Well I had hoped to be doing a prayer letter about this time, but for
various reason that will have to be put off until after the new year.  So
let me start by wishing you all a Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year.

And now, on to the prayer requests...

December 19 the youth group will be doing a craft table outreach at the
market.  They have made and received (Thanks, Dave & Tracey) quite a few
"crafty" type gift items which they will be selling for minimal prices at
our book table.  All of the money received will go to an Evangelical
orphanage in southern Italy.  Each person who buys something will also
receive a small thank you note, that also speaks of God's gift to us and
exhorts them to accept "God's gift of eternal life thought Jesus Christ."

The exciting thing about this outreach is that it was conceived and
implemented by the youth group itself.  It is great to see their enthusiasm
to reach out with the Gospel.  Please pray that we will have good weather on
the 19th and that we would be able to sell all of the items.

December 23 we will have our "White Elephant" Christmas party with the
youth.  We are expecting a good turnout to this popular event.  Please pray
that the Lord would open the minds of those who come to understand the
Gospel message as it is presented.  Pray also for a good turnout.

Over the past few weeks Scott distributed tracts in two small towns down the
valley (Vogogna and Premosello).  Please pray that the 1,100+ tracts that
were placed in mailboxes would be used by God to draw people to Himself.

And last, but not least, Scott has finally got around to updating our
website (www.snsmaclean.net).  There are new news items and prayer requests
there now, and Scott will be trying to get some new pictures (of our
Thanksgiving outreach) and updated support information put up in the next
few days.

Thank you again for your prayers and support of the work here in the Ossola
Valleys.  You are appreciated!

His Servants,
Scott & Sharon MacLean

Hello,

Passions run deep! When something strikes the beliefs one holds dearly tempers can easily flare up. Italy cut her ties to the Roman Catholic Church in 1986. As a result, Italy has become a lay state make all religions equal before the law and not officially endorsing any single faith or belief system. One result of the pact Mussolini signed with the pope in 1929 was that all government offices and school classrooms had to have a crucifix. Because of the separation of Church and State in 1986 this is no longer required. An Italian lady took her case to remove the crucifixes from the classrooms to the supreme court of Europe and won. The Supreme Court of Europe ruled that Italy must remove all crucifixes from all public offices by the New Year.

You can imagine how much ink this has caused to be spilled in the newspapers. This ruling has given me many opportunities to share the gospel as people continually ask me for my opinion on the ruling. Whether Italy will comply with the ruling is another matter but, thank the Lord, I have been able to talk about the death and resurrection of Christ.

In my daily street evangelism I try to speak to those I meet on a regular basis. A short time ago a man asked me if I could give him a book that would explain what faith in Jesus meant. Because I knew him well I gave him 5 books to read. The following week he said: “It all sounds to easy. Just have faith in Jesus.” I met him that evening and explained that sin is an offense against God’s honour and because He is the Infinite One what sin does to Him is more to the point than any pain it may cause us. We are helpless to rectify our sin because it requires infinite restitution. Even if we were always perfectly good from that moment on, (which no one ever can) we would only give God what we are required to. So God, in His grace, took the initiative and sent His Son to pay for us what we could never pay. Then God could cover our sin with His righteousness and restore our broken relationship giving us, in love, His every blessing.

As I further explained that salvation could only be by faith in the completed work of Christ he repeatedly said: “But the pope says…” explaining a salvation by religious works. For one who was born and grew up in Rome, his response did not surprise me. I asked: “Can God lie? Can His Word be wrong? You have to decide to whom you will give your allegiance—God or the pope.” We left that he would continue reading and we would talk more later on.

A real source of encouragement to us is the number of times the believers in our church tell us of how they have been sharing their faith with family and friends. I thank the Lord for this real evidence of their love for God.

Thank you for your partnership with us in the cause of Christ. May God’s grace be upon you.

Mario and Rose

27.11.2009

Dear Brethren and sisters in the Lord Jesus,

In October we have received a letter from a prison. Joseph, from Sicily, listen our radio station and had some questions. He is already for 10 years in prison and has evangelical parents. But before he got arrested he didn’t like Jesus.

