A Message from Duda

I got this email from Chris today:

"This past Sunday, Duda handed me a letter he wanted me to translate for you all. Here it is:

'Beloved brothers and sisters, comrades in the faith…peace be with you all!

God has given comfort to our hearts. He has carried us in His arms. For this reason, we are strong and His mercy has filled our lives. Our daughter, Bianca is in the Kingdom of Heaven with our Father. There, she is in a much better place and we know that one day we will join her in worshiping and honoring our God together. Your prayers have given us much strength. We are thankful for you all! God bless each of you. Please read and think about 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Family of Carlos Eduardo (Duda), Branca, and Brenda Vilas Boas'

Email: dudavilasboas@yahoo.com.br (if you would like to send them an email, you can say something like: “Thanks for your email. We will continue praying for you. God bless.” Here it is in Portuguese that you can cut and paste: Obrigado pela sua e-mail. Nós continuaremos orar por vocês. Deus abençoe "

I'm home!!

It is so great to be back home for Christmas! This is my most favorite time of the year, and I am so excited to be back to spend it with my family! The first thing I did was surprise my sister at work, and I got to see my sweet babies at Harding. Then, I ate some Mexican food. Probably not the most wise decision.

Sunday morning worship at Florence went really well. Maybe it was just the new seating arrangements, but it is starting to feel more like family. After services, there was an Agape (fellowship meal) and a cake to celebrate Marco's birthday. It was a lot of fun, and everyone seemed to be having a great time! Fellowship meal's in Italy are like big family lunches.

After a lot of talking, praying, and planning I have decided to go to Catania for a visit when I get back to Italy in January. It is likely that I will be moving down there to work with the church and help Chad with all of Brandon's students since he will be leaving in April. Lindsay Walle will also be coming to Italy in February and will hopefully join us there. There is a great work going on in Catania and we all believe that it is important to have a team down there to keep it going once Brandon and Kristen are finished with their 2 year committment. I am very excited about this possibility, and would like to ask for ALL of your prayers in this very big decision!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KARLEY!!!!!
yesterday...

Hooray for Coldplay!

England was amazing, and so was the concert! We had an absolute blast, and it was great to be able to understand the language...well, kinda. We got to see the University of Birmingham, watch some futbol, drive on the left side of the road, go out for a curry, experience The Mighty Boosh on BBC, drink English tea, and eat Marmite on toast. It was SO cold, and it even snowed the day we left!

The Christmas market in downtown Birmingham

A glimpse of Selly Oak, the student neighborhood where we stayed next to the University of Birmingham

Double Decker!

COLDPLAY!!!!!

Today, I have just been recovering-haha. Taxis, trains, planes, and buses really suck the energy right out of a person. I had the pleasure of joining David in one of his lessons today with two older gentleman: Franco and Celistino. They were sweet and really funny!

David has a cousin here visiting, and Brandon, Kristen, and Charlotte made it back from their visit to the States today! Tomorrow, they and Chad will head down to Catania. A group of students from the Harding University program in England will be arriving tonight as well.

Sad news to report: Luigi, the oldest man from the Florence congregation, passed away yesterday. His funeral is tomorrow morning.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!
You can all send an e-card to kharris@bankofbartlett.com :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, I made my very first Thanksgiving meal! It was tiny and just for me, but I was still proud of it. I got to think about how extremely thankful I am for my family and friends! I miss you all SOOO much and hope you are having a wonderful holiday! I can't wait to share Christmas with you!

Here it is! Tofurky and veggies, beans, corn, and mashed potatoes! It may not look like much to you Americans, but after pasta everyday for the past 2 months, those mashed potatoes were like heaven!
By the way, that is the top of a pineapple in the background that I had absolutely nothing to do with.

This week's lessons went very well. I feel like I am really getting to know some of my students. Rina even brought me flowers cause I have been sick :) So sweet!!

I haven't seen them yet, but I heard David and Debbie made it back safely from Puglia! I'm sure they had a wonderful time, and I look forward to hearing about it.

Tomorrow, I am leaving town with some friends for the weekend. My wonderful, fabulous parents got me tickets to see Coldplay in Birmingham, England for my birthday!
THANKS MOM AND DAD!!!!!

Sweet Melissa

Our darling Melissa moved back to Catania today. She has been serving as the assistant director of the Freed Hardeman campus this semester. We were lucky enough to have her as a guest here for the past week. It seems like everyone is leaving here and going to Catania! Chad heads down next week!

