanuela. They told us how there are many "believers" but they don't practice anything or go to church. Emmanuela told us she used to but doesn't anymore. We talked about other things and before we left I told her that we would pray for her. She smiled and acted embarassed, so I said we will that is if you want us to. She enthusiastically said that she did want us to. So tonight before turning in our survey team prayed for her and other requests including for us to finish strong. We have tomorrow during the day and then we head back to Ancona in the early afternoon. We will have Life Group, dinner together then on Monday, begin compiling all the data. Thanks for any of you praying.

Being There

What a blessing to get to experience this trip from half way around the world. Every evening when electricity comes on I check to see what has gone on that day in Northern Italy. I listen. I look. I feel as if I'm almost there.

And then I pray. And the Lord, with the Holy Spirit and Jesus, Himself - allows me to pray for the steps, the words, the wisdom of the survey team. I feel as if I'm almost there.

Impromptu Message & Worship

In preparation for our trip, I emailed many different missionaries in the north. I asked for information on contacts within the four cities we were going to be visiting. I got connected with people from Verona. When we arrived in Verona, I checked my email and saw there was one from Pastor Elvio. He leads the Apostolic Church here in Verona. He invited us to their prayer night. We went and he invited me to share a few words, which I did in Italian and also English for our survey team. He then went out of his way to show us some sights and then take us out to a great gelato shop. Then they drove us back to the hotel where we prayed and then headed to our rooms. One of the coolest statements from Elvio was, for about a year they have been praying for more workers to come to Verona.

And the Trip Goes On

We arrived in Mestre last night and checked into our hotel. I had a very interesting conversation with Mauro, who ran a newsstand. He is around 25 and thinks the mafia created the Catholic Church. He does believe though, but just doesn't go to church. Then the team went out into the city, where we saw where all the people gathered at Piazza Ferretti. Then we had dinner and as well as gelato and headed back to our hotel, where we prayed before going to bed. Mestre is the opposite in many ways of Treviso. It seems less safe, more graffiti, dirtier, the people more open and poorer (but Treviso is one of the richest in Italy, so that is not a huge thing).

This morning we headed out for surveys and prayer. After our time in Mestre we had to head to the train station to depart for Verona. There was a misunderstanding on the time for the train departure so we ended up having to practically jog with all of our luggage over a half of a mile through city streets to make out train in time. I literally took one step onto the train platform as it pulled in and a minute or so later we were on the train and on our way to Verona.

Once we got to Verona, we took a bus to our hotel and walked several streets to arrive at a great hotel, four stars, which coincidentally is the best hotel we have stayed in so far and is by far cheaper than the others ($39 per person per night). We have some time here at the hotel before we go out into the city to rest our legs and our minds. I'll write more later.

Here is another picture links...

Mestre (Day 2 - Day 1 Mestre Pictures coming later)
http://public.fotki.com/mcrosser/2007/prayersurvey-trip---1/

Treviso - Day One (continued)

Here are some of Angie's thoughts after our first day in Treviso.

"Treviso is a beautiful city. It looks like a painting. It is very clean and the people are beautiful dressed like out of a fashion magazine. When we stepped out of the train station we could see a tree lined street. You can tell that the city has money. My thoughts and prayers for the people tonight have been surrounded by this money. I have wondered if they are bound by their love for money. I have prayed that God would free them from that. If I could put a face on Treviso it would be Davide. I know his name because I overheard a friend say “Ciao David” as they were saying goodbye. I watched Davide a tall slender man with a firm jaw who was wearing dark jeans and a black shirt. I watched him walk away smiling and I prayed that he would know my Jesus. "

And then below you can find a link to around 30 pictures from our first day in Treviso. Also the second link is where you can see all of the links for the trips so far.