November 14^th, I and the two elders of the assembly of Sassari, have had a conversation with Anna, who is divorced and living with a divorced man. Evangelina made her acquaintance from door to door. She is coming already several years to all church services and since some month comes also the man with whom she is living. We told her that she is living in adultery. Now she has asked to be baptised. Therefore it was really time to speak with her. She thought that marriage would resolve her situation. I had to tell her that her divorce has no value before God and that her first man is still her husband. If she likes to resolve her problem she has to leave the man she is living with. Conversion means to abandon sin and follow Jesus. If she likes to continue to live in sin she has not experienced the new life in Christ.

November 15^th we should have had a second reconciliation meeting with two families in Porto Torres. Unfortunately the meeting was cancelled. As alternative I proposed a meeting with the two separated assemblies. I would have made an exposition what the Bible teaches about reconciliation, afterwards there should be a time of prayer and then it would have the possibility to ask forgiveness in public or personally. But this proposal was refused. Now I made an appointment with one brother of the other assembly for December 5^th. We will see. The Lord may give us wisdom.

December 5th  we will have also a second conversation with Caterina, who came back after years of absence. We expect that she will eliminate eventual grudges and be ready to tell the assembly why she came back.

We thank the Lord that we have had already two meetings with Laura of Tempio. She does esteem us highly because of our engagement with her mother, who has been baptised many years ago in a Pentecostal church but coming back to Sardinia did not have any nourishment, besides that of listening to our radio. Since we live in Tempio we are visiting her regularly.

Evangelina has made several contacts with ladies and is hoping that they will not backslide as so many have already done after several month of spiritual cure. The greatest delusion has been recently Monica who lives just two houses distant. It seemed that she had made her decision for Jesus, but …. She frequented our meetings already nearly 3 years.

November 22^nd we have had the second worship service in our home. In the morning we have participated at the service in Olbia, where we are much expected.

Recently I have received two E-Mail letters from Russia of two ladies who try to find a husband. I told them that I am happily married and what they need before all is not a husband but Jesus. In this way we reach also Russia with the Gospel.

We don’t know if we have told you already that our radio is in internet and can be received in the whole world www.radiovitanuova.org

Sincere greetings   Klaus & Evangelina

Thank you for your prayers for our Thanksgiving dinner that we held on
Friday evening.  The dinner went well, despite the turkey being done almost
an hour and a half early.  Everyone seemed to have a great time (and ate
well), and the ladies that came over to help did a wonderful skit about the
origins of Thanksgiving that led nicely into a brief presentation of the
Gospel.  We will have some pictures on our website in the coming days (or
weeks ;-) )

We did not have as many show up as we would have liked (only 33), but over
half of these were guests (i.e. not a part of our church).  Please be in
prayer for those who were there, that the seeds that were planted will find
fertile soil, and that we would be able to discuss these things again with
them at some point.

The ladies also helped with tract distribution in Vogogna (a town down the
valley).  Scott will be finishing up in that town and another one near it in
the coming weeks.  He will have a book table in the Vogogna market this
Friday and next, where people can use the coupon for a free Scripture
Calendar.  The coupon was included in the tracts we are distributing.

Pray also for the other calendars we will be giving out in the coming weeks.
These "page a day" calendars are a great way to get the Bible into the homes
and in a place where it might be read.

His Servants,
Scott & Sharon MacLean

Please be in prayer for a Thanksgiving Dinner outreach that we have planned
for November 20.  Three ladies associated with one of our supporting
churches in Florida are coming over to help with the preparations for the
supper.  We are hoping to have a total of around 60 folks (including about
20 from the church) come to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving dinner,
followed by a brief presentation on the historic significance of
Thanksgiving Day.  The evening will give us a chance to explain the Gospel
message as well.

Please pray that we would have a good turnout for the dinner.  So far we
have not had many who are able to attend (other plans, lack of interest, who
knows what else).  So please pray that we will be able to get a good number
coming out for this event.  Pray also for safety in travel for those coming
to help, and that all the myriad of details will fall into place.

Thank you for your prayers!

His Servants,
Scott & Sharon MacLean