This is what the kingdom of God is like...

Last week I had the opportunity to attend my friend's cooking school with a group of Harding students! We made homemade pasta with tomato sauce; chicken with a mixture of spinach, pine nuts, and parmesan rolled inside; and biscotti. Everything was delicious!

This week I added two more students! One is a 29-year-old lady who found the Bible School online. She studied English previously but seems to have forgotten most of it. The other is a seven-year-old boy whose mother works at the Harding villa. He is adorable and brought his English workbooks from school to show me all the words he has learned!

Tuesday one of my students brought me a book by a Florentine author so that I can get some practice reading in Italian! Since she didn't have to go to work the next day due to a holiday, she stayed for three hours (until midnight)! Also Tuesday evening one of my students invited me to a pizzeria so we could have one last time to hang out before she goes on her summer vacation.

Tomorrow I'm going to work at the Italian Christian youth camp, Momenti sul Monte, for two weeks! The first week is for ages 6-13, and the second week is for ages 14-17. The theme is LOST: Stories of the Lost Who Were Saved, based on Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Each day we’ll be studying a different character (David and Bathsheba, Naaman, blind Bartimeus, the prodigal son, and the thief on the cross), and I’ll be helping with the Bible classes (for which I have created a pin-the-eye-on-Bartimeus game!), the theater/chorus class, the sports, and I’m sure many other activities. Please keep this camp, both the children and the staff, in your prayers! I’m very excited about this opportunity to meet people from all over the country and hopefully touch some lives. And I will be getting lots of great Italian practice!

Our backyard has now been transformed from asphalt to grass! Here are pictures of the work in progress and the lawn one month after the seeds were sown. It's a veritable jungle out there, and we are excited about envisioning how this area may be used for hospitality!

"This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.” ~Mark 4:26-27

I will greet this day with love in my heart

The seminar on the four Gospels was a great time of learning and fellowship! I enjoyed seeing friends from other cities and also meeting new people, and it was a very encouraging weekend! Hosting events at the Bible School is always so much fun.

Seminar on the Four Gospels

Saturday night our church, in conjunction with Harding University and the Italian charity ANPAS, hosted a benefit concert for Abruzzo, the region affected by the earthquake in April. A couple of my new friends were able to attend, and we raised over 1,000 euro!


The last week has also included a couple of fun cultural experiences. A lady who has visited our church a few times just opened a cooking school, and she invited me to the grand opening to see the school and sample some of her delectable cuisine. On Sunday afternoon our cook, Rosa, and her husband, Felice, were in a dance recital, so we went to cheer them on. The performance was quite elaborate and lasted over four hours!


Last night my 9-10pm student stayed an extra 45 minutes because she was really enjoying reading the Bible and wanted to keep going! She is very involved at her church but said they do not study the Bible a lot there, so she is glad to come here to learn more about the Bible as well as English! The day before another student commented that our studies have helped both her faith and her English. She expressed her conviction that faith is an important decision that each person must make, not merely following one's family or culture. When she was younger she was not as interested in it, but now she is truly exploring and is also reading her Bible at home in her native language!


This month, while Sarah, the church secretary, is in America, I will be assisting with some of her responsibilities, such as making the weekly church bulletin!


Recently I read a book recommended by a friend who was a missionary in Prague, and I would like to encourage you all to read it as well (it's only 111 pages)! The Greatest Salesman in the World, by Og Mandino, is an inspirational story, set about 2,000 years ago, that includes principles for becoming a successful salesman, but it can also be read as an allegory of evangelism. I'll close today's post with a quote from the book:

"I will greet this day with love in my heart. For this is the greatest secret of success in all ventures. Muscle can split a shield and even destroy life but only the unseen power of love can open the hearts of men and until I master this art I will remain no more than a peddler in the market place. I will make love my greatest weapon and none on whom I call can defend against its force. My reasoning they may counter; my speech they may distrust; my apparel they may disapprove; my face they may reject; and even my bargains may cause them suspicion; yet my love will melt all hearts liken to the sun whose rays soften the coldest clay. I will greet this day with love in my heart."