The Blessing of Friendship

Janie, Iain, and I were very encouraged by a five-day visit from Rev. Brian Cochran, pastor of Redeemer Reformation Church in Regina, Canada, and his lovely wife Julie. Although we enjoy many friendships here in Italy, pastors and pastors’ wives need to spend time together. As John Stott said, “The same apostle (Paul) who set his love and hope upon the coming of Christ, nevertheless also longed to see his colleague Timothy. The two longings are not incompatible...Human friendship is the loving provision of God for mankind.” We are grateful for the fellowship we enjoyed with the Cochrans while they stayed in our home.

Moreover, Pastor Brian preached an excellent sermon from John 6:16-21 on Jesus calming the storm. It was a timely and pastoral message for many people who are going through various stormy trials in life. How comforting it is to know that our great God and Savior is not only with us in every storm, but also sovereign over every circumstance. Indeed, we can bring all of fears to Him, for He has promised to bring us home to our peaceful land
of rest.

We also had a visitor from Caledonia, Michigan. Tom Ryskamp is a member of the Dutton United Reformed Church and has been working during the summer as a pianist for the Saluzzo Opera Academy in the Piedmont region. Tom traveled more than four hours by train in order to worship with us in Milan. We were happy to have him over for lunch after the service and get to know him a little better.

Joint Worship Services during August

Another special feature of Pastor Cochran’s visit to Milan was that on the Sunday he preached at Chiesa Riformata Filadelfia we had a joint worship service with Chiesa Presbiteriana di Legnano, the only other confessional church in Milan. As I mentioned last year, in order to strengthen the bonds between our churches, our consistories/sessions have committed to holding two joint worship services every August. The idea is for both congregations to worship together, one Sunday at Chiesa Presbiteriana di Legnano, and the following Sunday at Chiesa Riformata Filadelfia. It provides us with rich fellowship and the opportunity to know one another better. We plan to repeat this event next year and hope that we find other activities that we can do together.

Visit to the United States and Canada

This past month, I had the privilege of traveling to North America to preach and give a presentation on Mission Milan in four URC churches: New Haven URC in Vermont; Living Water URC in Brantford, ON; Rehoboth URC in Hamilton, ON; and Zion URC in Sheffield, ON. In each church, I was warmly received. The interest in Mission Milan among our sister churches in the URCNA is very encouraging.

During this trip to North America, Janie, Iain and I were able to spend some much-needed time with our family: our daughters Kayla and Aly, our son Isaac, our son-in-law Kevin, and our marvelous granddaughter Bella. As I have said before, the most difficult thing about being a foreign missionary is not being able to see our children more. We are also very grateful that, while we were in the United States, Iain was able to attend the 2023 national convention of Reformed Youth Services, held at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. There were about 850 kids from various URC churches around the United States. Iain came back very encouraged, having made several friends his age who are serious about their faith. He was able to reconnect and spend time with several kids he knew from Christ URC in Santee, California. He also appreciated the workshops and sessions, and says that he wants to attend next year if possible. Praise God!

For more extensive updates and other news visit our website: missionmilan.org