Jonathan and Melodee Whitman

Greetings from my living room! I have tested negative of Covid with my home test, so I can move around the house! Hopefully tomorrow we can make it official, so that I can get back out into the real world.

Thank you for praying for Claudio. Here is one of my favorite pictures from a while back. I can’t believe Noah is eleven now!

Yesterday Claudio went to be with the Lord, for his great joy and our great loss.

Claudio came to faith after many years of praying on the part of the church and Donatella, his wife. When he gave his life to God, he was a new man! Until his sickness, he was a very active servant. He loved serving God and others, including our family. Even after his sickness, he became an avid reader of God’s Word and of other Christian books. He always had his pen and ruler out to take notes.

Praise God for faithful servants. Please continue to pray for Donatella and the rest of his family. Your prayers have sustained Donatella in the loss of her best friend, and her testimony has been great.

Praise the Lord, that in a culture where death brings no hope or certainty, a life given to God brings joy and certainty. May we continue to share this hope to all who will hear!

Sometimes life comes at you with unexpected blessings and opportunities!

Greetings from my bedroom!
Now, before you either think I am a terrible slacker or worse yet a workaholic working when I am supposed to be resting in bed, let me explain.

Life can take unforeseen turns sometimes. I don’t need to tell YOU that!
Truth is…

I got another case of the COVID. Yeah… I got back from Torino rearing to go, excited to see my family again and our church family too. I also got called to play in several band concerts…

But I got Covid instead, so I got sick, had to cancel my concerts, wasn’t able to resume preaching, have not been able to serve in church at all, and I don’t get to see my family, except when they sheepishly drop my food off.

At least I have a nice view! And a comfortable bed! Melodee is stuck on the couch for the duration!

Here are a few blessings since we last spoke:
1. We were able to finalize our Italian taxes in time and even had enough money to pay for them!
Thank you to all of you who inquired on how to help us through that! Let’s just say that the money was there, and the house search is now off… but as I said, we have a great view from our window!
2. We were able to celebrate Eva’s birthday with her cousins in Imola!
3. Melodee has been amazing to me.
4. My Dad has done an outstanding job filling in with preaching and pastoral care.
5. I’m well enough today to write you!

Here are a few prayer requests:
1. Pray for Claudio and Donatella, from our church. Claudio is in critical condition with heart failure, and may very well be looking at his last days on earth.
Thankfully, my Dad, as well as Maria Luisa and others, have been able to be close to them in this time.
We started a 24-hour prayer chain for Claudio.
If you would like to sign up for a time slot, let me know.
2. Pray that I can get out of Covid by Thursday. We are supposed to lead a group from church to a conference.
3. Pray for Melodee who has so much more to do with me out of commission.
4. Pray that I can keep food down. I caught a nasty bug in Torino that keeps coming back.
5. Pray that I can make the most of this solitude. I pray we can grow in our ability to serve the Italian people and Christ’s church! Pray for my parents, and they hold down the fort and Dann and Liz finish their furlough in the States.

Gratefully,
Jon (and Melodee)