September-October 2008

It was truly a blessing for us to be able to spend some time this summer with friends, family, supporters, and those who are a combination of two or three of those. We were able to get back to the work in Pistoia with renewed enthusiasm and energy to face the task at hand – implanting God's word in peoples' hearts.

It is hard to believe that we have only been back for a little more than a month now. So much has been going on with the church, Noah's school, and with our contacts that it seems like we have been back for several months.

MIDWEEK BIBLE STUDY

For me the most exciting event we have going at the moment is our Tuesday night Bible study. As soon as we got back, we began an evangelistic training class. We are challenging one another to be courageous and openly speak about our faith with others. In sermons and lessons, we always hear people say that our topic of conversations shows what is really important to us in life (Matthew 15:17-18). We are, therefore, trying to show our hearts to be consumed with Christ. Adding simple phrases about Christ in our conversations may seem minimal but I am convinced that they can be the initial steps of evangelism. We have had some very involved conversations and studies about our attitudes when we study with others, and how we can speak in a way that might encourage curiosity in our friends and family.

For the first week, our “homework” was to write a few sentences about one of God's traits that is most touching to us. Once our homework was completed, we discussed it and put all of the comments on a piece of paper to which we could refer. Everyone enjoyed learning a bit about one another and their thoughts about God. With the task completed, the next step was to ask the same question of a friend or family member who is non-Christian. Some irregularities in attendance have slowed the development of the studies. However, we are now beginning to discuss religious questions that may come up, given our setting, and we are preparing to “author” a study series together. So far the classes have been received with great enthusiasm and we pray that it continues as we press further into what might be uncomfortable ground for some of us.

The new topic for the classes has shifted our study through the book of Ephesians into a sermon format. It is a study that we started in the Spring, and I did not want to completely abandon it. Therefore, when it is my turn to preach, the sermon comes from Ephesians.

CHILDREN'S CLASS

Heather has busied herself getting the Sunday school materials and teachers organized for the remainder of the year. She is continuing to work her way through the New Testament, and the kids and teachers alike seem to enjoy the studies.

ACTIVITIES

We should mention one new activity, which is hoped to serve as another means to meet people for Bible studies. My brother, Mike, from Prato, has a contact who lives in Pistoia and who organizes some singing events. “Canta Maggio” was in the Spring and, together with the young people from Prato, we learned a few Tuscan songs which we then sang at several small communities up in the mountains over Pistoia. This same group of people are now preparing for another singing event, including others who live in Pistoia. Four part harmony and accapella singing is not common here, so the organizer is very supportive of the group and we are having some opportunities to meet new people.

We have yet to get the English classes back up and running. They started in Mid-October last year and are scheduled to begin on the 24^th of this month. These have perhaps been the second greatest way for us to meet people and talk about faith, the first being Noah's school with his classmates and their families. Our biggest challenge as we begin our English classes will be finding English speaking helpers for our classes. Last year we had two young ladies from the Prato church working together with us in our classes. Both of these ladies will be returning to the States within the next two months, which will be a challenge for us, forcing us to change the format somewhat. We will be praying that God provides guidance with that transition.

CONTACTS

Since our return a large chunk of time has been given to re-establishing contact with people. For many it was not difficult. They are people we see almost every day when we take Noah to school or when we pick him up. But those few minutes don't seem to be sufficient and so we've tried to make additional time outside of the norm. Heather is the busiest in that respect considering all of the trips to the library, to parks, and to play-dates with Noah.

FAMILY

In family news things are going pretty well. Noah has begun mini-basketball. Two of his school friends are participating as well. He likes to be a clown and sometimes does the exact opposite of what the coach says, but once he gets past those moments, he does pretty well following the directions. Most importantly, he is enjoying himself. He has also been working hard on his alphabet. He said he wanted to be the first one at school to know how to write his whole alphabet and he is making good headway.