This has been "sick weekend" here at the Bible School. All of the healthy HUF students left for free travel, and all of the sick ones stayed here and we all watched movies. It's no fun being sick, but it's always better when you are not alone. Chad is the only one who has stayed healthy...for now...

You can now read Debbie's and Chad's newsletters for October and November here.

I have some very sad news from Chris Boyce:

"After 3 weeks of fighting infections in her body, Bianca is now at peace, free from pain and
suffering, and safe in the arms of Jesus. She died Saturday morning around 10 AM. The funeral will be Sunday morning at 9 AM. Both Duda and Branca expressed to us just how much the cards, phone calls, letters, emails, and the prayers from all of our brothers and sisters all over the world meant to them. Teresa printed out several and gave them to them. They told me to tell you: “Your prayers encouraged us and we thank God for you.” Please continue to pray God will comfort them."

Extra Info and Prayer Requests

I was looking back over some of the posts and realized that there are so many things I haven't talked about!

For example, Anna Maria and her mother left on Saturday to move down to Catania. We are very sad, but I know that she is very happy to be back with her husband! Pray for her new life there and her sweet baby that is due in the next couple of months.

In case you don't know...we have guests come and stay here ALL the time! I don't want to write about all of them, cause I am not sure how they would feel having their names and whereabouts on the internet. Just know that it is extremely common for people I have never seen to walk past my room looking for the bathroom. Haha. I don't think there has been a single night since I arrived that there was not at least one guest staying somewhere in the building. They are all very welcome here!

I also haven't said anything about the friends I have made here that are not connected to the Bible School. I don't want them to feel like they are a part of some reality show or something-ha. Just know that they exist, and you might occassionally see some pictures on my photobucket. I am very thankful for them, especially when I get a little homesick. They are wonderful people!

I don't think I have mentioned that Debbie made it back safely from her cruise. I don't think she would mind me telling you about some of the people that she worked with. She was working as a sign language interpreter for the deaf. One couple was both deaf and blind. I can't even imagine what that would be like. She said that they love to travel, and they study up on things before they go to "see" them. The way they see things is by touching them. They must be very brave. Stories like that are so humbling.

David and Debbie are leaving tomorrow for a week to go visit Rosa and her family down in Puglia where she is from. They will be helping them with their olive harvest and visiting some churches in Sicily. Please pray for their safe journey.

Also, for those of you who followed my blog from Recife, you might remember Danny and Lee! They have set the date for their wedding to be December 13 of this year! Congratulations, love birds! To continue following the work in Recife, click here!

The Boyce's are an amazing missionary family in Brazil, that I had the opportunity to spend some time with when I was there this summer. I received a prayer request from Chris, for a 7 year old girl named Bianca, that I would like to pass along:
"... Bianca's sickness is going on 3 weeks now. Over the weekend, Bianca's condition worsened. She has a staph infection in her heart and the bacteria moved to her lungs and she has pneumonia. What caused more concern was she was hemorrhaging in her lungs and that some of her organs had shut down. The doctor told Bianca's family that it would take a miracle for her to live. He even told them to get ready for the possibility of her dying. Glory to God, today, we understand she has improved some. Her platelet count is higher (all of the brothers in the church here are donating blood to her; she is receiving platelet transfusion). Her hemorrhaging has stopped. She still has pnemonia and the staph infection. The fight is far from over. We need you to continue to pray for her."
To see a picture of Bianca and her family, and to follow the work of the Boyce family, click here.

A Crazy Weekend

This weekend was jam packed! I'm exhausted! A group of people came in from Rome on Friday and spent the weekend here working, visiting, passing out fliers, and holding a conference. It was great to see some of the people we had met at the convention, and meet some new people, too!

This is inside the church building here in Florence. The conference was The Resurrection of Jesus: Myth of Reality. The speaker was Vittorio Vitalone from Rome.

Virginia, Chad, Andrea
Virginia is Vittorio and Tonia's daughter

This is a darling little girl whose family is from Albania. I wish I knew how to spell her name. I went with Sarah and Vittorio's wife, Tonia, to visit her, her mother and her new baby brother.

Happy Birthday Mario!!!

Dinner at the building. That is Tonia and Vittorio on the end.

More pictures

Last night, we had the HUF group to the Bible School for "Sunday Night Church." Debbie made chili for everyone! It was a lot of fun!

