Another Summer Come and Gone

This has been an incredibly busy spring/summer. I apologize for just getting this out. My goal for this school year is to get these out more often so they aren't so lengthy.

First, the most important news....

We have 7 new brothers and sisters in Christ since the last blog post I wrote. In February, a couple Sebastiano and Rosita committed their lives to Christ after several months of studying. In May Monica and her mother, Rosetta, became Christians as well. Monica is Davide's (our student who became a Christian last summer) wife. In June, another young woman, Agostina, became a Christian after several months of studying. She's friends of one the young couples at church. Then, in July, Lydia became a Christian. And just last week, Erika, who is also one of my English students, became a Christian. So in a years time there have been a total of 8 new Christians. Please, if you already pray for our work here, add these names to your prayer list...that their faith will grow and remain strong. We are so excited that our family here is growing!

On our way to the Convegno

Back in March? Yeah, that long ago...Alan drove me and Giorgia up to Rome to attend the annual ladies' retreat that is a nationwide retreat for all the women in Italy.  It was a beautiful experience studying in depth the book of Mark and getting to spend time with some beautiful women who we often only see once a year (or sometimes less).  I'm so glad Giorgia got to go with us. She's a young Christian woman here in Catania who has become a dear friend of mine. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of young women her age here in the church, so I think it was an awesome experience also for her to get to see some old friends and make some new ones. We also got to meet the new Avanti Italia workers who came last year. We've been in touch with them through email and facebook and such, and it was so nice to finally meet them in person!

View from crossing on the ferry

Women's Retreat

When we first arrived back from the states (in Feb) we had a bit of a slump with our English classes. Our students are always changing due to people moving away for jobs, getting busy with family/school events, etc. However, when we came back the number of students we had was at it's lowest (about seven). Also at this time, Alan and I both went through a bit of a slump ourselves. We had just gotten back from the states, we missed our family, we were reminded of "our other life/home," we were exhausted with a teething baby, and to be completely honest we were struggling a bit to feel energized and enthusiastic to do our work here. At this point, we decided we really needed to up our efforts in taking care of ourselves. We started listening to sermons on podcasts, because yes, even though we are proficient in Italian, it's not the same when you listen to lessons/sermons in another language.  As someone once told me, how can we continue to help others if we don't get fed ourselves. So we started there because we saw the sermons as something that would be really useful to us. We've made more of an effort to take time to study together, which hasn't been much of a priority for us before. We both like to study separately and then talk about what we studied or read in the Bible later. But we found that these studies together are more helpful to us here since we don't have other people to study in English with.  I joined a gym with one of my friends. I saw it as a way to get out of the house and have a short break from my son and also as a way to meet a completely different set of people. I'm glad I did it. I made new friends, and it's been a neat opportunity to share Jesus with them. Although I have to admit, it is strange that as a gym class we go out together and get pizza or granita... :) But those are the times when I have a chance to build relationships, so I'm willing to make that sacrifice of calories. ;) But seriously, it has been a good experience.

After a few weeks, we both felt more enthusiastic again for why we're here: sharing God's love with those around us and sharing the Good News. We re-evaulated our goals, plans, and also made an important decision, which I'll tell you about at the end of this blog. Right at this point in our lives, all of a sudden we got a huge interest in English lessons again, and even cooler was the fact that several of these new students find reading the Bible interesting AND several of them speak English amazingly well! It's awesome how God works things out in our lives. Looking back, I think God new that if all those students had come just a month sooner, we wouldn't have been ready for them. We were just at a burnt out stage. Our God is awesome. It's a neat reminder that he sees the bigger picture, and He's taking care of us.

On our way back to Sicily from the conveyno in Rome, we stopped in Naples to visit Jay and some other members of the church

Our last breakfast in Naples with our friends

May was extremely busy. I got to take a week off and spend it being a tourist with two of my college friends who came to visit! I had so much fun with them. I think we did a food tour through Sicily! Seriously, I gained probably 5 pounds. Good thing I joined that gym. I'm so glad you all came, Michele and Elaina! It was so much fun! They had just come from visiting relatives who are missionaries in Scotland, so we got to hear about the work there and learn some Doric as well. So now we speak 3 languages. ;)

Me, Elaina, and Michelle at the sea

After my friends left, I had a week to finish getting VBS ready. This year's theme was Camp Courageous. We had a 3 day VBS and each day the children studied a different Old Testament story: Joshua and Jericho, David and Goliath, and Daniel and the Lion's Den. I wrote the program and the lessons myself this year. I say this not to brag but to be an encouragement. I went to vbs a handful of times as a child. When I was older I never helped with VBS. I literally have no experience. Before coming to Italy, I honestly had no experience with children period let alone teaching them. So yes, there are probably tons of people out there more qualified and experienced to do this and they would most definitely have done a better job. However, VBS is a new concept here in Italy, and most of the churches don't even know what it is or how to do it. This was the fourth year to have VBS here in Catania, so they are just now starting to get the hang of it. I just want to say, if there's a need, try to fill it. Even if it's not your "talent" or your speciality. That's ok. I think sometimes we focus on only doing what our talent is, and that's ok if you're in a large church where all the needs are being taken care of. In smaller churches however, there are usually several needs that are being met. Step up and try. Just like David in the Old Testament...he wasn't a soldier (yet), he was unaccustomed to wearing armor, and he was small compared to Goliath; but he stepped up and did the job because he knew that somehow God would help him accomplish it. That's the same God we worship today. I love this quote that I remember seeing when I was in nursing school:

"God doesn't call the qualified; he qualifies the called." 