Elaina had an incident a few weeks ago. We've been trying to teacher her to stay in bed on her own and go to sleep. When she gets out of bed, we send her back. One evening a few weeks ago, we heard some noise in the kitchen, which is between the kid's room and the rest of the house. Heather went in and there was Elaina. When Elaina saw Heather, she turned to run back to her room, tripped and hit her chin on the tile floor. The resulting cut was about a half inch across, and she stopped crying in about 15-20 seconds, but it was bad enough that we thought we should take her to the Emergency Room. Noah was already asleep, so we called Carmelo and asked if he could take me to the ER while Heather stayed home. After about 30 minutes of leaving the house we were back at home and Elaina was asleep in bed. They glued her cut together and put some bandages over it and everything was finished. When I heard that they were going to glue the cut I told them that we had thought about doing that at home ourselves......no one laughed.

Heather seems have started at full speed since we have been back. With organizing materials for the children's class, organizing materials for the ladies' Bible study (which has yet to begin), organizing curriculum for the children's English class, getting together with other mothers for play dates, and trying to get back into some semblance of a schedule at home with Elaina, she seems to be constantly busy. In addition, she will begin her Italian classes next week at twice a week. In the meantime, she will begin studying English with the older sister of one of Noah's classmates and is trying to organize the wedding reception for the son of one of our members, who was just married on the 12^th of October. Needless to say, her schedule is quite full at this time.

My favorite pastime is biking, but I haven't been back on the bike as much as I thought I might be. I still have my Saturday morning ride with a group of guys and I sometimes get out one other day during the week. The mornings have been much cooler than I remember them being last year and, as a result, I have opted to sleep instead of get out in the cold. Otherwise, after getting over the cold that I caught on the plane ride home, I have been healthy and able to get back to work without many problems. One note of good news was the finalization of the insurance issues related to the bike crash I was in last summer. Now, Giovanni can get his spare bike repaired at his leisure since I was riding his bike at the time.

Recently, we have been blinded by God's generosity in many respects. We had a great summer being together with many of you. The exchange rate has improved dramatically. We have received some very generous contributions to the work here. And we see God's generosity in allowing us to work with the church here. We thank Him and you for all that we have and for all we are able to do. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts!!!

In Christ,
Roger, Heather, Noah and Elaina Mahan

pistoiacdc.blogspot.com

Welcome home

We have finally made it home, after just over two months of travels and visits. It was wonderful to be with many of you and we were sad to leave. But, it was also time to get home. Noah has been missing his friends and toys from home, as have we(for us, more the friends than the toys).

We left Dallas on time after unpacking at the security entrance and then repacking. They even made Elaina pass through the medal detector twice. But once inside everything went ok. Elaina had a tough time because she was so tired, we think. All in all we arrived without problems.

We want to thank everyone for their generosity and hospitality while we were in the States. You are all welcome here any time.

April-May 2008

Pistoia, Italy

April -May 2008 Newsletter

Greetings from the church in Pistoia. We pray that this update finds you all healthy physically, mentally, and especially spiritually.

SUMMER SCHEDULE

This summer we will be in the US for the months of July and August visiting family and supporters. We still have a pretty open schedule as far as Sunday's and Wednesday's are concerned. If anyone would like us to make a presentation about the work, we would be more than happy to do so. Also, if anyone knows of possible leads for additional support, the contact information can be sent to my email: rogermahan@juno.com or our contact information could be given to them. At the present, our thoughts are to be in Italy for an additional two years from this summer. That will put us closer to another family coming to work with this congregation. However, nothing is written in stone. The work in the Lord's kingdom has been moving along steadily for the past couple of months. There have been no great changes in much of anything, but we do see how God blesses us daily through our friendships and the opportunities we have to share Christ.

ENGLISH CLASSES

Our English classes finally came back around to full swing with good attendance, and now it is time to call it quits until the Fall. There have always been a fair number of children who have participated in the class, but the parents are not always present. Even with that being true during our slow months, I was delighted to have the opportunity to talk about Jesus and the church with various parents over the weeks. In particular Ricardo and Fedele have shown some interest in matters of religion. We pray that the opportunities continue and that the seed germinates.

As a conclusion to our English classes we will soon have an English party. Much as we did last year, we plan on a larger setting for more kids to be involved and play simple games using the English they have learned. The details have not been ironed out, but last year we also did a puppet show. The materials and skits have subtle references to God, and the fact that it is held in the church's building gives further opportunity to discuss Christ.

