The Najmons

Italy For Christ Mission Serving in Lecce, Italy

March 2015

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Matthew 21:8,9

We covet your prayers!
Here are some ways you could be praying for us.

Prayer Requests:

That our monthly budget would be met
To continue progressing in the language
Planning for the year

Praises:

Increase in support, we are now at 35%
Seeing family through Skype
A good month

Happy Spring!

Ross and I hope that you enjoyed March. It seemed to fly by for us. It’s hard to believe April is already upon us. We had a nice month and we are happy to see the warmer weather. I love this time of year as everything starts to bloom and show signs of life after the cold days of winter. It is such a beautiful time filled with many reminders of Easter and the resurrection of Christ!

Our Budget

We are encouraged as we have had an increase in our monthly support. We are very thankful as we continue to move towards reaching our full monthly budget. We estimate that we will need $5,000 per month. This would provide what we need to be able to live and minister in Italy. Every time I say it, it sounds like such a large amount. However, we know the Lord can provide this and we are trusting that the Lord will. We would like to ask that you would continue to pray that our goal would be met. It is a big goal, yet we are continually encouraged by every step forward toward that goal. We recognize God is providing for us and he is definitely worthy of our praise!

The traditional dessert for Father’s Day:
Zeppola

More traditional holiday desserts!

Holidays and Traditions

March brought us a full month. Our classes and daily life were joined with Ross’ birthday, Father’s Day, and the start of the Easter traditions this month. One custom we have learned about in Italy is that at least one saint is remembered on each day of the year. This brings about different traditions, celebrations, or holidays. One typical practice is to wish someone well that has the same name of the saint that day. Our teacher’s name is Valentina, so on February 14 we would wish her “Buon Onomastico!” (lit. “happy name-day”) because that is the day that remembers St. Valentino. This calendar can also effect holidays, such as the date for Father’s Day. Since St. Giuseppe (Joseph) has the same name as Jesus’ father, Italy chose to recognize his day, March 19, as Father’s Day. To help celebrate this day there is also a special dessert that is made only on Father’s Day. We thought this was a neat custom. Many other holidays also bring similarly unique desserts made specially for that holiday.

For Ross’ birthday we were able to Skype with family. That was very special. We are so thankful for the technology that allows us to be able connect with our family and friends so far away. Ross was also loved on by friends in Italy. The Brunos took us to the movies. This was our first time in a theater here in Italy. We really enjoyed it and had a great time. We saw the new movie “Cinderella” or “Cenerentola” in Italian. The movie was dubbed in Italian without subtitles, so it was definitely a good test. Ross and I both were pleased with how much we were able to understand. We also enjoyed Italian pizza and cake and a night of fellowship together.

We enjoyed Palm Sunday. It was very neat to see so many olive branches throughout the city as many people will carry them to remember and celebrate this special Sunday. Here in Italy olive branches are often used in place of palm branches in part because olive trees are much more common, but also because they are a symbol of peace. We learned that some towns will even do processionals through the streets to remember Palm Sunday. Ross and I can feel the start of the Easter holiday and we are looking forward to celebrating Easter very soon.

We are still working on raising our funds to be able to move to Italy full-time. We were blessed with many one-time gifts to help make this year possible. We still have a quite a way to go to be able to move full-time. If you’d like to help in any way, please let us know. Thank you!

Committed: 35%
Remaining: 65%