Lord willing we are moving to Italy!
We are both super excited and extremely saddened to announce that we have decided to become missionaries to Italy.
We are excited because Italy is such a needy country! With way less than 1% of the population being evangelicals, and with over thirty thousand towns and cities without any Christians in them, Italy remains one of the neediest countries in the world for missionaries. It is also considered the graveyard of missionaries. Most missionaries (about 90%) that move to Italy quit before they ever reach year five! Part of it is the fact that most missionaries only see a couple of converts in their first ten years of ministry and it can take more than ten years to plant a healthy church. The other issue is that American families have a hard time assimilating in the Italian culture. So despite being fully aware of all these things and perhaps even motivated by them, we are super excited to spend many years serving the church and evangelizing in this needy country!
We are also extremely saddened over the prospect of leaving Immanuel. Over the past five years, we have grown to love and cherish this incredible church. This church has truly made it difficult (in a good way) for us to take this step towards becoming missionaries. We will be leaving our IBC family and our eyes fill with tears just thinking about it.
It is not going to be easy! As we said before this country is a difficult country to minister in. The ground is hardened due to the control of the Roman Catholic Church. And though known for its beauty and great cuisine this country is needing trained men and women who can come and start solid churches. We go having grown spiritually and learned a tremendous amount watching the faithful saints at Immanuel who have loved us, and shown us how to be a church that truly loves God's Word and His people.
We go knowing that God will be with us every step of the way. But we go knowing that we need your help as well. We need you to partner with us!
We are excited about raising prayer partners! Would you consider being part of our prayer team? All you would have to do is sign up for our Newsletter and commit to praying for us each time you get an update. Another thing you can do is get a prayer card from us place it on your fridge and pray for us every time you get food! Also, you could pray for us every time you eat Italian food, we'll even count Pizza Hut and Olive Garden!
We can't leave without support partners! While raising support is a daunting challenge, we are excited about the opportunity to raise partners in this area. We strongly believe that Italy desperately needs missionaries and that God has called us to go so we are trusting that He will provide for us! If God has called you to partner with us there are three ways you can give. The first is by mailing a check, the second is by setting up a direct deposit, and the third is through credit card donation. We need both one-time gifts for relocation and monthly gifts for our monthly expenses, both have to be 100% before our mission will allow us to leave. Our planned departure date will be May 2020 but that all depends on how quickly we can raise our support! You can see the different ways to give with more details here.
Thank you, Immanuel, for five wonderful years and Grace Community Church for ten! We are saddened to go but know that through your partnership in the Gospel, and through your prayers, the Lord will help us and always go with us!
If you have any questions please email us at standridgejl@gmail.com.
With Love,
The Standridges
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