Lessons and Decisions
It's been a while since we updated on here. As usual, lots of events have happened, and Alan and I have learned a lot of things this month.
After our visits to the churches in Catania and Milano at the beginning of May, Alan and I tried to take some time alone to pray separately and together about this decision. If you've ever visited the Bible School here in Florence, you know this is a hard task to accomplish - alone time. So we spent a lot of time thinking about this decision separately at first, mainly because we never had sufficient time to discuss it together. This was probably a good thing though.
The third weekend in May we went to Gensano, a small town not far from Roma. There was a convegno there. It was great to meet even more people from all over Italy, and to reconnect with those we've met before. We got the fun job of babysitting, so we mostly played with the kiddos all weekend.
Also, in the middle of May, the music group from Harding came with Dr Ganus and his wife. They are all music major, and most of them vocal, and they are all in the choir. So, needless to say, we are giving them song requests all the time. We're all enjoying having them here. They've been very encouraging for us. They have a busy schedule with classes and sight-seeing. We kind of run a hotel for them - clean their rooms when they're out on day trips, cook meals for them, etc. In fact, we've spent a lot of time in the kitchen these past few weeks. Alan has started a notebook with Rosa's recipes. Rosa has been working so hard, some weeks she is over here almost every day making both lunch and dinner for the group. We all take turns helping her. In addition to this, I still have all of my classes and Alan has a few of his that have continued on into the summer. Some of my students did finish their classes with me this past week though. Summer vacation has started here so many people are starting to travel around.
Tomorrow morning the music group leaves, and in the afternoon the athletic group comes to stay. The music group has been here for a month. We've built relationships with these students, and it will be sad to see them go. The next group will be here for just two weeks. So tomorrow (Monday), we are calling "Due Day" because we have to totally clean and rearrange all the beds to accommodate this larger group.
If you're wondering why we have these groups of students here, it's because we have a couple of rooms that are owned by Harding. They use them for their students occasionally, and this is our way to earn enough money to keep this building that we have. The room and board that they pay, pays for our yearly bills.
An interesting and thought-provoking topic that my grammar class is studying right now is - the fear of God. It's really interesting to here their views and it makes me think. I've learned that the fear of God is not something we really think about a lot. We are really quick to remember that God is love, forgiveness, grace, and mercy; which is of course true; but we forget a lot of times that he is a just God. So we've been talking about having this "fear (or respect as we've come to define it in class) along with having love for God. That this fear isn't a trembling fear, but a reminder of how powerful God is, a reminder of who He is, a reminder that He is creator of the universe, and a reminder to follow his teachings. But, the most beautiful thing (and we're discussing this now in the class) is how perfect love casts out fear (the trembling-I'm-in-trouble kind) and that we can be sure of our salvation.
So, as you can see Alan and I have been pretty busy, along with everybody else here. However, we managed to take some time this past weekend and have a full discussion on our thoughts about where to go. After spending a lot of time discussing and praying, we decided to go work with the Catania church. We've been in contact with them, and the plan is that we will fly down later this month to look at some apartments that they have picked out. Once we've decided on one, we've been told it could still take a couple of weeks till we can move in. So Alan and I will be coming back to Florence until it's time for us to go down there.
Through this whole decision process Alan and I have learned a lot. I think the main thing we've learned is that God doesn't NEED us. Hah, maybe that sounds bad, but it's true. We humans tend to get this thought process that God needs us to do exactly this, and go exactly here or there or else His work won't get done. It's as if we've made ourselves bigger than we really are. Alan and I have come to realize that God wants us, but doesn't need us. We loved every place that we visited, and we felt like we were at home and with friends with every single congregation. This decision was difficult, but once we realized that we can do God's work (sharing Jesus) ANYWHERE, and that is in fact what we are called to do, it made our decision easier. Easier in the sense that we didn't feel there was a right or wrong, that really any decision we made would be good and that we can still glorify God wherever we go. In fact, one of the main things we were reminded of was that we are called to make disciples of all nations - all of us are called. People (including me) tend to think that we are "called" for one thing or another. Well, we all definitely have different talents, but we are all commanded to make disciples of all nations (Mark 16:16). So, wherever you are - at work, at home, in your neighborhood, on the other side of the world, in the country, in the inner-city - you can do this mission. You don't have to be a "missionary" to do mission work. To put it quite simply, we are all missionaries wherever we are. There's always people around that haven't heard the truth about Jesus and his love for us.
So, Alan and I are super excited about this opportunity to work with the church in Catania. We're also slightly nervous, but we know we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
Also, fyi, Alan and I have temporarily moved next door (literally) because there are so many kiddos coming with the next group that they needed our room and bathroom. So we have a little apartment that we are renting from our neighbor. We moved in yesterday. It's quiet, which is really really really really weird….Still, most of the day we will be over at the Bible School.
Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and support!
