I have been trying to figure out the best way to tell you things about my students in a way that you can keep up with their stories without knowing their real names. They may not mind if I have them on here, but I just want to be sure. I have decided to assign each of them an alias. When you pray for them, God will know who you are talking about :)
The first student shall be named John Johnson. (haha...I have to remember the names I give them!) John is our most involved student. He started coming for lessons in January. He loves to come everyday, even if he can only make it for a few minutes. When he doesn't have time for a lesson, he just loves to talk and listen to us speak English. He is married to Jane, and has a three year old son named Jimmy who is one of the cutest kids I have ever seen. He is also the one that is leasing Chad's new apartment to him. John found out about our English lessons through a church member that he works with. He has had us over for dinner, and even started attending church functions including Sunday morning worship. He is earnestly seeking to know God. He has come to believe that there is a God, but wants to understand more about Him. His wife is a little more skeptical. His English is limited, so our conversations are always interesting! He has also begun having Bible studies in Italian with one of the members.
Today he told us about spending the afternoon with his parents and in-laws last week. Someone asked him about his new tenant (Chad) and how he knew him. He explained that he met him through the church of Christ in Catania, which led to a 2 hour conversation about religion between all of them. He told us about this conversation and how excited it made him. He said that in 36 years, he had never once talked to his mother about religion until that day. I got chills. How amazing and powerful! He also told us that after they left the singing and pizza night, he and Jane went home and read the Bible. He was able to answer her questions from the studies he has been doing with all of us. This is very exciting and I hope that you will pray for their whole family. Not only is John being affected, but his wife, son, parents, and in-laws are all sharing in his new knowledge of Christ.
Later today, John made a joke in English. He was very proud of himself to have made such progress in the language that he can joke with us now! He and his family have become so special to us.
Another student that comes every day and we feel close to will be called Ann. Ann has been coming for lessons for a little over a year but, until recently, has not been interested in studying the Bible at all. She is a foreign student who lives with her parents. Her family has no belief in God. Ann is very studious and works very hard to make good grades. She asked me last week to explain more about the Bible to her. Of course, I was very excited about this opportunity! Thanks to everyone who sent suggestions about sources to help with a biblical outline. Lindsay and I began talking with her about this today, and I think it went really well. Please keep Ann in your prayers as well.
Beth is also a student who has recently started coming for English lessons. Beth is not very interested in studying the Bible at this point. She usually brings her English homework so that I can help her with it. This has been difficult because she speak almost no English, and my Italian is pretty weak. I am excited for Lindsay to begin studying with her because they will be able to communicate so much better, and hopefully be able to start some Bible lessons, since Lindsay will be able to explain them to her in Italian.
Carl and Carla are two students that have come a few times, but always seem to disappear for a while. They are teenagers, but I don't feel like I have gotten to know much else about them. They are very shy :) I hope to be able to encourage them, and spend more time with them.
Chad, Lindsay, and I have decided to put together a new weekly schedule that works well for the program and for us. We will begin this process once the Edwards leave, and we are settled into our new routine. At that time, we plan to distribute fliers about the English lessons and bring in a more steady stream of students that come at specified times during the day. At the moment, some students come at the same time each day, while others come and go randomly. I think this will benefit both us and our students. During the time that we have at the building when not in a lesson, we will be able to develop lesson plans for each individual student. All of these changes will take place in mid-April and we are very excited!
