Newsletter

PISTOIA, ITALY
MAY/JUNE 2009

Another two months have past and it is time yet again for an update on the church in Pistoia. Spring arrived with a brief heatwave followed by a week or so of cooler weather. Now the heat has returned just in time for summer. The see-saw weather has caused a few health disturbances, but we are finally all healthy and cold free.

The last two months were quite busy as school wrapped up for Noah and as summer plans were getting settled. Between end of the year school parties and the International Choir practices, it seemed like we had several weeks of non-stop activity. We are indebted to our babysitter, Silvia, who watched the kids 3 or 4 nights in one week's time. And also to Dina, who watched them for an additional two days in that same week (once for a Saturday afternoon practice, and the other for the concert).

INTERNATIONAL CHOIR
Since the last update we have participated in two more concerts. Each went pretty well. The first was “Canta Maggio” and involved Italian folk songs. They are the kind of songs that stick in our head and are generally fun to sing, until you can't get them out of our head. The second was more elegant and was held in the main cathedral in Pistoia. The repertoire was religious with songs in Italian, Nigerian, Latin, and English. The purpose of this concert was the same as the concert back in April, which is to raise funds to construct a library for a school in Nigeria.

The choir has grown to about 30 people, some of whom know how to read music! Herein lies our greatest challenge. With a majority who do not understand how long to hold notes and whether the pitch rises or falls, many hours are necessary to teach the tunes. Plus our dear director likes to make last minute changes. But gathering with the group to sing various genre is enjoyable and periodically gives us opportunity to speak about God's word and hopefully have some influence on the other participants.

EVANGELISM
We have been very encouraged in the church by the presence of a young couple that had been attending elsewhere. They are now attending regularly with us. It was a decision which was made primarily for the sake of bringing this young man's mother and father into the church. His mother worshiped in Pistoia many years ago, but stop for reasons that I cannot go into now. He hoped that he would be able to encourage her to return and that he would also have the opportunity to lead his father to Christ. After worshiping with us for about a month, his mother and father both started attending worship. They have both been present every Sunday since that time and indications are that they will continue. We rejoice with their presence and pray that this man's father will one day also accept Christ.

Also on the evangelism front, we have recently obtained a permit to set up a table at the local market. Initially, we had wanted to simply distribute fliers and we probably would have without a permit had I not asked a policeman who was observing passers-by at the market. It was new information to everyone and it had been assumed that anyone could pass out whatever they wanted. In the end we are thankful that we asked so as not to be escorted publicly out of the market. Having a booth\table is probably a better situation because we can present a number of materials, without needlessly creating waste. Those who want to read the materials are welcome to pick up whatever may be of interest to them. The primary flier has three questions on it: “Does God work in the world?” “Does Jesus save us today?” “What does God want from me?” For those who stop at the booth, we will ask them which of the three questions is most interesting to them. We hope to use the opportunity as a type of survey as well. In this way, if a particular area is found to be of greater interest by those who respond, we can focus our efforts on that area of interest.

A few weeks ago, we also held a planning meeting for the fall. Some good suggestions came up and starting in September, we will implement them. The church will be inviting guest speakers to come once every two to three months. A young couples class will be held on Saturday before supper once a month. We are checking on opportunities to be involved as a group in a volunteer program. We will also attempt to establish a web page within the next two months.

CLASSES AND STUDIES
I now have two regular English students. Each week, we have two sessions that last from an hour to an hour and a half. One is a 9 year old girl, Diana, and the other a 70+ year old man, Luigi. I have to say that I am more enthusiastic about the study with Luigi. He comes to the church building just after lunch to study. If I'm working on a Bible lesson when he arrives, he asks what I'm working on and we talk about that briefly before diving into English. He has not shown much interest in knowing more from the Bible, but baby steps are required for almost everyone in Italy. We ask for your prayers that his heart will be opened to God's will for his life.

Heather has continued to study with Dina once a week, and has started walking 1-2 times a week with Dina and some of the non-Christian women that attend the church. This has offered an opportunity to be in a relaxed situation with them. We pray that this will open doors for God. In addition, Heather, Dina and Valentina continue to rotate teaching responsibilities monthly for children's Bible class. It has been going well and the class will probably continue during the month of August as well.

SUMMER PLANS
Shortly, things in Pistoia will die down for summer vacations. We distributed some fliers in a nearby neighborhood yesterday and saw quite a few families with packed cars getting ready to seek refuge from the heat, whether at the sea or in the mountains. In August we will have a couple of weddings to attend. One will be in Sicily. It will be our first time down there, and we are very much looking forward to it. We hope to take advantage of our last summer here to travel some and make some lasting memories for the family.

Its hard to believe we have been here for five years. Next summer when Noah finishes 1st grade, we will move back to the States. The church, as well as friends outside of the church, say they will make our return impossible and that over the next year they will cause us to be guilt ridden. We certainly have mixed emotions, but it is a decision we have made while asking God for guidance. We do not yet know where exactly we will be in the US. I have to begin my job search immediately and we pray that the Lord will provide us with another beautiful congregation with which to work. If any of you know of a position which might fit our family well, please contact us.

As always, we feel blessed to have each of you supporting us through prayer and funds. We pray for each of you and hope that you can find moments to make lasting memories for your families.

Your family in Christ,
Roger, Heather, Noah and Elaina Mahan
Pistoia, Italy