Prayer Letter from Scott & Sharon MacLean
Scott & Sharon MacLean
version of this letter in .PDF format, visit the prayer letters page of our
website (www.snsmaclean.net/prayerletters.htm).
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Sudden Blessings .
June 2010 update on the ministry of Scott & Sharon MacLean serving in Italy
with CrossWorld
"Behold, children are a gift of the Lord," - Psalm 127:3
"This is the social services of Domodossola. We have an 18 month old girl
we would like to place with you. Can you come in to discuss it tomorrow
morning?" And with that phone call on May 27, our plans for the summer, and
our family itself were suddenly changed. :)
As I sit here to write this letter, less than one month later, we have the
joy of a new little girl as a part of our family. After 10 days of visits
and back and forth trips to Turin, we brought our child home yesterday. And
so now we are suddenly discovering the joys and the changes of adding a
second child to our family. Karis is thrilled to have a little sister, and
we are thrilled to have another little girl to love and care for.
We had begun the adoption process almost exactly two years ago. After nine
months of preliminaries, we had an interview with the judge and were placed
on the waiting list in February of last year.
Adoption placements here are at the sole digression of the children's court
judge, who tries to find the best family for each adoptable child. There
are many more available families than there are children to be adopted.
Hence the large majority of families on the "waiting list" never have a
child placed with them. For these and other reasons, we considered our
chances of being selected to adopt as very low. But God has blessed us with
another child!
The adoption has also caused a major change in our plans. Until the
adoption is final (estimated Fall 2011), we will not be able to take our new
daughter out of the country. Hence we have had to cancel our plans for home
ministry.
Scott, by himself, will be making a brief trip to the US sometime this fall
(likely in October). This will be a "mini home ministry" in which he hopes
to have at least a brief visit with most of our supporting churches. We
will communicate more details as the plans for this firm up.
As we remain here in Domodossola, the church with which we serve will be
entering a very challenging time. Filippo and Sandra (our co-workers) will
be in the US for one year. Filippo is working on a doctorate which all but
requires a year abroad. They will be sorely missed. They are a very gifted
couple and very active in the ministry here.
But with their departure, the Lord has given us a renewed boldness in asking
for Him to do great things. It actually made me think of how God whittled
down Gideon's army from small to impossibly small. On their last Sunday
here, we prayed as a church that the Lord would not only fill the empty
seats that they leave behind, but also go beyond that and cause us to
overflow the house where we meet on Sunday morning.
We also find ourselves wondering if the timing of the adoption was not the
Lord's way of keeping us here for this summer for a specific purpose. We
are excited to find out. In any case, a side benefit of the adoption will
be that it will open a whole new set of relationships (social workers,
adoption support group, and others) where the work of God in our lives can
shine. Here in Italy, relationships like that are very important in winning
a hearing for the Gospel message.
We have also had good opportunities recently to speak of the Gospel.
Children's clubs in the park (and the discussions afterwards), the ambulance
service, the book table and an "emergency English" class Scott taught at the
ambulance house. There are actually a couple folks that Scott has been able
to meet with on a regular basis who are willing to have continued
discussions about spiritual things. Please pray for these continued
discussions. Pray also for our continued "outdoor" outreaches such as the
children's clubs and witnessing in the town center.
Finally, do be in prayer for us as we adapt to the exciting changes that the
adoption has brought in to our life and face the challenges of the coming
year. We look forward to seeing how the Lord will work.
His Servants,
Scott, Sharon & Karis MacLean
*** Italian Info ***
The Italian word for soccer (calico) also means which of the following?
A) foot B) ball C) kick D) white
* Answer to last letter's question:
Approximately 4 million (D) legal foreigners live in Italy.
*** Quickly Noted . ***
** On our Website - More details about our adoption and some pictures. For
privacy and security reasons, we have decided not to post our new daughter's
name in any public part of our website (hence it is not in this letter).
For more information, you may contact us. When you contact us, we will give
you the username and password required to access the pictures and details
mentioned above.
** Support situation - While we were planning on finding additional support
during our time of home ministry, due to the stronger dollar, we should be
able to get by for a time on what we have. Scott will seek to renew our
support base a bit when he returns in October.
** New Prayer Card Coming - With the new addition, we'll be doing a new
prayer card. Those who get this letter by snail mail will see it in the
next letter. We will also be sending a few to each of our supporting
churches. For those who get our letter by e-mail, you can contact us and
request the new prayer card be mailed to you when it is available.
*** Prayer & Praise ***
* Praise for the adoption of an 18 month old girl, God's special blessing to
our family!
* Pray for us as we adapt to the changes of a two child family, and for our
new daughter as she adapts to living with a different family.
* Praise for the strengthening of the dollar. This will be a help to us as
we will not be able to come on home ministry this summer and renew our
support base.
* Pray for the Lord's continued provision of our financial needs.
* Join us in praying that the Lord would not only fill the empty seats the
Filippo and family have left, but also cause us to outgrow the house where
we are meeting. This is a big, bold request - but we have an awesome God.
* Continue to pray for the witness of two teens in our youth group to their
unsaved family members.
* Pray for a Jehovah's Witness with whom I have been having regular
conversations. I am seeking to create doubt and raise questions about what
he has been taught is true, but yet does not fit well with the Bible. There
are many JWs who live in our area.
* Pray for another man with whom I have been having regular conversations
about spiritual things. At times he seems quite close to making a decision.
* Pray that the Lord would give us the words to speak and the boldness to
proclaim them in a worthy manner as we share the Gospel. (Eph. 6:19-20)
* Pray for a great working of God in the Ossola Valleys. May He draw many
people to Himself and build His church!
*** Contact Information: ***
* Field Address:
Scott & Sharon MacLean
Via Ravasenga, 2
28845 Domodossola (VB)
ITALY
Phone: 011-39-0324-482-259
* Mission address:
CrossWorld
PO Box 306
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
Phone: 610-667-7660
CrossWorld is moving and the department that handles support has already
been relocated. So all financial support should be sent to:
CrossWorld
10000 N Oak Trafficway
Kansas City, MO 64155