Today I got to meet 2 of my new students. Matteo, who is Rina's son/Lisa's brother and his girlfriend Sarena. They were really nice. They seem to have about the same level of English which is really helpful since they will be coming together for lessons. They did really well with the reading comprehension and repeating back to me the story, in their own words. Rina laughed about the fact that her whole family is taking English lessons now. Lisa and Francesco also came today. Both of their lessons also went well. I am thinking about having a time where all of my students can come over for dinner one night to practice their conversation with each other and with us, before I leave for Christmas.

Yay for Holidays and Babies!

Things around here have REALLY picked up, and we are all so busy that I hardly have time to update! Have patience, eager readers! English lessons have gone really well this week. I am beginning to get comfortable with all of my students and it is getting easier to have more meaningful conversations. Alessandro and Manuela are both sick this week, so please keep them in your prayers. I have 3 new students that I will tell you more about as I learn more about them. Sabrina studied with me for the first time yesterday. She seems very sweet and interesting. She studied in Paris for a while and is an architect! Matteo is Lisa's brother, and Rina's son. He and his girlfriend, Sarena, are planning to come for a lesson on Monday. The other student is a girl about my age from Romania. She works in a restaurant that David often goes to, and expressed an interest in studying. I have not met her yet, but she is planning to come on Tuesday.

It is getting quite chilly here in Florence, and I have heard that it is the same there in Memphis. I absolutely love this time of year because of all of the holidays coming up. It's exciting to see all of the preparations being made. It's neat to notice the similarities between here and there.

I hope you are all doing well. I miss you all so very much, and can NOT wait to see you all during Christmas! I want to congratulate Paul and Ericka Maple (my cousins) on their brand new beautiful baby, Elizabeth Blake! Also, congratulations to Nick and Amanda McNabb (also cousins:) on the baby they are expecting!

Pistoia

This morning we made our first visit to another congregation! We went to the church of Christ in Pistoia.

Pistoia is only about a 30 minute drive from Florence. The congregation was so friendly and welcoming! Actually, everyone we met in Pistoia was extremely friendly! I really liked both the congregation, and the town. Roger and Heather Mahan are the American missionaries there. They have 2 adorable children, Noah and Elena. When asked if he was the Noah that built that big boat, Noah said, "I'm not THAT Noah, I am the kid Noah from the United States. That's an English place!" They have several children's English classes that they are teaching during the week with some help from some A.I.M. workers in Prato. I was asked to come back and help with the classes, so I am very excited about that!

You can see more pictures of Pistoia by clicking here. By the way, I put all my pictures on Photobucket in albums, so be sure and click on "main" to get to a different album.

The building of the church of Christ in Pistoia

Pistoia

Fruits and veggies

This is Santo Spirito. I took is last night. It is right next to where I lived when I studied abroad here in Florence, and just happens to be one of my favorite church buildings here.

I also took this view of Florence last night

Tonight, we had an amazing worship service with the HUF students at the villa. It is always so good to have a lesson in songs in English, especially after it has been a while. It makes me realize how often I might take worship for granted, and how blessed we are to have the freedom to come together with our large church families in America for worship and fellowship 3 times a week!

2008 Election

Last night, the Tuscan American Association had a huge gathering for people who were interested in watching coverage on the election. There were live bands that played American music, a lot of American food, and a lot of Americans! It was so much fun!

One of the many bands that played

(Sigh) The American flag made out of balloons

This band was hilarious. They were Italian Elvis impersonators!

Oh yeah, and Obama stopped by, too

Yesterday, I had a lesson with Manuela. She brought some of her homework from school to work on. She is such a sweet girl, and really smart! Her English is probably the best out of all of the students I have. Tonight, when Alessandro's grandmother dropped him off, she expressed interest in some English lessons! She wants to come at the same time as Alessandro, so she is going to have lessons with Chad while Ales has lessons with me! I am very excited about it. Tonight, we talked about Moses and learned a bunch of new verbs. When Rina came, we read some passages in Luke. It's really neat when she gets halfway through a scripture, and she realizes that it is a story she has heard before! She gets very excited!

I fell in love this weekend...

...with a tiny town called Citerna. Many of you probably recognize that name because the Freed Hardeman/Faulkner campus is located there. Citerna is a beautiful medieval fortress located on top of a mountain, overlooking Tuscany from one side and Umbria from the other. There is only one main road, and has about 600 inhabitants. The actual campus is a hotel, perfectly placed on the side of the hill. It is very spacious and has a beautiful view.

I also got to see Elizabeth Nabors, from Great Oaks, who is studying abroad with Freed. She seems to be very happy and doing great! It was fun to see someone from home and share stories of our experiences so far.

This is the patio of the hotel. It was impossible to get a picture of the entire hotel because of its position. To see other views, you can click here, or in my links.