After our visits to the churches in Catania and Milano at the beginning of May, Alan and I tried to take some time alone to pray separately and together about this decision. If you've ever visited the Bible School here in Florence, you know this is a hard task to accomplish - alone time. So we spent a lot of time thinking about this decision separately at first, mainly because we never had sufficient time to discuss it together. This was probably a good thing though.
The third weekend in May we went to Gensano, a small town not far from Roma. There was a convegno there. It was great to meet even more people from all over Italy, and to reconnect with those we've met before. We got the fun job of babysitting, so we mostly played with the kiddos all weekend.
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| The youth at the convegno in Gensano |
Also, in the middle of May, the music group from Harding came with Dr Ganus and his wife. They are all music major, and most of them vocal, and they are all in the choir. So, needless to say, we are giving them song requests all the time. We're all enjoying having them here. They've been very encouraging for us. They have a busy schedule with classes and sight-seeing. We kind of run a hotel for them - clean their rooms when they're out on day trips, cook meals for them, etc. In fact, we've spent a lot of time in the kitchen these past few weeks. Alan has started a notebook with Rosa's recipes. Rosa has been working so hard, some weeks she is over here almost every day making both lunch and dinner for the group. We all take turns helping her. In addition to this, I still have all of my classes and Alan has a few of his that have continued on into the summer. Some of my students did finish their classes with me this past week though. Summer vacation has started here so many people are starting to travel around.
Tomorrow morning the music group leaves, and in the afternoon the athletic group comes to stay. The music group has been here for a month. We've built relationships with these students, and it will be sad to see them go. The next group will be here for just two weeks. So tomorrow (Monday), we are calling "Due Day" because we have to totally clean and rearrange all the beds to accommodate this larger group.
 | |
| Playing nertz |
If you're wondering why we have these groups of students here, it's because we have a couple of rooms that are owned by Harding. They use them for their students occasionally, and this is our way to earn enough money to keep this building that we have. The room and board that they pay, pays for our yearly bills.
An interesting and thought-provoking topic that my grammar class is studying right now is - the fear of God. It's really interesting to here their views and it makes me think. I've learned that the fear of God is not something we really think about a lot. We are really quick to remember that God is love, forgiveness, grace, and mercy; which is of course true; but we forget a lot of times that he is a just God. So we've been talking about having this "fear (or respect as we've come to define it in class) along with having love for God. That this fear isn't a trembling fear, but a reminder of how powerful God is, a reminder of who He is, a reminder that He is creator of the universe, and a reminder to follow his teachings. But, the most beautiful thing (and we're discussing this now in the class) is how perfect love casts out fear (the trembling-I'm-in-trouble kind) and that we can be sure of our salvation.
So, as you can see Alan and I have been pretty busy, along with everybody else here. However, we managed to take some time this past weekend and have a full discussion on our thoughts about where to go. After spending a lot of time discussing and praying, we decided to go work with the Catania church. We've been in contact with them, and the plan is that we will fly down later this month to look at some apartments that they have picked out. Once we've decided on one, we've been told it could still take a couple of weeks till we can move in. So Alan and I will be coming back to Florence until it's time for us to go down there.
Through this whole decision process Alan and I have learned a lot. I think the main thing we've learned is that God doesn't NEED us. Hah, maybe that sounds bad, but it's true. We humans tend to get this thought process that God needs us to do exactly this, and go exactly here or there or else His work won't get done. It's as if we've made ourselves bigger than we really are. Alan and I have come to realize that God wants us, but doesn't need us. We loved every place that we visited, and we felt like we were at home and with friends with every single congregation. This decision was difficult, but once we realized that we can do God's work (sharing Jesus) ANYWHERE, and that is in fact what we are called to do, it made our decision easier. Easier in the sense that we didn't feel there was a right or wrong, that really any decision we made would be good and that we can still glorify God wherever we go. In fact, one of the main things we were reminded of was that we are called to make disciples of all nations - all of us are called. People (including me) tend to think that we are "called" for one thing or another. Well, we all definitely have different talents, but we are all commanded to make disciples of all nations (Mark 16:16). So, wherever you are - at work, at home, in your neighborhood, on the other side of the world, in the country, in the inner-city - you can do this mission. You don't have to be a "missionary" to do mission work. To put it quite simply, we are all missionaries wherever we are. There's always people around that haven't heard the truth about Jesus and his love for us.
So, Alan and I are super excited about this opportunity to work with the church in Catania. We're also slightly nervous, but we know we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
Also, fyi, Alan and I have temporarily moved next door (literally) because there are so many kiddos coming with the next group that they needed our room and bathroom. So we have a little apartment that we are renting from our neighbor. We moved in yesterday. It's quiet, which is really really really really weird….Still, most of the day we will be over at the Bible School.
Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and support!
The Catania congregation will be so blessed. Thanks for the great update, and for all your hard work.
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