What is Our Plan?

Having relocated to Italy, we intend to plant and establish an interconnected network of gospel-preaching churches that are self-sustaining and led by well-equipped Italians who reproduce, govern, and nourish themselves.

This is an endeavor of gospel-partnership! We respect and thank God for missionaries who launch into the field with the support of missions agencies. Our situation is different. Our conviction is that interconnected local churches should extend the global and local mission of Jesus Christ - we believe churches should plant churches! We are extremely humbled and grateful to do so as part of a family of churches, Sovereign Grace Churches. In light of this, you should know that this plan has been reviewed and informed by counsel and input from our partners. There is accountability, care, and coaching built into each aspect of our approach. That said, we are still in need of support from YOU! If you are interested in supporting either by prayer or financially, you can find out how to do so in the “Contact and Support Us” section.

Our Partners

• CrossPointe Church: This our primary partner and sending church. They are providing some financial assistance and oversight as well as a great deal of relational care. If you decide to give financially, CrossPointe will oversee the administration.

• Sovereign Grace Mid-Atlantic Region: Our family of churches is arranged into smaller geographic regions for care, relationship, mission, and governance. CrossPointe Church is part of the Mid-Atlantic Region, which is comprised of churches in Maryland and Northern Virginia. This group will provide care, some financial assistance, and counsel and coaching.

• Sovereign Grace Global Missions: Our family of churches pursues global gospel expansion through prayerful and strategic initiative led by the Emerging Nations team. This group has expertise in navigating expansion into new territories. They will provide care, some financial assistance, coaching, and support for governance.

Around 50% of our financial need over the next 5 years is provided through the partnerships above. The remainder will come through individual donors, our personal savings, and Ed’s part-time work teaching English as a Second Language.

Plan Overview

Again, our plan is to plant and establish an interconnected network of gospel-preaching churches that are self-sustaining and led by well-equipped Italians who reproduce, govern, and nourish themselves. This will be accomplished over four phases:

• Transition from the US to Italy

• Language Acquisition and Cultural Adjustment

• Church Planting

• Building a Gospel Network

1. Transition from the US to Italy

   We relocated to Italy on 13 July 2022. Until 24 April 2022 Ed continued to lead CrossPointe Church. God graciously provided a new Lead Pastor for CrossPointe. He joined the staff in March 2022 and served alongside Ed for about 2 months, then was installed as the Lead Pastor and Ed transitioned to a support role for the remaining months until we relocated. During this phase, we focused on making a healthy transition as a family. This included spiritual and emotional care for leaving the US as well as envisioning and preparing our family for moving to Italy. It also included much logistical planning. We needed to sell most of our personal belongings, find a new home for our dog, and make plans for new housing in Italy. And of course the most important aspect of this phase was spending time with family, church family, and friends to say goodbye. It was a sweet but full season!

2. Language Acquisition, Adjustment, and Church Plant Planning

   In July 2022 we relocated to Catania, Italy which is in the region of Sicily. In Catania, our main job was to focus on language acquisition and cultural adjustment. After a year alongside our dear friends at Grazia e Verità which is led by our close friend, Giuseppe Fortuna, we relocated to Torino, in the north of Italy (see below) to begin the church planting process. The language and culture acquisition continues in Torino!