The beautiful view from Citerna

The main street in Citerna

The town has many different levels. This picture was taken looking down on the playground. Below the playground is the main street.

Entering the main square

Rina, Lisa, and Francesco all came to the Bible School for lessons tonight. It was fun having Rina and Lisa together again! Francesco has an English test on Wednesday, so I got to help him with that. He is also excited about the premiere of High School Musical 3, here in Italy.

We started our new Italian class today! We have 2 new students. One is from Michigan, and the other is from Slovakia. I still have Daniella as a teacher, but now I also have Ornella.
Speaking of Italian class, I have a funny story...

Reader discretion is advised:
On Friday, I had to give a presentation on the history of the English language, in Italian. Because of that, we had to talk quite a bit about the Anglo-Saxons. In Italian, "Anglo Saxons", is "Anglo Sassone." Because of a misprint by one of my group members, we proceeded to give our presentation, with more than a few mentions about the Anglo Sessone. The problem is this: "sesso" in Italian is "sex" and "one" at the end of any word causes it to mean "big." So, our presentation was not about the Saxons, like it should have been, but about BIG SEX. Yes, that's right. Our teacher knew the whole time, but didn't correct us until the end as he laughed hysterically. On top of that, we had a lovely power point so that everyone could see it, just in case they thought they heard wrong.

I can't think of a good title for this

Please keep the Walle family in your prayers. Lindsay Walle is our friend and fellow Avanti worker. She has been planning on joining us in February, after she graduates from Harding University in December. Her father passed away this past weekend. I can't imagine what a difficult time she must be having. Again, please pray for her and her family.

Yesterday, Francesco came for his 2nd English lesson. He opened up a lot more and seemed to enjoy the class. We talked about when Jesus was 12, and was in the temple with the wise teachers. It was neat, because Francesco is 12. After the lesson, he let me listen to the Jonas brothers on his phone :) He explained to me, in Italian, that he doesn't understand any of the lyrics, but he still likes to listen. He also had Justin Timberlake on his phone and I got to explain to him that I am from Memphis, like him, and that I have been to his house. He didn't believe me at all.

Today, Alessandro and Rina both came to class. Alessandro learned about Noah's Ark and a bunch of English words for the animals. Rina is doing so much better with her English already! It's very exciting! She is getting more comfortable with speaking. She got really excited when I told her that I couldn't roll my "r's" the same way she can't make the "th" sound. She said it made her very happy that she is not the only one who has a difficult time!

Debbie leaves tomorrow to go work on a cruise for 2 weeks. She will be doing sign language for the hearing impaired. We will miss her very much!

Little Victories

This morning, we went to get our Codice Fiscale. It is basically like a social security number. It was pleasantly simple in every way. It didn't even take that long.
Later, I went into the kitchen to ask Rosa what I could do to help with lunch. Rosa does not speak English to us. (Whether or not she CAN speak English might be a different story ;) She asked me, in Italian, to go get a specific type of bread from a certain grocery store. Not the kind of store where you walk in, find it, and buy it. I had to actually walk up to the counter and ask for it in Italian! Was I nervous? Yes...but I had to be brave. And I did it! I was so excited! I had saved lunch! I was full of joy and pride walking back to the Bible school with my half kilo of Tuscan bread until I got to the door an realized I had forgotten the key when I left, in my haste to impress Rosa. All was well, though. It's the small accomplishments, ya know? I shall conquer this language, one trip to the bread store at a time!

Tonight, Lisa and I studied about the verb "to be," adjectives, articles, and the Baptism of Jesus. It was fun to watch her excitement as she understood the story and applied the grammar she had just learned, to answering questions that I asked her about the scripture. She was so proud of her little accomplishments, and I was proud for her.

Fall Back

We didn't know that there was a time change last night, so we got to the church building an hour early this morning :) Apparently, Italy "falls back" a couple of weeks before the States, so be watching out for that one!

Brandon and Kristen Edwards are in town with their new baby, Charlotte! She is absolutely adorable! They are Avanti workers in Catania in Sicily, where Chad will be going at the end of the year. They have done a lot of amazing work in the short time they have been in Catania. For all you Great Oakers, Brandon is the son of Terry Edwards, and the brother of Chelsea Cates!

I got to help teach the 2 year old class today! The lesson was Noah's Ark, but they were really only interested in playing with the plastic animals. After worship, I had the privilege of going over to Marco and Kelly's house for lunch. Kelly came here as Avanti worker a couple of years ago, and just recently married Marco. We had a lot of fun walking around the Scandicci market after lunch.

