As I lay in bed one night, my husband’s words floated around me like an evanescent dream:
“I had a conversation with someone at the end of the conference, and they were telling me about how hard it was for the gospel in Italy. Babe, I sensed the Lord putting a burden on my heart for Italy. I think He has something for us there!”
My initial reaction to these words could be described in one word: astonishment. God had answered my prayer in such a precise way!
A Big Answer to a Simple Prayer
Just a few weeks earlier, I’d been wrestling with God regarding where we lived. In prayer, I’d sensed God had somewhere else for us, but I didn’t know where.
In that time of prayer, Mark 10:29-30 had also come to mind, but I was unsure whether this was God speaking about us moving overseas or simply my own memories from childhood influencing my feelings. (After all, I’d moved with my family from the UK to Portugal when I was 3, after my parents had sensed the Lord calling us there.)
So I’d simply prayed, “If this is you, Lord, if You want us to move to another country, please speak to Luís!”
Two weeks later, there I was lying in bed, hearing my husband tell me that God had spoken to him about us moving to Italy.
While I was astonished at first, soon excitement took over, and my heart began beating faster, like an express train gaining speed. After all, I had amazing memories of going with my family to another country for the sake of sharing the Gospel.
Sharing the Gospel Abroad
I could remember the adventures of those early days when we lived two streets away from the ocean and we went to the beach daily. I also had fond memories of having playtime and sleepovers with fellow missionary kids who became like cousins to me.
Most of all, I remember life being an adventure of faith. We lived simply—rarely eating out, only wearing hand-me-down clothes, and keeping our schedule free of extracurricular activities—but we also had people over for meals, my parents helped the poor with clothes and food, and we traveled around the country and explored the cultural heritage.
After the initial shock and excitement that night with my husband, I experienced deep joy at the realization: God was calling us to Italy! Italy, the country I had become enamored with as a teenager after watching A Room With A View and Life Is Beautiful, the language of which I’d fallen in love with after listening to Laura Pausini and Andrea Bocelli songs, and the destination I had chosen for our honeymoon 10 years before this fateful night.
Fast forward three years, and here I am writing at the kitchen table of our little home near Rome.
Processing our call to Italy was long and laborious, so as I sit here, I am deeply grateful.
Following God’s Direction Even When Doubt Creeps In
In our journey, we had to first process what God was saying to us as a couple, then with the other elders in our church, and finally with the wider leadership team. After this, we needed to wait for God’s timing, direction, and opening of doors.
The particular city we felt God calling us to was a coastal town on the outskirts of Rome. With its beaches and easy access to the Eternal City by train, it’s a popular vacation town—a fact that became obvious when scouring the Internet for houses! Long-term rentals were not only rare but also mostly restricted to tiny apartments for two or three people, not houses for a family of five. Added to that, we weren’t even Italian. Who would risk renting to us?
Then, one day, at a weekend leaders’ conference, someone gave us a word of encouragement that God had everything lined up: a house for us as a family and a school for the kids. This word brought tears to my eyes, but I admit, later on there were still times when I struggled with doubt. I knew God wouldn’t allow us to be homeless, but I wondered what kind of house we would get and how close it would even be to a school.
Despite these challenges, we continued to take steps of faith, culminating in the biggest step of all: our move to Italy in July 2025. With no permanent house lined up, we were relying solely on an Airbnb rental for the first six weeks.
By this time, a friend from the church had suggested a good school, but getting the children enrolled meant wrestling with the paperwork, an effort that demanded every ounce of our faith and perseverance.
Added to that, we still didn’t have a permanent rental lined up, and August—the month when Italy slows to a snail’s pace—was rapidly racing toward us.
But God intervened. At the end of July, we found a lovely house with a garden! Although we didn’t sign the contract until September (a long story!), we knew this was the house God had prepared for us. Not only was it within walking distance of the city center, the sea, and the train station, but it was also around 1,300 square feet, which made the house spacious for Italian rental standards!
Amusingly, it took us a few weeks to realize that the house was also really close to the school we’d registered the kids at—as in just a three-minute walk away!
It was actually at this point that I remembered the word of encouragement we’d received at the conference. God had already planned everything. All we needed to do was take steps of faith, despite our questions and doubts.
Can We Trust God’s Plans for Us?
God’s plans can be trusted, because God can be trusted.
Indeed, love is the very essence of who God is. We see God’s love displayed throughout the entire library of Scripture, and we see it ultimately embodied in Jesus Himself.
In Scripture, we see that the Son not only left the glory of heaven and dwelt with us in this broken world, but He also suffered grief, rejection, persecution, and ultimately physical torture until death—all because of his love for us.
While our tendency is to escape into our bubbles of comfort whenever we experience even a tiny itch of trouble, Jesus faced excruciating pain so that we could be free from the shackles of sin and experience eternal life with Him.
God’s plans for us do not mean our circumstances will always be problem-free. After all, we live in a broken reality, constantly contending against the flesh, the world, and the enemy.
As a family, we’ve experienced so many blessings here in Italy—delicious food, beautiful landscapes, and wonderful exposure to history and culture—but we’ve also faced many hardships. From heavy schoolwork demands for the children as they learn a third language, to living in a house three times smaller than our previous one. (Among other things, this entails having just one bathroom for the five of us!)
Not only that, but moving away from family, friends, and work colleagues has meant fewer opportunities for connection, while the simple act of living in a new country continues to force us to confront the hurdles of language acquisition and cultural adjustment.
Our Hardships Serve a Greater Purpose
Jesus never guaranteed a problem-free existence. Instead, He guaranteed, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33).
Yet, a promise of victory immediately followed, “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Through His life of perfect obedience, His death, and His resurrection, Jesus conquered the power of sin, death, and evil, securing for us everlasting life now and the hope of future glory.
Scripture also assures us that our affliction is not pointless; it serves several purposes:
- Refinement: Just as fire purifies gold and silver, our troubles serve to purify us and make us more like Jesus.
- Goodness: For those who love God, we have the promise that He works all things together for our ultimate good.
- Glory: “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Yet, understanding the purpose of our affliction is only half the picture; the power to endure these trials must come from an unfailing source.
Our ability to navigate hardship rests solely on the unchanging nature of God. He is forever faithful, altogether good, ultimately powerful, and completely holy. When we abide in Him, we discover His inexhaustible gifts—His peace, power, and presence—which sustain us, even on the darkest of days.
This present sustenance gives us immovable hope as we look forward to the ultimate fulfillment of His victory. One day, Jesus will return, and He will wipe every tear from our eyes, ushering in a time where “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4).