It's true! And according to scripture, all of us Christians are called (1 Peter 2:9). I'm not afraid to tell you all my struggles if it means that it encourages someone who's reading this. VBS is a struggle for me. I'm not at all creative, I can't draw a good stick figure let alone come up with and execute crafts.  I've never taught children or even interacted with them much before living here, but lessons were made and the children learned. I really do love Philippians 4:13" I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." I'll be honest, I was really stressed out before VBS. I mean, I had a seven month old infant and a lot of stuff to do, but it got done thanks to God and thanks to the women at the church who helped me think of craft ideas, who pointed me to the correct stores when I didn't know where to find something I needed, who helped check over my lessons that I wrote in Italian and rephrase things correctly. So many of the ladies at church stepped up and participated this year. I did most of the planning/pre-VBS stuff, but the ladies/moms at church - they are the ones who ran VBS this year. They taught the classes, helped with the games and crafts and decorations. It was so neat to see how smoothly it ran and it's only the 4th year they've had it (and only the second year they've done it on their own without the Avanti team from Florence coming to run it).

Here's a link to a short slide show from our vbs Catania VBS 2015

Also, a big THANK YOU goes out to the campaigners who came just two days before VBS started. Jay Walls, his family, and three Harding Students came and stayed with us for 10 days. They helped set up for VBS. They were just so willing to jump right in and do whatever needed to be done during VBS. They were such a big help with that, and it was such an encouragement for us to have them.

One of the campaigners, Arianna, stayed at our house, and the others were hosted by other church families. We kept them all busy the entire time they were here. The first two days they were here were filled with VBS preparation and passing out fliers all over the city. The next three days were busy with VBS, and in the evenings of those three days that we had VBS, Jay Walls held a conference here each evening. We had a few visitors each night.  After that, they spent the next couple of days passing our fliers again for another conference that we had the first weekend of June.

Once the campaigners left, we immediately had our visiting speaker from Switzerland who did a weekend conference speaking about the historical evidences found that help "prove" the Bible. It was a very interesting conference, and we also had a few visitors each night.

Then, a week after that conference we had a visit from Terry Edwards, Brandon Edwards (who used to work here in Catania several years ago), and a group from the Lewisville church of Christ in Texas. They were only here for a long weekend, and most of them didn't speak any Italian, but they were a huge encouragement to us and everyone else in the church. Terry Edwards gave lessons each night, and one night we had pizza together after the lesson. After the pizza, an impromptu singing started up. These people could sing! And the church here in Catania loves to sing, so it was a beautiful combination. We sang songs in both Italian and English. It was just a beautiful experience where people from different cultures, countries, languages, and backgrounds came together for one purpose and one purpose only - to worship our Lord with our voices. The feeling of brotherly love was tangible. As one of the men from the church said later that night in a group text (we have a texting group as a church on Whatsapp), "If that was a glimpse of Heaven, I can't wait!"


On July 4th, Alan and I made our way up to Meschia for a week. Meschia is where the nationwide youth camp is held each year. We had about 45 kids at camp this year. This is the one main chance that the kids have each year to see each other. Some kids come from churches that have only one or two others their age, so this is a very important/exciting week for all of them. This year, my role was to just be a mom. Alan had a few more responsibilities. He helped teach the preteens class and helped with the sports. We enjoyed hanging out with the kids and teenagers each day. It's a great opportunity for us to strengthen friendships, have fun together, worship God, and have meaningful conversations with these kids. This year the Americans from the Bible School came down, so we also got to spend time with them, which was encouraging for us as well. It's nice to be able to talk in English sometimes!

Here's a long slide show of our camp experience. Meschia Camp 2015

Youth Devotional at our apartme

This summer one of the members of our church passed away. The funeral was held for him last week. If you all could pray for the Coco family as they go through this difficult time, it would be greatly appreciated. Alan and I didn't know Eugenio that well, but he always greeted us with a smile, and we'll miss seeing him sit in his usual spot up front each Sunday.

That sums up just about everything that we did before August. I will be posting a second and much shorter blog about that month soon.

So, last but not least, our exciting news! We have decided to extend our stay here another two years. After much thought, prayer, and yes, even inner struggles at times, we felt that this is something we should do. There's always work here. We've had several students come through. All in all, we've had 80-100 different students come through over the two years that we've been here. All of these people study the Bible in English with us. Also, as we become more proficient with the language, we feel that we'll be able to do more work here inside the church. Alan has been working on writing lessons and sermons (that is a role he has yet to take on here in Italy), we have Bible bowl and youth group meetings with the preteens, and starting this fall Alan's going to be going to Paterno' once a week to teach a Bible study with the youth there. Even though they are small, they have several youth...about 8 or so if I didn't forget anyone.  They've also asked him to start helping with the preaching in Paterno.  Paterno' is a small church about 30 miles away.  They are having some struggles right now and so the men from the church in Catania are rotating through each week going up there to help with preaching and whatever else needs done.


Below is a collection of photos of us hanging out with our students and church family. 

 

We spent a day Marie Antonietta's house watching a movie in English

Going out to get pizza with Salvo, one of Alan's students

Eating out with Fabio and Sara!

 

Visiting our friend Alessandro at his bar

Visiting our student Franco and his family at their beach house

Some Daddy/Son time

Sefora loves to steal my glasses

Alan got to try his hand at cooking Italian style

The girls we watch each week enjoying pushing Davey around town

Fellowship with the church in the countryside 

Spending the day in the countryside with our church family from Enna

Italian style pot luck