It's been a beautiful weekend here in Florence!

San Lorenzo Market

I have been meaning to take some pictures of the San Lorenzo market because we walk through it everyday on the way to school. Talk about temptation!

These two pictures are at the beginning or entrance to the market. It goes on for several streets and has just about anything you could possibly want.

New Pictures!

Today Manuela came to study English. She is 17 years old, and the sister of Francesco. She understands more English than my other students. I am excited about being able to be a part of her life at such an interesting age. She is very sweet, and I think she is going to do very well with the English conversation. I took some pictures today that I realized I hadn't taken yet.

The street that our Italian language school is on, is under construction. That's our school with the reddish brown shutters.

Our Italian language school in Florence

The castle in Scandicci

Jesus IS the message

Today I got to meet my new student, Francesco. He is 12 years old. His English is minimal, but so is my Italian. I apologized and told him that I would help him with his English if he would help me with my Italian. He smiled really big because I said that to him in Italian, so he understood. His sister, Manuela will be coming tomorrow for her first session. Lisa also came back for her second session today. She did a great job. I am glad that I am going through the process of learning a new language at the same time they are, because it really helps me to understand what they are going through. It is an incredible experience.

After our lessons, Mr. Jim sat Chad and I down to talk to us about cross-cultural communications and the message of Jesus. He took us through some scriptures and shared with us his thoughts and the story of how he came to understanding the message. If you know Mr. Jim, you know that his joy is contagious and you never tire of being around him. I appreciate so much his taking time out to share with us some of his thoughts. It is always a pleasure to hear what he has to say.

"...God annointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him...they put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear...and he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
Taken from Acts 10: 38-43

Oh yeah, and Italian telephones say "Drin Drin" instead of "Ring Ring"

"Quando prendiamo al cielo..."

I have a confession to make. I try my best to only report the good news on this blog. Obviously, nothing is perfect and there are always struggles. I feel as if now, more than ever, I am being tested because of the decision I have made to serve God here in Italy. It can be very frustrating to try to adapt to new situations and new people that make up a new life with a new language, new customs, and so much confusion. Of course I love Italy, but it can be difficult to adjust and always have the best attitude, so far away from the people I love. I have not said anything about this until now, because I didn't want to sound neagtive or unappreciative of the opportunity that I have to be here. Because of something that happened today, I decided to share this:

A few of us (some Americans, some Italians) were all trying to communicate with one another before worship this morning, and it seemed impossible. Then one of the men said,
"Quando prendiamo al cielo, faremo tutto capisce l'un l'altro. Una lingua," which means
"When we all get to Heaven, we will be able to understand each other. One language."

I don't know how to describe what I felt when he said that, but it was so beautfiful. It struck me so deeply, and put everything into perspective for me. I just wanted to share that, and a couple of verses. I also wanted to apologize to those of you who I have complained to about such small things, when my purpose here is so much bigger than myself.

"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing...Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him."
James 1:2-4, 12.

I felt compelled to share this in the hopes that it would help someone else who might need to hear it. Then, almost as if "someone" had planned it, the closing song today was "When we all get to Heaven" which we sang in English and Italian simultaneously.

"Is this really necessary?"

...asked David as he knocked on one of the classroom walls, that seems to serve no purpose. Haha, I guess all of this rearranging and updating has gotten some of us a little over zealous. The Woodroof's have done a really great job on the school. They have put of lot of time and energy into making improvements. It looks great!

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting the 2nd person with whom I will be studying English and the Bible. His name is Alessandro and he is 8 years old! He was absolutely adorable and very excited about learning! I'm anxious to put together some "fun" lessons for him. I am amazed how well our "students" fit with each of our personalities. I know that God worked it out that way for us, and for them.

Yesterday in Italian class, we learned some vocabulary used to discuss animals. Because the teachers don't speak English to us, they had to make different animal sounds to describe the different animals. To my complete surprise (and amusement) I learned that the animals sounds are not universal! For example, most Americans would probably say that a bird says "Tweet Tweet" but Italians say "Cheep Cheep" and Japanese say "Peep Peep" Dogs in Italy say "Bow Bow" and frogs say "Cra Cra" instead of "Ribbit." Haha, I just thought that was really funny.

