Very Grateful
Posted on April 6, 2017 by Reid Karr
We have so much to be grateful for!! We praise the Lord for His faithfulness and for how He is at work through the KKF. We also praise the Lord for each one of you who continues to faithfully support the KKF and its vision and initiatives to serve the church and the spread of the gospel in Italy and beyond.
Thank you all so very much for your prayers and for your faithful and generous giving. The Lord truly is at work. With this update we hope to give you insight into how the Lord is using the KKF and your generosity for His name’s sake and the spread of the gospel in Rome, Italy, and in other parts of the world.
It has been too long since our last update, but there have been a few things in the works that we wanted to have finalized before sending out this update. Naturally those things took longer than expected to fall into place, but by God’s grace they now have and so we are excited to share them with you here.
The pictures of the staircase above won’t mean much to you, but for the church Breccia di Roma, for ICED (Evangelical Cultural Institute) and IFED (Evangelical Training Institute), and for all the activities that take place within the walls of this building the Lord has given us, the installation of this staircase marks the end of many many months of waiting and praying for the work to be completed. On the last day of December in 2015 we signed the contract on this building, and finally on April 3, 2017 the above staircase was installed, signaling the end of all the work that has gone into preparing this building for ministry and gospel-centered activities. Due to the long wait and anticipation, we have nicknamed the staircase the “Holy Stairs!” The church has been meeting here since July of last year, and has hosted other activities as well, but now the building is complete, and for that we are so thankful. The KKF has contributed approximately $70,000 to these efforts! We have only the Lord and each one of you to thank for that! What a blessing it has been to be able to contribute to such important gospel-centered work. The staircase connects the main floor to the theological library and office space below. We invite you to come and see it in person!
No time was wasted in hosting the building’s first cultural event post-installation of the “holy stairs.” Above is a picture from Saturday April 8th. Two academics were invited to discuss the relevance of “Sola Scriptura” for the church, both historically and for today. The event was in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Professor Pietro Bolognesi (professor of systematic theology with IFED) came from Padova, Italy to represent an Evangelical take on Sola Scriptura, and (get ready for this name) Monsignor Melchor Sànchez De Toca y Alameda (with the Pontifical Cultural Council) represented a Catholic point of view. It was a fascinating discussion and the church was thankful for the opportunity to proclaim the gospel and uphold the authority of Scripture, both for the church and our lives.
Linda and Liberato
More exciting news! The picture above is of Liberato Vitale and his wife Linda Acunto (in Italy the wife doesn’t take the last name of the husband). They were married in October of 2015, just a couple months after Kyra’s passing. After getting married they followed God’s calling to settle down in Rome and serve Him and His church there. To do so they had to overcome several obstacles and face many challenges, ultimately placing the unknowns and their faith in the Lord’s hands and trusting in their clear calling. One of the challenges they faced was a job for Liberato. While Linda works and serves the Lord through her skills as a photographer, Liberato also needed a job, as living in Rome is not cheap. To make a very long story short, after much prayer the church Breccia di Roma, through the initiatives of ICED (the Evangelical cultural association we operate out of our building), decided to offer Liberato a part time job with ICED. The KKF contributes to his monthly salary, thus playing a part in this young family’s call to Rome to serve the church for the sake of the gospel. It is a huge honor to be able to serve this family, and in turn the church, and to provide in a small way for them. Again, we have the Lord and you to thank for that! At the end of this post is an interview conducted with Linda and Liberato so that you can get to know them and their stories a little better. Take the time and read it here!
We are not sure of the security issues that might be at stake, so we won’t list the names of the young people pictured above. They are three young Indian believers who are launching a business as missions initiative in their community for the spread of the gospel. They recently had a fund raiser that helped raise money for a coffee house they want to open. The logo they created, which contains the name of the coffee house, is pictured above. Thanks to your generosity, the KKF was able to make a contribution towards these important efforts in a country largely void of the gospel. Because of the generosity of many, they reached their goal and will be able to move forward with their plans! How exciting it is to be a part of God’s work not only in Italy but also in other parts of the world. Please pray for them and the important work they will undertake. If you would like more information about their ministry, or how you can support them directly, let us know and we’ll be sure to put you in touch with the right people.
As you can see, we have so much to be grateful and thankful for! We can’t say enough how thankful we are for your generosity and support. We work hard to be good stewards of the resources you entrust us with and pray we are succeeding in this important endeavor. Please pray for the KKF, that God will be honored and glorified in all we do, and that He will be our wisdom and vision. This was Kyra’s constant prayer, and so it is our’s as well on behalf of the Foundation in her name. To God be the glory!
Soon we’ll be in touch concerning the 2nd annual KKF Fundraiser! Also, the website contains clear instruction on how you can give financially to support the KKF and its initiatives, such as the ones listed here.