Treviso - Day One
http://public.fotki.com/mcrosser/2007/prayersurvey-trip--/

Pictures from 2007 (including Verona pics from an earlier trip)
http://public.fotki.com/mcrosser/2007/

Treviso - Day One

We made it to Treviso, and just checked into our hotel. At the train station we were already attracted to the cleanliness outside of the train station. Trees all in front of the train station and nice buildings. We only had a short walk to our hotel from the station. In a few minutes we will meet downstairs to go to dinner and explore the city center a little. Later, I will try to post some pictures.

Briefing and Prayer before the trip

Before going to the cities, we met at our house for debriefing, lunch and prayer with the Ancona team. And away we go.....

Dinner With Friends

So tonight after the survey team learned the language and observed the Italian phenomenon of "strolling" they learned how to cook an Italian meal and then we ate that meal with several of our Italian friends. Some of those friends are part of our church and some of the others are not. We had a blast with all of them, then some of us went out for gelato before turning in for the night.

It gave the survey team a chance to spend time with Italians on a deeper scale than we probably will as we go through four strange cities. This way they could start to fall in love with the Italian people and also have something to compare their other experiences with.

Here are some pictures from the dinner together, which Angie did a great job cooking with Heather's help as well as some survey team helpers in the kitchen. Tomorrow morning the team is meeting at our house where we have a full slate planned of briefing the trip together, breakfast, previewing the evalutions and observations for the prospective cities and then heading to the train station for our first city, Treviso. We ask that God protect us and guide us on our journey.

Learning the Language

Before we go to the four cities, the team has to learn some language. Basic things like....

Thank you - Grazie
Your Welcome - Prego
Excuse me - Scusi (Scusa - with friends)
It's nothing - Di Niente
Allow me/Permit me - Permisso

Hello - Ciao
Good Morning - Buongiorno
Good Evening - Buonasera
Good Night - Buonanotte

The alphabet, numbers...
How much is it? - Quanto costa?
My name is... - Come mi chiamo...
What is your name? - Come ti chiami? (to young people)
What is your name? - Come si chiama? (to older people for respect)
What is his/her name? - Come si chiama?
Nice to meet you. - Piacere di conoscerti; or just - ciao; or just - piacere

Where is... - Dov'e'..... (point to map, etc....)
I don't know - Non lo so
I don't speak italiano - Non parlo italiano
Do you speak inglese? - Parli inglese? (informal) - Parla inglese? (formal)
Responses: yes - si; no - no; enough - abbastanza
I speak inglese - Io parlo inglese
I don't understand - non capisco; non ho capito


Here are a couple of pictures of their language time. Thanks to our friend, Emmanuela for teaching them...

The Others Have Arrived.

Well, we picked up John and Ann Blackburn last night. Then today, I went and picked up Trudi Logan and Eric Derry. Trudi is from one of our supporting churches, Edmond Christian Church. Eric is the Vice President of Mobilization at our Home Office of Team Expansion. Today we will start slow and lookover the schedule, have a language class for the survey team and a dinner with them, our Ancona team and some of our Italian friends. Then retire for the night and get ready for the briefings and prayer in the morning, and then traveling in the afternoon.

Things Going Well Already

Tonight, we are expecting, John and Ann Blackburn to arrive. They will be going with us through the cities on the prayer journey. Since Charles Lawyer arrived earlier, things have gone great. He has gotten to see several of the outreach ministries that we host, mainly revolving around Kids' English Club. He has also been able to visit the Life Group that meets at our house, attended by Josh Furnal (team member) and a Romanian couple, Daniel and Simona. Others have come more sporadically. It will be beneficial as we seek to see how God plans to use us in a similar fashion in the new city. Keep praying and so will we.

Booklets for the Prayer/Survey Trip

So, I am still up and it's 5:40 AM. I stayed up finishing the booklets for the participants of the prayer and survey trip. Below is a picture of the booklets as I was putting them together. They consist of objectives, evaluations, a schedule, contact phone numbers, etc... I hope they help as we seek to discern God's will for the new city.

