Home Improvement

Italians certainly know how to demonstrate Paul's injunction to "Practice hospitality" (Romans 12:13b). Over the past week, a family from church invited me to share a meal in their home just about every other day. I greatly enjoyed these times of fellowship and getting to know my brothers and sisters in Christ!



The last two days we have had adventures with wall repairs in our apartment. Workers came to fix the falling interior wall in the bedroom and the moldy walls and ceiling in the bathroom. I wasn't expecting the process to be quite so chaotic, but I am thankful to have a landlord who takes care of such matters for us! Also a couple weeks ago we had workmen rappelling off our terrace to fix some precarious marble on the side of the building so that it would not fall on unsuspecting passersby below!



We had more visitors from Searcy yesterday, Carl and Frankie Mitchell and Bob and Joyce Corbin! While people seem to be always coming and going through Florence, not as many make it all the way down to Sicily, and it was great to see them! Dr. Mitchell is speaking about depression at a series of conferences today through Saturday in Messina, Enna, Paterno, and Catania. We've been distributing flyers in these cities and are hoping for good attendance! Please pray that the conferences go well and are able to positively impact people's lives.

Give Me Your Eyes

This week I'm teaching Kensey's students because she is in the UK. Brandon and Kristin are also in the UK for two weeks visiting churches to decide where they will work for the next 5+ years. Please pray for their safe travels! I would like to introduce you to some of our students, but I also want to maintain their privacy so won't be using their names.


A Chinese girl who is in high school has been coming for English lessons for over a year. She has read lots of Bible stories and recently asked Kensey about the overall composition of the Bible, so she made an outline of the books, authors, and genres for her. After presenting the outline, Kensey and I are going through a brief overview of the books and selecting stories for her to read. While sometimes she has seemed close to belief, at other times she is incredulous about the stories she reads. Last week she asked if the creation story came from someone's imagination. Her family has a Buddhist background.


Last Thursday afternoon a man saw a sign in the window of the church building advertising English lessons, so he came in and started talking to Chad and some Italian church members. He stayed for the Bible study that night and really enjoyed it and also came to church on Sunday. He plans to keep attending church as well as English lessons.


One of our most faithful students comes by the building often just to talk with whomever is available. His wife and three-year-old son also come with him sometimes to events at church, and he recently became Chad's new landlord.


For more about these and other students, you may read Kensey's post entitled "Nomenclature," currently the second from the top of her blog: http://www.kenseylynne3.blogspot.com/


Now that there are three of us Avanti workers here, we are hoping to acquire more English students. We also would like to get more involved in the community in order to serve and make more contacts. Please pray for opportunities and wisdom as we seek to expand our work and spread the kingdom of God in this city! While we have been generating ideas (finding a children's home or retirement center to work with, serving the homeless, or volunteering in schools), figuring out how to implement them here in Italy is the hard part. For example, right next to our apartment building is an all girls' school. A couple months ago two students killed themselves due to a new grading policy, and a group of parents stoned the school. The effects of the riot are still visible on the building and I'm sure still felt in the hearts of the students. Stories like this remind me that there are so many opportunities to reach out to people here if we only have the eyes to see them.


"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." ~Colossians 4:2-6


Brandon Heath's song "Give Me Your Eyes" portrays the type of vision I wish to have. You may listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTsYAZvHsEQ

Where Two or Three Gather, or A Kilo of Kiwi

Each Saturday afternoon, several church members distribute flyers to let people know about the church. This week we went along Via Etnea, the main street in the center of town. It's technically a pedestrian road with only certain cars allowed and is lined with shops. Seeing people's reactions to the flyers is always interesting. Some won't take one, some look at it and decide they don't want it, some just take it and say "grazie," and some immediately throw it in a trashcan or on the ground. Occasionally someone will get into a good conversation with one of the church members. Regardless of the seeming lack of receptivity, at least the recipients of the flyers are forced to think, if even for a second, about how they relate to Jesus.

Sunday I had lunch at the home of a young couple from church! Everyone here is so hospitable, and I really enjoyed our afternoon of fellowship as well as a great meal of Sicilian pesto and a couple kinds of breaded meat stuffed with cheese.

Enna, the European city at the highest elevation, is about an hour away and is home to a church consisting of two people, a husband and wife. One Sunday a month they come worship with the church in Catania, and each other Sunday evening a few people from Catania go out to Enna. This weekend was my first trip to Enna, and it was neat to meet Carmelo and Lucia and have a small worship service together.

"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." ~Matthew 18:20

Right outside our apartment is a market every Monday morning. The vendors have a colorful array of very fresh fruits and vegetables as well as a wide selection of household goods and clothes. Yesterday was my first time shopping there. I came home with 9 zucchini, 7 pears, 19 kiwi, and 5 eggs, all for just 5 euro ($6.25). When I agreed on a kilo of kiwi, I wasn't really thinking about how much that is (2.2 pounds), but it was only 75 cents ($1)!

