Ciao tutti! Salute di Catania (Greetings from Catania)!
It is hard to believe June is here already! This last month has been a bit of a shuffle for me. I stayed with friends in Belpasso for a long weekend before moving in with a wonderful lady from our community group, Alba. This last week I joined Giuseppe and Pennie Collasano, missionaries with Italy For Christ, on a 2.5 day trip to Cefalù on the Northern coast and now I am back in Catania and back to a more regular rhythm again.
A- Answered Prayers
- Having a great place to stay with Alba.
- Bethany and I organized a “Game Night” on Friday, May 17th. We had a great turnout, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and my peanut butter cookies were a big hit!
- About a month ago I started taking Italian lessons from Julia. I go twice a week for an hour and she has already been a big help not only with learning the language but also giving me a lot of insight into the culture as well.
B- Blessings
- I had a great time in Belpasso at the end of May, getting to know Stephanie and Fabio better and praying for their community as well as my trip to Cefalù with the Collesano’s this last week.
- On Mother’s Day I joined Bethany, Margherita, Margherita’s daughter Elle and her mom, Agata, to see the musical, Carlos’ Aunt (La Zia del Carlos). Our friend Maria had one of the leading roles and did a phenomenal job!
C- Challenges/Concerns
- I cannot wait for the day when I can cross “Visa” off my list of prayer requests but today is not the day. I can’t thank you enough for your prayers for this provision.
- Living with Alba and her son Federico has already been a huge help to improving my language skills but I’ll include it here anyways. I have a long ways to go with learning Italian and need to be more patient with myself while staying diligent to study and join and initiate conversations as often as I can.
- Pray for me and the church in Italy, that we will grow in: faith, desire for and understanding of God’s Word and in unity.
Thank you so much for your prayers and please keep in touch!
**Donations to my Christian Associates (CA) account can also be made online. From CA’s homepage (http://christianassociates.org/), click the “Donate” button in the upper right-hand corner. Under ”Missionaries and Projects” click on “Missionaries” and then select “Cummings, Hillary – 40383”
Faithfulstill 
Hi Hillary!
Gerry & Monica sent me a note and your card about your service in Catania, Italy. Just wanted you to know we’ll be thinking about your safety and prosperous dedication to serve the goodness of the world in your mission to give the people there some hope and solice. We pray for your success, thoughtfulness, and dedication to your mission. All the best in God’s world!!
Rich & Deb
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Grazie mille! Thank you SO much for your prayers and taking the time to write this note of encouragement! It is so fun to hear from those the Holy Spirit is prompting to pray for Italy and for me. Just this last weekend we have been blessed to witness some of the fruit of your prayers as we celebrate with a dear friend and new brother in Christ! Please keep praying and may the Lord richly bless you with His presence as you continue to follow Him!
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Hill: I was so incredibly blessed by the comment left by Alba on this blog post. I just finally figured out how to do the google translate thing so i could understand what she wrote. If what she shared doesn’t convince you that you are already having an important impact there, I don’t know what would. We cannot tell you enough just how very proud we are of you. Your beautiful heart has & will continue to touch many lives as long as you continue to yield your heart fully over to God. I am so impressed by the depth of your maturity at your age. Keep digging deeper & allow Him to stretch you more and more (even when it’s difficult–which it usually is). Putting yourself at His feet (thru these Ignatius exercises you’re doing) will surely result in your getting some clear direction, after this time of waiting & of not understanding clearly what the near future holds for you. We will continue to pray for strength, boldness, assurance, discipline, wisdom, trust & protection for you, as well as continued prayers for the people of Italy who clearly need a radical awakening to the marvelous mercy, love, joy & freedom that God wants them to experience. Big hugiant hugs, Mom P.S. I’ll try to keep my comments shorter on your blog in the future! : )
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Love your updates, Hill! So good to “meet” the people you’re hangin’ with these days. Looks like you fit right in & are making some valuable friendships. So glad also that you are able to get out on some explores to see more of the beautiful country you now call home.
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Ciao a tutti, il mio nome è Alba.
Voglio condividere con voi il mio ringraziamento a Dio per aver mandato in casa mia un angelo di nome Hillary Cummings.
La mia fede è tiepida e a Dio non piace questo perchè dura già da molto tempo.
Beh, siccome anche la pazienza divina ha un limite, Dio ha esclamato: ” Ora basta donna di poca fede!!!”
In Italia c’è un proverbio che dice: ” Se Maometto non va alla montagna, la montagna va da Maometto”.
Ed ecco arrivare la “montagna” in casa mia. Hillary. Ovvero colei che ha un difficile compito. Ma lei ancora non lo sà!
Ogni giorno lei si adopera con me in tutti i modi possibili; pregando per me, pregando insieme a me, comunicando con la parola di Dio e mostrandomi con il suo esempio la vera cristianità. Con lei tutti i nodi si sciolgono e tutto diventa semplice e lineare e ogni peso va vià. Tutto è sempre più leggero.
Non nascondo oggi il mio stupore quando si è presentata davanti a me con maglietta, short e scarpe da tennis, pensavo stesse andando a fare jogging o in palestra .Giornata di preghiera per la città ha detto. Le sue preghiere recitate in giro per la città, da un parco all’altro, hanno preso respiro. Non avevo mai pensato si potesse pregare anche in questo modo. Wow!
L’Italia e soprattutto la regione Sicilia, stanno attraversando un periodo di crisi economico-politico deleterio e se non si interviene immediatamente con le giuste manovre, il paese rischia il collasso. Oggi si concludono le elezioni amministrative nella mia città per l’elezione del sindaco e del consiglio comunale.
Credo che Dio oggi abbia mandato il suo angelo Hillary in giro per la città per lasciare delle benedizioni intorno a noi.
Grazie Signore Gesù, Tu pensi sempre a tutto, sei un Dio buono e ti manifesti a noi gente testarda, peccatrice e ingrata, sempre con amore e pazienza, aspettando che le anime di noi peccatori vengano a te.
Conoscerti sempre più da vicino è intrigante. I Tuoi modi mi lasciano senza fiato.
Mai come in questi ultimi giorni sto esclamando WOW!!!
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Grazie tante Alba! Tutta gloria a Dio!
-Any non-italian speaking readers interested in reading Alba’s comment, copy it into “Google Translate,” it is a pretty accurate rendition.
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