March - May 2010

Greetings once again from Pistoia. We pray that all is well with you as it is with us.

Spring has taken a long time to get here and even now it seems to be retreating once again. It has been an interesting last 6 months weather-wise. We appreciate all the prayers and concern expressed regarding the volcanic cloud that was troubling much of Europe. The first major cloud passed to the north of us without any concern for our area. The second evidently passed over us and caused delays at the airports but again, we were not effected.

Update on Silvia
Before moving on to the update of what we have been doing, I wanted thank everyone for their prayers for Silvia Seminara. She was baptized years ago but recently returned to worship, even though she has been attending the midweek studies regularly for quite some time. As happens often, when we start trying to align our lives according to God's will, we find ourselves facing trials. Silvia was admitted to the hospital in Pistoia and was diagnosed with a thrombosis of between 7 and 10 centimeters. After more than a month in the hospital and a couple of episodes where portions of the clot broke off, the clot had reduced to 3 centimeters and several weeks ago she was sent home. Last week she had another check-up and the clot is completely gone. We praise God for protecting her throughout the treatment and it has been amazing to see the strength with which Silvia faced and overcame this trial.

Travel to the US
Hoping that summer will eventually arrive, we have been making preparations for our visit to the US this summer. Tickets have been purchased and while we paid less than two years ago, it is quite an investment. We look forward to seeing many of you while there. We still have dates available for presentations if anyone would be interested in hearing about the work in Pistoia. We will be in Minnesota for the month of July and in Texas for the end of June and beginning of August.

Villetri
For 30 years, the churches of Christ in Italy have held an annual retreat/meeting near Rome. This year was our first opportunity to attend as a family for the full weekend and we were incredibly blessed to have been there. We must thank our sponsoring congregation for making this possible as the cost has been restrictive for us in past years. The theme was “On the way to Faith” and among the speakers was James Woodruff. We were also able to meet for the first time Howard Bibee. He came to Italy 60 years ago and lived here for many years before moving back to the US. The Italian brethren were very encouraged by his presence. Also encouraging was the time that is typically set aside for each congregation represented to “quickly” give a report. The church in Italy has a beautiful sense of the importance of their sister congregations knowing also the great effort that it took to establish each congregation. That being the case, they are always interested in knowing how their brethren are doing.

Invitation from Florence
The last weekend of August is usually reserved by the church in Florence for a conference and this year will be no different. I was very pleased and encouraged to receive an invitation to participate as one of the speakers at this event. It would be the first time that I have been officially invited to participate as a speaker outside of our congregation, however due to work that will be done to the building, the conference has been postponed until next year. The invitation was nonetheless very meaningful for me as it serves as verification, at least for me, of having been accepted by our neighboring congregations and being considered capable of communicating God's word in Italian.

Midweek studies
Our midweek studies hit a bit of a snag during the period when Silvia was in the hospital. I have not been able to put my finger on the exact correlation, but we had been studying unity and how the church is made of every member. Every member has responsibility and influence upon the rest of the congregation whether or not it is realized. As Paul wrote in I Corinthians 12:26 - “if one part suffers every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” Perhaps this snag, was a demonstration of how we had put into practice this sentiment for our sister, Silvia. This study has been part of a curriculum to help prepare us for how we will move forward as a congregation in all our efforts, activities, and in setting our overall focus.

For the remaining time before our summer break, we have been studying the letters to the seven churches in Revelation. In these letters Jesus gives an evaluation of the seven churches in Asia. We are attempting to benefit from these evaluations while looking at how we can move continually closer to what God wants us to be. The day before our departure will be the last of these studies, and the congregation will be challenged to consider what Jesus might write to us. What might he say about our strengths, and our weaknesses?

Outreach
We have been involved in a few forms of outreach recently. Some of it is indirect while other types are more direct and to the point. We have begun a collection of non-perishable foods which we will divide into packages in September. Invitations will be printed and delivered to locations where people may normally seek assistance. The invitation will be to our building on a particular day when they may pick up a package which will contain non-perishable food items and a Bible. It will also give us a direct contact with those we are hoping to help.

Fellowship Meal
Much of our work is dependent upon having some level of credibility. This often takes time as many are skeptical of religion (especially non-Catholic religions). Being a foreigner can also add to the reluctance to listen to the message we are trying to convey. With these being the case, spending time with others in settings where they see the consistency between what we say and what we do, is a necessity. Our fellowship meals provide such an opportunity. Since we have been preparing for furlough, a fellowship meal was planned for our last Sunday before departure. One of the families from the community with whom we have a good attended as well as one of the ladies who also participates in the “Pistoia International Choir”. Her presence was a very pleasant surprise and we pray that more opportunities will arise in the future.

Family News
Our family is doing well. Many of you know that we have been seeking some help for Elaina regarding her ability to communicate. We were finally able to get her into the children's psychiatrist for assessment to see whether or not a speech therapist would be beneficial for her. The psychiatrist said that Elaina has no problems with understanding, and that is a huge blessing. Right now, Elaina lacks expressive language skills and her form of communication is usually one or two words, rather than entire phrases or sentences like other children her age. Elaina has been officially put on the waiting list for a speech therapist and will begin when we return from the US, as school begins. Noah has been improving in school and, as most kids his age, is already looking forward to a summer without school and homework. However, we're not sure how to break the news to him that Italian schools assign summer homework. Heather has continued with her Italian classes and has been busy trying to keep up with her contacts from the kids' old and new schools, as well as making time to meet individually with the ladies in the church here in Pistoia. As for me, when the weather is nice, I am trying to get in some time on the bike before my slow down in the States.

As was said in our last newsletter, we truly look forward to visiting with as many of you as we can while we are in the States this summer. July is our month for Minnesota and August is for Texas. Each of you has blessed us more than we can say.

Thank you again for your support of us and this work!

In Christ,
Roger, Heather, Noah, and Elaina Mahan