It's a Small World After All

Sunday evening some of us from Catania went to Paternò for their worship service and agape (potluck). Their congregation has about 20 members and lots of energetic children and young people! I also got to meet some relatives of the Giordano family with whom I went to church in Texas. What a small world!

This week I've been getting to know some of Kensey and Chad's English students and starting to help teach. We're sort of in a time of transition now with Brandon and Kristin about to leave, and now that the new team of workers is complete, we will be re-evaluating our schedules and then start advertising for more English students and hopefully also begin some new initiatives.

The church meets together twice during the week, besides Sunday mornings. Tuesday night is a singing class, and Thursday night is a Bible study. This Tuesday we had special visitors! Shawn and Donna Daggett and Don and Joyce Shackelford are in Sicily for the week, and it was great to see some familiar faces from Searcy! Afterwards we all ate pizza together.

Snow & Lava

Friday evening I arrived in Catania, my new home for the next two years! Catania (population 300,000 with a total of 750,000 in the metropolitan area) is on the island of Sicily and is situated between Mt. Etna (Europe's largest active volcano) and the Ionian Sea. Both are visible from my apartment since it is on the tenth floor (which would be the eleventh floor in the USA). Kensey and I are living with Brandon, Kristin, and baby Charlotte, Avanti workers who will be departing in April, at which point we will be taking over the apartment. It's so nice to already have a fantastic, furnished place to live!

Every Friday night a group (of men; I was the only girl) from the church plays soccer. The field is a little higher up on the mountain, and when we got there, it was snowing! Then a few minutes later we saw lava flowing out of Etna!

Saturday afternoon Kensey and I walked around town so I could familiarize myself with our apartment's surroundings, and we also went to the center, where there is a Saturday market with all sorts of food and household goods. I enjoyed both seeing familiar sights and exploring new areas!

Church this morning was wonderful! It was great to be back and see everyone and know that they are glad to have me here. Six-year-old Giulia even drew me a picture!

FYI: The internet connection at my apartment does not allow me to upload photos to my blog, but I will be posting them on facebook. If you do not have facebook and would like to see my pictures, let me know, and I will send you the link where you may view them. Also, if you would like to receive an e-mail notification whenever I make a new blog post, you may sign up in the "subscribe" box to the right under the blog archive box. Below that are several links where you may check out Kensey's fantastic blog, Debbie's newsletters, and Avanti's main website. Moreover, I highly recommend that you view this comparison of the differences between Europe and Italy for a nice little introduction to the culture: http://www.infonegocio.com/xeron/bruno/italy.html

Farewell, Firenze

My second week here has flown by! Tomorrow I'm moving to Sicily to begin my work with the church in Catania. While I will miss Florence and all the wonderful people I've gotten to know here, I am extremely excited about joining Kensey and Chad and reuniting with all my dear friends there. Last summer I spent a week and a half in Catania and am so glad I have this opportunity to return and work with such an incredible, joyous congregation.

Wednesday afternoon I taught four of David's English students. Each lesson had a totally different dynamic, and talking with each of the students was enjoyable.

Today I got to have lunch at the HUF villa! Then this afternoon before the English class and the Bible study at church, I met up with two other girls whose mothers are in my mom's Moms In Touch prayer group! It was neat how we all ended up in Florence at the same time, and I'm so glad we were able to get together!

Rosa

After church on Sunday, we and our friends from Prato had lunch with our new Nigerian friends in Castra, a little town in the hills outside Empoli. The landscape was beautiful, and our hosts were so hospitable and generous! Jacinta had made all sorts of food, and her uncle, the priest, kept insisting that we eat more and more. We ended up having twelve different items: salami, olives, liver pâté, lasagna, ribollita (minestrone soup with bread), a spicy Nigerian soup, chicken, pork, greens, roasted potatoes, ice cream sandwiches, and blueberries. We had a delightful time, and Jacinta wants to come to the Bible School again to hang out and so Debbie can teach her how to make rice krispy treats, etc.

a fantastic feast and fellowship!

Sunday night the HUF group came over for a chili supper to round out our weekend of festivities!

Today when we were out and about we happened to be near Rosa's house so stopped by so I could see where she lives. Right after we drove onto her street, so did she, so she invited us in. I met her husband, Felice, and saw their beautiful garden. I've really enjoyed getting to know Rosa and learning some cooking tips from her! She has had a cough for over six months, and the doctors hadn't been able to figure out what was wrong until last week when she was diagnosed with a hernia. She is glad to finally know what the cure is. Please keep her in your prayers!

Rosa, the cook

Tuesday Night Ladies' Bible Study

This week at the ladies' Bible study, we didn't just have Americans, so we did the study in Italian. This is such a great group of women, and I'm going to miss meeting with them when I move in a few days!