LESSON PREPARATION

Our Tuesday night studies have also come to a transitional phase as we finished a study of the Minor Prophets. I personally enjoyed the study because of the reminders of how concerned God is with his people and their holiness. His patience with us is incredible and, while sometimes what seem to be injustices in the world increase, we can be sure that sooner or later God's justice will be satisfied. In those times we must learn from his patience and be patient ourselves, at the same time understanding that if justice were served immediately and decisively, very few would be left on the planet.

The frequency of my preaching has increased in recent months. Previously I preached once every three weeks and now it is every other week. Most of my sermons follow a thought for several lessons and I find the preparation easier when time is more condensed. I think it also helps with keeping the topic fresh on everybody's minds. Just last week we finished a study of fellowship/communion from I John.

OUTREACH PROJECTS

Before heading to the US, we are planning to do some more puppet shows in the park. Some of the parents from Noah's school have asked us when we will be doing them again. I look at the shows as a rudimentary Vacation Bible School. The skits include biblical principles and typically the shows are well received by the kids and their parents. We have also begun talks about shows in the fall when we get back and as school is starting. Please keep these shows in your prayers as they tend to be a good way to make initial contact with people we might not otherwise meet.

Recently, I have been studying English (or maybe I'm teaching English) with a teenage girl named Chiara. Try to figure this one out! She is the sister of the girlfriend of the son of one of the members of the church. Ha! We started about two months ago because she is in her final year of High School and will have an oral exam in English at the end of June.

FAMILY NEWS

Noah is getting excited to go to the US and see all of his Grandparents. I'm sure Elaina would also be excited if she understood and was speaking, but she is still employing the point and grunt strategy. She is getting much more outgoing, but can be quite shy. Noah is still the little chatterbox he always has been. As Elaina starts waving at people in the stores, if they wave in return Noah feels it is necessary to explain that she is his sister and her name is Elaina. Maybe he wants to be included in the conversation or maybe he wants to protect his sister since she mainly greets males.

At Noah's school we had a teachers meeting last week. They are pleased with his progress and said that he is very good at playing with almost everyone. He used to play exclusively with two other classmates, but has branched out. He is also exercising his imagination and reasoning skills. One day they told the kids to make a train to go to the lunch room. He didn't want to be in the back of the line, so he decided he would follow the rule of making a train, but that he would form a different one. So he went to the teacher and told her that he was going to make a train with her because he wanted to be with her.

We've been working with getting Elaina to be OK when we are out of sight. Her uneasiness seems to be the result of only having about 2 hours a week when she is away from both of us. It has been a tough road, especially when we hear her crying from her Bible class during worship. Slowly but surely she is getting better. We were very pleased that on Wednesday she only cried for 5 minutes and it wasn't because she fell asleep. And we know that this summer will be helpful for her, as she will be in contact with many more new faces.

CONCLUSION

As always we want to thank you all for keeping us and the work here in your thoughts and prayers. Through your efforts we can see progress with the church and with our contacts. Through the generosity of many of you, we are able to be here laboring with the church to move people closer to true Christianity and not just nominal faith. And through the power of God we see how hearts are influenced and changed by knowing Him.

“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (I Timothy 1:17)

Your family in Christ,

Roger, Heather, Noah and Elaina Mahan

Picture update

Sometimes she can look sooo innocent.

Our most recent family photo.

Noah says cheese while Elaina thinks about how that would taste.














Learning to get along and share toys can sometimes be difficult, but they are doing pretty well here.














And now for a Before and After of Noah.
BEFORE: Noah playing in the grass.

AFTER: Noah turning the color OF the grass.

January-March

PISTOIA NEWSLETTER

January – February 2008

We send you all warm greetings from Pistoia. While the weather is cold, our hearts are warmed and encouraged by the faith that we share in Jesus Christ.

