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 24th 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 12th 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
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1 comment:
Well, Jack and Elaina have something in common; they've both had their heads glued back together in the ER! We also joked about doing it ourselves; Trey has a friend who takes super glue on camping trips for that reason. He can tell you which brand works best. Ha! Glad that you're back safe and sound.
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