Italian Souls for Christ

“For which of you intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?” – Luke 14:28,31

I started making calls to pastors last August knowing that we would begin deputation in October. Before I ever made my first call I laid out a plan on how to approach this time of pre-field ministry. Sandy was expecting our second child in April so I figured I would continue working my job as an engineer in order to have health insurance for the birth. I would put our house up for sale in March because the mission house at our home church would be available to us in the Spring, after the Brodgens returned to the mission field of Papua New Guinea. The house would surely sell by May and I could then quit my job to go “full time” on deputation.

I schedule meetings within a 5 hour radius of our house through June (Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, Indiana, and Kentucky) in order to accommodate my job as well as give Sandy a couple months after the birth before we “hit the road” for meetings a great distance from home. The church where my uncle serves as pastor scheduled us for their mission conference in September which would bring us back to Ohio, which left July and August. I decided to schedule meetings in the northeast during this time to avoid traveling hazards in this part of the country in wintertime. July was filled with dates in New York and August with meetings in New England. I was pleased with my plan; however there turned out to be one problem… we entered June and our house still has not sold nor have we reached a percentage of support to where I could make our house payments and support my family without my job.

This has turned out to be a heavy burden as it has required me to continue working my job as I travel every weekend and some Wednesdays sharing our burden of reaching Italian souls for Christ. I realize that there are differing opinions of when a missionary should go “full time.” My personal conviction is that outside of my relationship with the Lord, my primary obligation is to provide for my wife and children and maintain a good testimony by paying my bills. I believe I could quit my job once we reached around 35% of our support but we are not there yet. If our house sold I would quit my job at our current support level.

I probably spend about three hours on the phone for every meeting I book so the thirteen meetings booked in July and the fourteen dates in August represent a significant investment of time. Why wouldn’t the Lord bring the right buyer to our house so that I could quit my job and not have to cancel or reschedule the meetings in the northeast? I know He has called me to reach Italian souls for Christ so why would He allow any delay in getting to a field that has so few gospel witnesses? I didn’t understand.

Five years ago we bought our house from a young Catholic woman. At closing she told us St. Joseph had answered her prayers. Although the practice is particularly common in Italy, some Catholic home sellers here in America go through this superstition as well in seeking Joseph’s help in finding a buyer. When petitioning St. Joseph for help in selling a home, the person buries a small statue of the “saint” upside down in the ground, facing away from the house but near the “For Sale” sign. After the statue has been buried, a short prayer is offered, asking Joseph’s help in finding a worthy buyer for the home. The statue is buried upside down to place the saint in a difficult position. It’s assumed that making Joseph suffer until the property has been sold will give the “saint” a greater incentive for bringing about a speedy sale. As time went on without an offer I begin to think about this … I didn’t understand how a woman who credited a pagan ritual for selling her house sold it so easily whereas a Bible-believing Christian that was obeying the Lord’s command to preach the gospel in a foreign land was having such a difficult time.

We have prayed fervently for months to sell our house and I must confess that there have been times I have argued with the Lord as to why He has not answered. (The above two paragraphs are just a couple of the complaints I laid before the Lord). One day as I was reading the book of Daniel the Lord reproved me for my grumblings as I read the words of a wicked king in Daniel chapter 4…

“And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” – Daniel 4:34,35

The Holy Spirit brought conviction as I considered the most High… His sovereignty, His power, His omniscience.

The Holy Spirit reminded me of who I am outside of Christ… I am reputed as nothing.

The Holy Spirit comforted me that the Lord does not act arbitrarily nor is He aloof to my problems… He does according to His will.

The Holy Spirit rebuked me that I, as a vessel of clay, would question my Maker, “What doest thou?”

I don’t know when our house will sell, I don’t understand the Lord’s timing, but I do know He is good and does good all the time. The Lord has given me just enough light to take deputation one step at a time, depending completely on Him, as it should be. Should our house not sell in time, I plan on making the 6 to 10 hour commute from our home in southern Ohio to meetings in western New York in July using vacation days if possible and when necessary. If the Lord wills, I will not have to change any of our future meetings. I know that the Lord is in control and that He has called me to Italy to reach Italian souls for Christ and He will get us there in His time.

“Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” – James 4:13-15