Continued Prayer for Olga Marcucci

Some of you may have heard the news that one of our Italian friends recently lost her husband. Please pray for peace and that we would be able to share God's love with her in her grieving process.

One of our other friends, Maria, experienced the same loss last year. We've spoken with both ladies and their friendship has really blossomed. What a blessing that we've been allowed to witness little miracles in so short a time.

Ellie's Dedication Service

Life and Ministry with a Baby

Wow.... To all you experienced parents out there: How do you do it??? We are excited and incredibly grateful that God gave us an adorable little girl, and yes, she is keeping us up all hours of the night, eating and eating. She's growing like a weed!

I don't think there's such a thing as getting adjusted to parenthood, so let's just say we have accepted the fact that she's here to stay, and we're ready to press forward into the next step of our ministry whether we've gotten a full night's sleep or not.

Look for our next newsletter in the mail within the next week or two. We can't wait to report back on our progress with meeting new Italians and sharing God's love with the Italian community in Austin.

We love you all. God bless,
The Brusses

Ministry Update and Baby News

Hello everyone,

I apologize for our blogging absence these last few months. As many--if not all--of you know, Abbie is now 33 weeks pregnant and in a LOT of pain. This has been one very complicated pregnancy.

In the midst of everything that has been going on this fall (work, school, pregnancy, etc...), we have been blessed to continue to develop our relationship with a few Italian families in the southwest region of Austin. Even though we can't always get together for a meal, we've been in touch over the phone and making plans for our next get-together.

Abbie is due to have her cervical cerclage removed on January 20th, after which we anticipate very quick progression into delivery. She is having at least 1 major episode of multiple contracts every day now. Each time, we get very close to going to the hospital.

After Eliana is born, we look forward to getting back to a routine!! We have big plans for 2010 and are excited to build relationships and communities with new Italian friends in Austin and in Italy.

Stay tuned for more details about next year. We hope to have a paper newsletter put together shortly as well!

All the best,
Adam & Abbie

Our First Community Event

I wanted to keep everyone updated on the progress toward our first community event. We have the date booked for September 26th at 6:00pm. The event will be a Pizza Cook-Off, held at our apartment club house, which is a very nice space for this type of event.

The event invitations are on their way, and we will be praying that God brings us lots of Italians, eager to start relationships with us and each other. Please pray for the 50+ families that will receive invitations for this particular event.

From our August 2009 Newsletter

Bi-Monthly Report - June & July
I want to start by apologizing to some who may not have seen our June newsletter. With all the rush of getting prepared for our trip to Georgia, we prepared the newsletter but were unable to mail it out.

Our trip to Georgia was a real blessing! We weren’t able to meet with as many families as we had hoped, due to time and scheduling constraints, but it was still a good opportunity to spend time with family and plant the seed of Italy’s spiritual need at Northside Baptist Church. We got the opportunity to share our ministry with the whole church on Sunday morning and again with the kids on Wednesday night.

While in Georgia, we also found out that Abbie is pregnant! She is due the third week of February, which was also Alberto’s due date. Needless to say, we have no plans to go to Italy until after the baby is born. Please pray for Abbie’s health. So far, she was been very sick every day, and nothing seems to help. Hopefully her doctor can offer some assistance with that.


Progress Report
We all know that Italy is an expensive place to live, but we also know that Italians need Christ. When we fill this plane, we’ll be ready to go, so get your tickets ready; we’re going to Italy!









Reaching Out to Local Italians
Get ready for some exciting news over the next couple months, because our first outreach event for local Italians is scheduled for September. We’re going to host a pizza cook-off for Italian families living in SW Austin. We’ll be finishing up some of the event details over the next week or two, but we can’t wait to start building relationships with Italians right here in our own backyard!

From our June 2009 Newsletter

Monthly Report - April & May
In the last few months, we have seen God provide in amazing ways! We spent all of April praying that God would provide the right people for our Board of Directors, and by early May, the board was staffed and meeting. As a result, our ministry has taken on a few key changes that will allow us to make an even greater impact for the Kingdom. For more details, check out our revised presentation at www.MissionItaly.org.

God also provided another set of wheels for us! Abbie and I had been sharing our little Corolla for about 18 months, and it was becoming very difficult to manage two working schedules. Long story short, God blessed us with everything we were looking for in a car, including the right terms of financing. What a blessing!

Finally, we have great news on the education front. I have been cleared for take-off by the Dean of Fine Arts at UT. Starting August 24th, I will be enrolled in 3 classes at Austin Community College for the completion of my degree. I will be finished by December 2009, and my official graduation date will be May 2010.


Progress Report
We have been working hard since the formation of our Board of Directors to raise $1,500 by the time we left for Georgia. We were able to raise $1,100 toward that goal.

Our next support goal is $2,500 by August. We are praying that friends and family in the Georgia and Florida area will be generous in their support. These goals are extremely important to us, especially as we are approaching my last semester of college. We will need this money in time to pay for tuition and books. We are so grateful to have such giving friends and family. You have all been a great blessing to us!

Taking Our Show on the Road
We have finally gotten a start to our summer trip that will take us to Georgia and Florida. Please pray for safe travel and a positive response to our ministry as we raise support in Abbie’s home town of Brunswick, Georgia.