This week, all of the public school students are "striking." It's what is called an Occupato, and is apparently quite common. From what I can understand, they are upset about a lot of the new policies dealing with grading and faculty downsizing. There are all kinds of signs up on all of the schools and the kids stay there all day and night.
They really like to protest stuff around here. Tomorrow there will be a transportation strike throughout ALL of Italy. There will be no trains, and the busses will only run for a few hours during the day. There will be a HUGE protest tomorrow in Rome for everyone who is unhappy about something...from students to workers. I'm not really sure how everyone is going to get there.

One thing that I love about Italy today: The cute dogs that sit on their balconies, squinting their little eyes and watching carefully to make sure everyone is behaving properly. They bark at certain people who pass by to make sure we all know that they are watching and in charge.

The Men's Convention begins today here at the Bible School. There will be leaders from churches of Christ all over Italy...convening. I really don't know what all is involved, but I will be sure to post an update when I find out!

Rina and Lisa

Sorry it has been so long since I updated. I have been sick as a dog. But I'm all better now and I have some exciting news!

First of all, I still love my Italian classes! My teachers are hilarious and my classmates are a lot of fun. Everyday, Daniele and Daniella reassure us that what we are learning is very easy-haha. Yeah...for them.

There is a new woman in my class who is from Brazil, which is neat for me. She does not speak any English at all, so it was fun to try and have a conversation with her in Italian. Notice, I said try.

The Woodroof's went to worship in Milan yesterday. So it was just Chad and I that went to the church in Florence. We were a little nervous about not having any translators, but it went really well! I was asked to help teach the kids class, which of course, I was really excited about! I love kids! One of the teachers came here as an Avanti worker about 18 years ago! She got married and has 3 sweet children. She helped me with translating.

I had my first English lesson/Bible study today! It was with a sweet woman named Rina and her daughter, Lisa. She lives in Scandicci and attends the Catholic church. The study went very well and I am so excited to begin working! They even scheduled to come back separately, which shows they are very interested! Please pray for them, and for David, Chad, and I as we continue our Bible studies.

The Best Day Ever!

Well, maybe not EVER...but it has been a really great day!
Chad and I headed into Florence for our first day of Italian class before the sun came up. We conquered the bus system like old pros. We are in different classes because of our previous studies in the Italian language. The first 2 hours, his teacher is Daniele and mine is Daniella. Then, they switch and I have Daniele and he has Daniella for the next 2 hours. Confused? Chad is the only American in a very small class with he and 4 women. My class is about twice the size with people from all over the world including: Japan, Slavakia, Brazil, Vietnam, England, Mexico, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Massachusetts, California, and of course Tennessee. Because of all of our different languages, we have to speak Italian to communicate, which is great! I feel like I was perfectly placed into this class because I understood everything that was going on (the teachers teach only in Italian) and I felt that I was on the same level of understanding as the other students. I am hoping that some of the students in my class will even want to practice their English, so that I can invite them here to the Bible School for lessons! Beginnings are always exciting, especially when things go so well.

Yesterday was wonderful, as well. Mr. Jim Woodroof had a fantastic sermon. Mario and Luigi were also part of the worship service :) Afterwards, there was an AGAPE which is the monthly fellowship meal. All of the HUF students, as well as some Pepperdine students attended. We even saw one of the girls from Pepperdine today in Florence. It's always funny to run into someone you "know" in random places in foreign countries.

I am getting ready to start on my Italian homework. I thought I would never say that again when I graduated! It's ok, though, because this time it's fun. I know that being able to communicate witht the people here is one of the most important parts of the work.

Thank you all so much for the prayers and the emails of encouragement. They mean so much to me, and I couldn't be here this far away from home if I didn't have all of your support :)

Goodbye Emily...again!

Ok, we think Emily is gone for good this time. She should be somewhere in London by now. Hopefully she will make it to the States tomorrow!

Jim and Louine Woodroof just got here! They are David's parents. I expected them to be tired from their flight, but they came bubbling in just as perky as ever! We are all very excited that they are here!

I was feeling very domestic today. So after going to the Saturday market, I came back to the school and did laundry, cleaned my room (I mean, REALLY cleaned it!) and cooked lunch. I also bought my school supplies today :) I also worked on my lesson plans for my English classes. After feeling proud of my productive afternoon, I got to talk to both of my cute little parents on skype!

Tonight, I went over to Sarah's to help her cook a dish for the potluck lunch after worship services tomorrow afternoon. Sarah came to Italy as an Avanti worker 7 years ago, and stayed as the church's secretary. From what I hear, she is "the glue." I had every intention of being a big help until I realized that she owns all 7 seasons of Gilmore Girls on DVD. I'm not much of a cook anyway...

