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