August-September 2007

August and September

Greetings once again from Pistoia. The church here greets you all and we are excited to tell you about some of the recent progress we have seen in the church here.

Before telling you all about what has been happening lately, we want to ask that you pray for one of the members of the church, Carmelo. He has been through a great deal in the last month. Without going into all the details of what has happened, suffice it to say that their family has been on an emotional roller coaster as Carmelo's father's health deteriorated. Early this week, he passed away. He was not a Christian and Carmelo is a relatively young Christian. With all that has happened he has had to be away from work for over a month and with that comes other difficulties. Please take a few moments to pray for his strength and his example to the rest of his extended family during such a horrible time.

Evangelism

Evangelism by way of friendship is critical to the work in Italy. More often than not, Italians want to know who you are and what your life is like before they will listen to anything you have to say about Jesus. Our opportunities to reflect Jesus are beginning to flourish in a more deliberate and clear way now that these relationships are growing. We see ways to speak about Jesus and the difference that He makes in one's life. Because of that, we thank God for the recent progress we have experienced with friendships that are forming.

At the beginning of the summer Heather started going to the new library with Noah at least once a week. Now that school has started up she has also invited a couple of Noah's friends, and their mommies to join them. One of the moms was telling another that they went with Heather and laughed a bit while telling the story. She said, “it took a foreigner to get us into our own library.” The two moms that have gone with Heather and Noah are parents of some of Noah's closer friends. They are also the families with whom we have had more outside contact. Their names are as follows: Gianluca, Francesca, and Lorenzo; Maurizio, Stefania, and Arianna.

My opportunities have also increased as of late. The plan was to go on bike rides regularly (once or maybe twice a week) with Giovanni, but then I had my accident at the end of July. Much of August seemed wasted for me due to the shoulder injury. It was uncomfortable to even sit at a table or desk with my arm raised. All typing related tasks were difficult and my restricted movement meant I could not drive or ride a bike. Translation? My modes of transportation were eliminated and I was stuck at home.

By the end of August I was finally able to start getting back on the bike and since then have been trying to ride regularly with Giovanni and his friends on Saturday mornings. The group has been as many as seven guys of whom, I am the second youngest. We don't get into much of a hurry so we can always chitchat while covering our 45-60 miles. These are friendships that are forming and that are providing the potential for evangelism.

Paul wrote in Colossians 4:6, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Ministry in Italy is a constant exercise in this task. Conversation about Jesus Christ is often scarce, therefore it is critical that we try to season our conversations with Jesus so that He is glorified above all else.

Church studies

Upon everyone's re-entry from vacations we began a study of the book of Hebrews. The demonstration of Jesus' superiority to angels, to the Old Testament, to priests, et al. is essential to church life here. When the Catholic church places so great an emphasis on angels, the “saints”, Mary, and the pope, you can imagine how important conversation about Jesus becomes. The book of Hebrews is helping us to understand the superiority of Jesus to everything and we are also discussing how we can relate this superiority to our friends and acquaintances.

I have taken to giving a simple exercise for homework for the following week's study and everyone has received it well. A key word is given for the following chapter, and everyone is to make a list of where the word appears. The result has been enhanced discussions. Not only is the exercise being done, but the wheels start turning as the significance of the word is considered and how it might apply to Christ's superiority.

Sunday School

For the last few months Heather has been working on getting a curriculum together for the children's Bible class. Now a rotation among three ladies has begun. This lightens the load for Heather and Dina, but it is also beneficial for the children. The children can benefit from the differing teaching styles and the teachers can benefit from staying in the worship assembly for the message that is delivered (the Bible class is held between the opening prayer and the beginning of the Lord's supper).

Group English classes

On the first Friday of October we began an English class for children and their parents. Heather teaches one group of kids, a couple of the apprentice missionaries from Prato babysit and work with another group of kids, while I teach the parents. We had a great start with seven parents, and ten kids for our first meeting. All of the feedback was good and we are excited about the opportunities that this provides. We will be continuing this class on the first and third Fridays of each month.

Financial

We owe a great deal of gratitude to those who have recently responded to the increased need for the work here. The dollar is at its weakest against the Euro. We find ourselves with about $8 out of every $100 having disappeared immediately. Beyond that the 15% of our salary which goes immediately to Social Security consumes a great deal of the support which we receive. We have a long way to go to cover these expenses, but we are thankful for the additional support that has recently been sent to help cover these deficiencies.

Family

Heather has been very busy lately with the Bible school curriculum, and has been doing well. She is getting busier with play dates for Noah and spending time with the other mom's from school. And Elaina keeps Heather pretty busy as well. In addition, this month Heather will be starting an Italian class provided by the community of Pistoia in order to improve her Italian. She is very excited, as this will increase her confidence when talking with others and will provide another group of people with which she can interact. In fact, she has already started talking to one person from her class that is interested in English lessons.

Noah is glad to be back to school. This year he is not as badly outnumbered as last year. In a class of 24 there were four boys. This year there are six. He constantly comes home speaking more Italian. He loves to sing and it is humorous to listen to him as he makes up new songs. Interestingly enough, the tunes he makes usually follow some structure that sounds correct. He isn't just sliding through the scales, but he actually sticks with a key.

Elaina has recently become more outgoing. She smiles at strangers and walks up to some of them. Although, this morning we took her to get a vaccination and when we let her down to walk, she just stood there with her hands crossed and her chin to her chest. Her lower lip was sticking out a little bit and she kept looking out of the corner of her eyes. We concluded one of two things. Either she was acting shy because of the two boys that were in the waiting room, OR she recognized the place where she gets shots. Right now Elaina wants to master everything, so she does it over and over again. Repetition is the key, right? So Elaina gets a toy from her room and carries it to the living room and then returns for another, and another, and another... She has not decided to reverse the process yet and it leaves A LOT of cleaning to be done throughout the day.

As for me, I still have some discomfort and limitations in mobility with my shoulder. I expect that to last 6 months to life. I've had some people tell me that I'm getting older so I may just have to live with it (not the getting older, though it is true, but the occasional shoulder discomfort). Ha! I have really enjoyed taking another look at the book of Hebrews and its specific applications to the life of the church in Pistoia. It is always very fulfilling to see easy and direct applications of scripture being accomplished in your life and in those with whom you serve.

In closing

We are constantly reminded by God that our presence in Italy is made possible only by the generosity of our supporters. Thank you for giving us this opportunity! Thank you for standing behind the need for the message of Christ. Too often His name is left out of daily discussions. People think of themselves first. What they have done. What they are doing. And, often they think that God owes them salvation. Thank you for remembering Christ's significance for this life and the one to come.