Financial News

I'm not sure how many of you know of our financial situation here. We cannot thank you all enough for how generous you have been to us. Even with all of the tremendous generosity, we live month to month with a tightly limited budget. The month of February hit us especially hard with more than 1500 Euro in additional expenses having to come from somewhere. Between a bum alternator on the car, auto insurance, health insurance, and the heating bill of over 800 Euro, our budget is being tested. In Philippians 4:11-13, Paul wrote, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” We are trying to balance the contentment with making our needs known. We are not trying to build a nest egg, or live extravagantly. But additional funds are needed to make ends meet and cover our expenses. On top of these expenses, we are set to return to the US this year for a visit and our plane tickets will need to be purchased within the next month. They look to cost at least $3500. Please prayerfully consider our need. If you know of congregations or individuals who may be capable of aiding with these necessities, please give them our information, or let us know so that we may contact them.

That being said, we also must thank the tremendous generosity of those who anonymously and substantially contribute to the work here. We are humbled by your kindness and it proves to us again how God provides for us in our times of need.

Holidays

Christmas and New Year's held a sort of bitter flavor as far as church events go. At the close of the year, Sonia's son and Nedo's brother, Stefano, became gravely ill and passed away during the first week of January. It is a terrible thing when a parent outlives a child, and on top of that Stefano was not a Christian. He was 49 and leaves behind his wife and 19 year old daughter. Sonia has begun to heal, but it has been very difficult for her. Stefano regularly ate lunch with Sonia during the week and his death has left an enormous hole in her life. With those events at hand, the sentiment was not very festive and so our New Year's party was canceled. We had a more intimate gathering at Carmelo and Dina's house, and Giovanni stopped by for a couple of hours.

Activities

Now that we have survived the year end holidays, we are moving forward with the plans and events for 2008. We have found it difficult to get some of the activities going after the holidays, but we are encouraged by many things regarding the work of the church. In particular, a good foundation is being established with a family that has been attending the English classes for kids and their parents. Fedele and Donatella have been the most regular for these events and have also made extra effort to suggest gatherings for spending more time together. At the suggestion of Donatella, we had a dinner at the church building one evening for those who are involved in the English class. She wanted us to try Polpette Salernese. These particular polpette were like meatballs with eggplant as a replacement for the meat. It was a good time of fellowship and eating. The evening provided a nice time to visit with them. Fedele is a very intelligent man who has written a book about geopolitical influence and he is often published in journals. He is a member of the State Police in the Anti-sophistication division. He and Donatella regularly ask questions regarding the church and what we do. We pray that the near future will bring more specific conversation about Jesus and the influence he should have upon our life.

The English classes are going well for the kids, but the adult attendance has not yet rebounded from the holidays. We have discussed the possibility of increasing the frequency of the classes to three times monthly, but that might be useless until the attendance rebounds. Now at the beginning of March, the numbers are coming back up and we can entertain discussions of more regularity in the studies.

Worship and Studies

As for Sunday sermons, the preaching continues to be shared by three of us. We just finished our look at the gospel according to Luke and I have not yet decided if we will follow another series or allow other factors to determine the subject from week to week. About once every month and a half, we have a fellowship meal following worship, and we recently established that whoever may be preaching on that Sunday will make an extra effort to see that the sermon is more applicable to the non-Christian. For some reason (probably related to the good food), our attendance for the meal is almost double that of the worship and this is our attempt to encourage our friends to also attend the worship. We'll call this a baby step in our evangelistic outreach as a congregation.

Personal

Our personal lives have been very busy since before the holidays. Heather regularly goes to the library with Noah's friends and their mothers. She is taking Italian classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and has made a few more friends as a result.

I continue to regularly ride bike with a group of guys on Saturdays and as a result have formed a good friendship with a member of the evangelical church. He and I chit-chat regularly while riding and find ourselves having to slow our pace to finish the discussion. He is very enthusiastic about God, but needs a little guidance from New Testament teachings.

Beyond these activities, we are trying to spend more time with these people that we know, so that we can have a positive influence on them by interjecting Christ in our conversations. It might sound strange that Christ would need to be interjected into conversations in a nation that is considered to be more than 95% Catholic but, in reality, worship and adoration of Mary and “the saints” tend to hold more importance to them. We take Colossians 4:6 very literally in this setting. “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt...”

As always, we thank you for your generosity in all things: your prayers, your friendship, and your financial support. We are continually praying for all of you and thank God for the blessing you are to us! As we move our way into spring, may God brighten your hearts as He has brightened ours.

