June 2011

The time for our travel to the US is upon us. A little less than a week remains before our departure at this point. It is always a time of mixed emotions - happy to be heading to see family and friends, but sad to be away from the church family and friends here in Pistoia.

School Events
With the month of June came numerous social obligations for Elaina's and Noah's schools. Both schools held end of the year parties, as well as a dinner with many of the parents. To go along with those obligations was the end of year party for basketball. And to top it all off, everyone tries to get one last play date, or get-together in before heading our different directions for the summer. Now that July has arrived the case is the same for members of the church. The obligations of school have finished, and choir practices have terminated so it leaves more availability to try and spend time with members of the church.

Heather also had many school-related activities for the month of June. Her Italian classes finished up on June 6th, after which she took the CILS exam (Certification in the Italian Language for Stranieri (foreigners)) in level B2. There are five portions to the exam: listening, reading/comprehension, grammar, writing and verbal skills; and the exam is an all day event. The exam is provided by the University of Siena and the community of Pistoia pays for the exam fee for students attending the language classes at the Foreigners Center, or at least all are paid for except for US citizens. Originally, she wasn't planning on taking the exam due to expense, but her class took up a collection and paid for her exam fee. The results will be sent in September, so for now we will wait.

First Italian VBS in Florence
On June 18th the church in Florence put on a Vacation Bible School headed up by Ryan Stevens, one of the Avanti Italia workers. Heather helped with registration and the kids had a great time learning about the armor of God from Ephesians 6. Many people spent hours on preparation for the event, and their efforts were obvious.

Moments on the Mountain: Children's Camp
One of our more important responsibilities in the month of June was preparing for the children's camp. Heather was the primary teacher for the youngest group (ages 6-8) as well as the helper for craft time, while I helped in the oldest group (ages11-12) and with sports. I inherited the primary teacher position when the teacher was called back to work after the second day, but everything went well. It was a good experience and gave us opportunity to meet and to work hand in hand with more of our brothers and sisters from around Italy.

Pistoia Church Events
With the summer holiday upon us, we have already seen the impact on Sunday attendance. The church has taken on the task of reading through the New Testament during the months of July and August to help us feel united. If we cannot be together physically, at least we can be together in mind and spirit. Bookmarks were printed and laminated with a suggested reading program. I personally am challenging myself to read it all in Italian, which really only means an extra 5 minutes of reading each day since reading in Italian takes me a little longer than in English.

As of late, when preaching my focus has been upon true discipleship. It has been very challenging and thought provoking. In Matthew 10:25 Jesus said, “It is enough for the student to become like his teacher...” From this we have been considering how to be like our teacher, but not just in our actions. We are considering how to become like him in our hearts – seeing people the way Jesus saw them, and thinking the way Jesus thought about the human/spiritual condition.

Individual Bible studies have continued with Massimo, Barbara, and Antonio. They all are making progress in their relationship with God, but please continue to keep them in your prayers.

Upcoming Events
After our visit in the US, we will be returning to Pistoia before the last weekend in August. Last year I had been invited to speak at the End of Summer conference at Florence, but it had to be cancelled due to a fire and reconstruction afterwards at the Harding Villa. The program was postponed to this year, so we will return just in time to participate with them.

Family Happenings
The last day of school for Noah was June 10, and so we decided to take Elaina out of school at that point as well, allowing the kids to play together before we had to get back on schedule with Noah's homework and preparations for camp. Fortunately, Elaina was out of school when her preschool went through an outbreak of the flu, roseola and fifth's disease. Heather and I have been working with Elaina and her language development at home, since we are still on the waiting list for her to start speech therapy. She is making progress, just more slowly than we would like. We are hopeful that when we return from the States she will be able to immediately start with her speech therapy program.

In Closing
As always we are thankful for your prayers and support for the work here. We look forward to seeing many of you in the next month to month and a half. May God bless you and keep you!

Roger, Heather, Noah, and Elaina Mahan