Tomorrow is the beginning of the new week, and marks the beginning of our work here in Florence. The time we have been blessed enough to get to settle in has come to and end. I am very excited about all of the exciting things that are about to happen. Please pray for our continued enthusiasm, courage, strength, and endurance!

Welcome back Emily!

Poor sweet Emily was trying to fly standby from Rome back to the States, and all the flights have been overbooked until the 6th. She is on a train back to Florence right now. Hopefully she will be able to fly out from London sometime tomorrow. She has had a really rough day with no sleep since 2 nights ago, so please pray that for her safety as she comes back tonight, and as she ventures out again tomorrow.

Also pray for Jim and Louine Woodroof, David's parents, who will be boarding a plane any minute now to head to Florence! They will be here visiting for about 3 weeks, and we are all very excited!

David and Debbie loved the lesson plans for our kids' class! We all got a lot of work done today in the classroom to get it ready to be used for the kids and for the annual Men's Convention that will be held here in a couple of weeks. In going through everything, we even found some great puppets in great condition that we can use!

Cultural tip of the day: Do not assume that you can move to Italy and paint the inside walls of your house any color you would like. Upon entering the paint store, you will be asked what the paint will be used for. The store owner will then decide whether or not he will sell you the paint color that you want. In most cases, he will not. He will then choose the color he thinks your room (that he has never seen) shall be. Probably white, or a variation thereof.
Brought to you by: The Woodroofs, who learned this this tip through several trips to the paint store while painting the Bible School.

Meet Nancy!
She is rather difficult to photograph because she is so fiesty. I had trouble getting her sweet little eyes. She and Mario came to the Bible School to have lunch with us today.

Goodbye Emily :(

It's going to be so hard to see people come and go. Emily left today, and we are so very sad. She is so sweet, and will be missed very much. She and three of her friends plan to join the Avanti program next year! Keep them all in your prayers as they make their plans.

Since David was busy taking Emily to the train station, that meant that Chad and I had to brave the elements on our own on the busses to the Thursday night Bible study at the church building. Dark, cold, rain...well, sprinkles anyway :) It was not bad at all! We didn't even get lost! I actually understood a lot more this week in the study, but I think Nancy fell asleep.

Anna Maria left to visit her husband in Catania this weekend. Pray that she has a safe journey there and back.

Chad and I spent most of the day preparing lessons for the 7-10 year old class we will be teaching here at the Bible School. We will be presenting our ideas in tomorrow morning's meeting with David and Debbie. After that, we will be preparing the classroom for classes!

Exciting New Stuff!

We have been hard at work today! David, Debbie, and Emily started working on the Bible School long before Chad and I arrived. They painted, cleaned, rearranged and everything else you can think of! Today, we continued that process by moving furniture all over, and up and down the 3 flights of stairs. I can't take too much credit, though. The boys did most of the heavy lifting while Debbie, Emily, and I pushed furniture across the marble floors :)

I have added a link that you will see if you look to right left side of my blog <--- It is another blog I have created especially for Debbie's monthly Avanti Italia Newsletters! Click here to see it!
Also, for all of you who are on Facebook, a special group has been created by David, Debbie, and Emily for information, news, and updates specifically for Avanti Italia. I have been told that all you have to do is sign into your account, and search for the Avanti Italia group! It is an open group, so everyone who is interested is free to join.

Tonight

Back to School!

The past 2 days have been quite eventful! We have been, and will continue to, meet with David and Debbie each morning to discuss and plan. Today, we went into town to enroll in language school! I had to take a test to figure out which level class I would be in, and was pretty nervous. Once, I answered a question in Spanish. I didn't even know I knew Spanish! The school seems really great, and I am so excited to get started on Monday. Being able to speak the language is crucial to this type of work.

We will also begin our English teaching sessions in the next week or two! David already has a list of people who are anxious to get started, and will start calling tomorrow to get them set up with times to meet with us. Each person will come for one hour at a time to practice their English conversation using the Bible as the text. This is the core of our work here, and is very important to sharing the message with others. There will potentially be a group of kids that Chad and I will teach together. We plan to take them to the park across the street and help them learn in a fun and more active atmosphere using games, songs, and crafts.

We also brainstormed about some ideas for having all of our students together to meet one another and visit in a less formal setting. We are thinking about having a meal during the week of Thanksgiving and inviting everyone to come. We have a lot of ideas, but I will share more as they come about.