New Team Expansion Global Podcast

The new Team Expansion Globalcast is out and the first one features the new church plant in Northern Italy. Jason Casey, team leader for the Go Ancona team, interviewed me regarding the new church plant. You can download it here, at www.thcrossers.com/gonorth/globalcast4-11-07.m4a. Or if you subscribe to podcasts regularly, I would recommend you subscribe to the Globalcast, that way you won't miss out on any of the featured ministries around the world. Go here to get information for subscribing to the new Globalcast.

Download our Prayer Guide

Hey if you want to pray with us through the cities this week, download our prayer guide. View it by clicking here, http://www.thecrossers.com/gonorth/gonorthprayerguide200704.pdf. If you want to download it right click the link above and choose to "save target as" and choose somewhere on your computer where you want to store it.

Prep Work For The Prayer and Survey Trip

So, we are getting closer to the Prayer and Survey trip through the four cities we are considering for the next church plant. I have been working on the schedule and accompanying resource booklet for the participants. I am including maps of each city's downtown area (the area usually most frequented by Italians), phone numbers for emergencies, survey questions, items to consider as we walk through each city, as well as places to journal and evaluations as we leave each city. After the trip we plan on compiling the information and sharing with prayer partners and supporting churches, so that we can pray together for the city in which we will be ministering next. I will close now, so that I can get further along on the materials I am preparing.

The First Arrival

Today, Angie and I picked up Charles Lawyer at the airport in Ancona. Charles is a representative from one of our supporting churches in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Go here to follow along in his blog at http://www.xanga.com/ima_cOoL_dad as he travels with us on the prayer and survey trip. Glad you could make it Charles! With Charles' arrival it makes it that much more real that the survey and prayer trip is here. We are several months into this new work and we have been looking forward to this trip so that we could find out God's leading. Now, we are just waiting on Trudi, Eric, John and Ann to arrive in the next few days and we will then take off on the four day adventure.

Wonderings about the Prayer/Survey Trip

So in about a week, we will be heading to the first city on our four city stop. Several of us have been enlisting the prayers of hundreds of believers who will be following our itinerary and praying along as we go from city to city. At this point, I am a little anxious. Not in a bad way....I think. It is mainly an anxiety of not knowing how God will show us where to go. It's not that I doubt He will, it's how He will do it. And we have our eyes open enough to see it! In a couple of months I believe that we will know, now it is just a matter of patience, faith and obedience.

Prayer and Survey Trip

From April 25-29, we will be leading a prayer and survey trip through the four cities that we have been researching and praying over to be the site of the upcoming church plant. Here are some tools for praying with us as we go from city to city. Thanks for your prayers as we go forward with this project. Email us if you have any questions (or comment below). mcrosser@teamexpansion.org.

An Introduction

Hello, all!

I'm April Houk, a new Go North team member. I'm from New Braunfels, Texas. After graduating from Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri, I came to work in Port de Paix, Haiti, with Sonlight Ministries. Next school year will be my tenth year teaching 2nd Grade and working with our church and Bible college.

I'll be sharing my story soon through these blogs... and am excited to be a character in this story God is writing.

It's only beginning...

Drumroll Please.......

We have been waiting to make an announcement for the right timing. Now is that time. Our first official team member is April Houk. April is currently a missionary in Haiti where she teaches adults and children English, as well as helps lead in the church there. She will, like us, be making a slow transition to the new team. April will be remaining with the ministry in Haiti for another school year ('07-'08). Then she'll come back to the states for preparation and then arrive on the field in Fall 2008.

I have invited April onto this blog to share from the beginning her journey as she transitions into this new ministry. Feel free to check out her blog, which can be found on the sidebar, under Team Blogs & Sites. Help me welcome April to her new team.

Coming up.....

We are only about a week and a half away from a prayer and survey trip we will be taking to help determine what city God is calling our new team to. In the next few days I will post information about the prayer and survey trip, as well as some tools to help you join with us in praying.