Roger, Heather, Noah and Elaina Mahan

Family Update

It is hard to believe that the Christmas break is almost over already. I know that Noah is ready to get back to school with his friends, and normalcy in one's schedule is always nice. However, the time has gone by quickly and we didn't get everything done that we wanted to do.

Everything has been going well with Noah's school. He likes his teachers this year, just as he did last year. Knowing that in the US kids change teachers every year probably eased our transition a little more than the other parents, but in Italy kids at this level of school usually have the same teachers for the three years prior to elementary school. The teachers' style is more structured than last year's teachers, but things have gone really well. We had a parent-teacher meeting a few weeks back and they gave us a good report on Noah. In particular, the teachers told us about a day when they were singing Christmas songs at school. Noah LOVES singing and is constantly inventing new songs. The teachers said that they had sung some songs in Italian and then a little girl wanted to sing a song in French. When she was done Noah wanted to sing one in English. At that time it was still 3-4 weeks before Christmas and we had not sung any of those songs at home. We are pretty sure that Noah doesn't know any in English. Regardless, the teachers were thoroughly convinced that he sang them a real Christmas song in English, even though they did not recognize the tune. They said it had the words Christmas and toys in it, and it had a tune/rhythm. When I asked Noah want Christmas song he sang at school, he said he didn't sing any. We're convinced that he wrote a song just for them on that occasion. The teachers also commented on his loving nature, and how he spends the first five minutes of every day giving hugs to all those around him. We pray that his gentle and sweet spirit stays alive in him always.

Elaina is starting to step out a little. For the longest time she has clung to our legs and not ventured more than about 6 to 8 feet from us. Now she is willing to go to a few other people, but she is still picky about who that is going to be. She doesn't say much, but she chatters a lot and she usually listens to us when we tell her to do something or to stop. Italian seems to be the more authoritative language for her since she obeys it better. The one thing we have to straighten out is when we say "come here" in English or Italian. Her normal response is to turn and run away. Somehow she must think that it means, "let's play chase!" Otherwise, she is a tremendous encourager. She will applaud anything!

As for me, since the weather has turned a little less pleasant and the sun comes up later, I have been riding my bike a lot less. At the beginning of the holidays, a younger Italian guy that I had been riding with a few times called me to go for a ride and we managed to squeeze in two rides. He has a healthier respect for God than many Italians and the hope is that I'll be able to get some studies set up with him.

Heather has been very involved with the other mothers at school this year: setting up play dates, trips to the library with other families, and even some traditional dinners at our house to give an "American experience" to some of the families we have more interaction with. She has also been taking Italian classes twice a week, improving her Italian, as well as giving her the confidence to communicate with others more freely. If that was not enough, during this holiday season she was also very busy in the kitchen. There were at least five entire days that she spent in the kitchen making cookies and other sweets. She was asked to put together a "desert sampler" as a Christmas gift for each of the teachers for Noah's section. With the religion teacher, speech teacher, and two main teachers, she made four boxes full of goodies. When Heather went to present the boxes to the teachers with the other moms, I told her that she needed to ask exactly what she was supposed to say when she gave it to them, "Vi ringraziamo" or "Vi ringrassiamo." The first means we thank you and the second means we make you fat again.

Our holiday season ends this Sunday, the 6th, for what is called the Befana. It is a holiday for the kids where a good witch leaves stockings of candy and toys for them. In Pistoia, there is traditionally an enactment of the event, which in past years involved fireworks and high wires. We plan on going again this year and I'll try to get pictures this time. The last time I tried it was too cold for my digital camera to work.

With the end of an old year and the start of a new year, we reflect back on our own goals from last year and plan new goals for this year. Your prayers and your support have made last year a success in terms of new contacts and seeds being planted in the community of Pistoia, Italy. We realize that success in this community is dependent upon God and not us, and we pray as this new year progresses that God blesses the church here in Italy abundantly.

As always, we feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to know each of you, to pray for each of you, and to be blessed by each of you. Your generosity of spirit is an amazing and wonderful gift to us. We pray that you all had a wonderful holiday season with time to relax, reminisce and consider a new year for Christ.

Roger, Heather, Noah and Elaina

ps. We'll add a picture update soon so check back every so often, or take a glance after our next update on the work here.