Also, this marks the release of Team Expansion's first Global Podcast. Yours truly was the interviewee and Jason Casey (Leader for the Ancona team) was the interviewer. It is all about the new work that is underway. I hope to post it here soon for you to check out. Also, I will post the new feed for all the new Team Expansion podcasts.

I love technology and the interaction with supporters that it gives us missionaries.

Prospective City Pictures

There have been two trips taken to the city, Verona, which is one of the four prospective cities we are looking at for the new church plant. The first trip was an overnight trip on February 16, 2007 and you can find the pictures here. The second trip was about a month later on March 15th and you can find the pictures from that trip here. Thanks for praying for Verona and the other three cities, Parma, Treviso and Venezia-Mestre.

First Team Member

We have our first team member. It is still in stages of discretion, so we can't yet announce who will be joining us. As soon as the information is public we will announce it here. Please be praying for this team member and the others to follow. Pray also, for the guidance of Team Expansion and wisdom from God for me as we make these weighty decisions.

History of Taking Christ To Italy

In 1996, Shively Christian Church and Team Expansion, (both in Louisville, Kentucky), joined forces to launch the Taking Christ to Italy PACE project. PACE is an acronym which stands for Pray, Activate, Commit and Enlist. Basically, the object of the PACE program at Team Expansion is to adopt an unreached people group for Christ and launch a plan to reach it. Shively Christian Church adopted the spiritual responsibility of Italy. Following the acronym for PACE, the local church is to pray for the project, activate a plan, commit to following through with the plan and enlist a team and the help of other local churches to make the plan happen.

The plan was bold, also simple in objectives, yet difficult in execution. First there would be a church plant in a Central Italian city. Then two more church plants, one in the North and one in the South. Throughout the church plants, there would be a leadership school developed which would help train Italians for ministry and initiate new works led by Italians.

In 1999, five couples formed the first team and started the early stages of fund raising. One couple, felt led to somewhere else as they were praying, which left four couples. These four couples, made it to the field between 2000 and 2001 in order to attend language school. These four couples were Jason & Heather Casey, Matt & Angie Crosser, Dan & Amy Cormode and Greg & Krista Milliser. At the end of 2001, the Millisers had left the field and a single man had joined the team and started support raising. The remaining three couples were finally in the first target city, Ancona. Phase One of the Taking Christ to Italy project had begun. By Summer 2002, the Cormodes had left the field. Marcus Van Dorn made it to the field in 2003. Over the years, there were many short term groups and interns. One couple and one single man which participated in these opportunities were called by God to join our team and arrived for language school in 2005. Brian & Heidi Rotert and Josh Furnal were these recruits. By Summer 2006, all five family units were living and ministering in Ancona. This is the history of the Go Ancona team.

In the Fall 2006, a spiritual wind was blowing. Several couples and single people had been feeling led to be missionaries in Italy and had contacted various people connected to Team Expansion. Jason Casey, team leader for the Go Ancona team and Eric Derry, Vice-President of Mobilization at Team Expansion, both started thinking that maybe it was time to start looking at the second phase of the Taking Christ to Italy project; launching a new team for the second church plant. In December 2006, a forum was created and interested individuals began to be invited to join in the discussion and dreaming that was happening. Out of these initial discussions several ideas surfaced and a potential leader for the new work emerged. After much prayer, conversations, evaluation and reflection I applied and was approved to be the team leader for the new Go North team.

Once we know what city to which we will be going, the name of our team will be changed from the temporary moniker "Go North" to "Go (city name)". We have been doing research and taken trips to consider potential cities. At the end of April, we will be leading a Survey/Prayer Trip with Eric Derry. Coming on this journey will be a couple representatives from some of our supporting churches, as well as some potential recruits. As we have information or pictures to share we will link them here. We desire your prayers as we seek out God's direction for this second phase of Taking Christ to Italy. We walk in faith to a new place which God has prepared for us. Join us in prayer, financial support and encouragement.