While we were in Florence getting signed up for school today, I took everyone to Hemingway's. It is a really neat place near my old apartment (from when I studied abroad here 2 years ago) It has all kinds of desserts, especially chocolate. I accidentally ordered "fish" juice instead of "peach" juice because the words are so similar in Italian. One of many language mistakes that I will make, I'm sure :) Also, the owner said to David and Debbie, "I know you live in Scandicci and work at the Bible School." We still have no idea how he knows. He said that he had met them in Hemingway's before, but today was the first time they had even been there! It was very bizarre. He did say, though, that his wife took English lessons at the Bible School about 20 years ago! But David and Debbie have not even been here for a whole year yet.

We also got our new Italian cell phones and monthly bus passes, so we feel like we really live here now! Getting the cell phones was not an easy task. I won't even try to explain the whole process. I will just tell you that my head hurt when we left. The problem is not that the system is at fault, only that I am not accustomed to the system.

I am really getting comfortable with getting around town and figuring out how things work. I didn't have to ride the busses much when I was here before, so this is all new to me. The real test will be when Chad and I set out on our own for language school on Monday!

Goodbye Tom :(

Tom left today, so that's sad. He has been so much fun and I know everyone will miss him. Please pray for him to have a safe trip home. Virgil and Jackie Jackson are American missionaries in Albania that have been staying here at the Bible School for the past few days and they return to Albania tomorrow, so please also keep them in your prayers. They have a long train and ferry ride ahead of them. Anna Maria is also staying with us. She is originally from Ecuador and is now married to a former Avanti Italia worker. He has moved down to Catania to begin a new job and she will join him in about a month. She is expecting her first child, so keep that whole family in your prayers as well.

We got to worship at the church of Christ in Florence this morning, and it was a wonderful experience. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. It will be great when we are able to understand more of the language! Our Sunday night worship was in English at the HUF villa where David spoke. He did a great job!

Tomorrow we will be meeting with David for a planning and prayer session. We will be discussing the work that we will be starting very soon. I am very anxious about the different opportunities that I have heard about so far!

The building of the church of Christ in Florence

David's French Fry Pizza at dinner Saturday night :)

"In Italy everything is possible, and impossible"

Disclaimer to my financial supporters: All of the reported activities thus far have been free of charge to us. We are in the process of getting over jet lag and getting comfortable with our surroundings before our work begins :)

The title of this post was a quote from our tour guide today. We were lucky enough to be invited to go on a tour of the Duomo with the HUF students. It was very interesting to learn so many amazing facts about it. Afterwards, Chad and I had our first test of finding our way back to the Bible School from downtown Florence on our own!

This is the front of the Duomo. It is made of all local white, green, and pink marble.

Inside the Duomo. The horizontal lines around the perimeter are actually balconies that are used to walk/climb the 473 steps all the way to the top of the dome.

Frescos inside the dome

Mosaic inside the baptistry in front of the Duomo

The Grape Harvest

Today we went with the HUF (Harding University Florence) students to Chianti to harvest a grape vineyard. The drive alone was worth all the "work" of cutting the grapes off of the vine. It was beautiful! The entire experience was amazing. On the way to Chianti, we stopped at the cemetery of the American soldiers that fought in WWII. About 39% of the American soldiers who died in Italy are buried in one of the 2 cemeteries here. One is just south of Rome, and the other one here in Florence has over 4,000 soldiers buried here. The average age is 21-22. It was an educational, yet very sad thing to see.

The cemetery is very well maintained and beautiful

As always, you can click on any picture to see it larger

The vineyard that we helped harvest

Grapes! (Uve)

Freshly cut grapes!
Grape vines
Loading the tractor up with grapes
Eating the grapes
More grape vines

"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest."

After picking grapes all morning, we had a picnic lunch on a hill. We had dinner tonight at the villa with the HUF kids, and then Chad and I went to a Bible study at the church of Christ in Florence with David. We met some members including Giovanni, Carla, Mario, and Nancy (Mario's poodle) She seemed to understand much more Italian than me, so I know it's time to start practicing!!

Is this a dream?

Have I really only been here for 2 days? It feels like at least 2 weeks! Trust me, that is NOT a complaint! I am so in love with this beautiful city! I can't believe it has been 2 years since I have been here. Everything seems just the same, even the smells...sometimes that's not a good thing ;) Well, where do I start? My flights went well and I got here just in time for lunch yesterday! Rosa, who works for the school where I live, cooks lunch for us which is quite a treat. Today (9/24) is her 24th year anniversary of working for the school! David and Debbie Woodroof are the directors here at the Bible School. Currently Debbie's brother, Tom is visiting as well as David and Debbie's daughter, Emily! It is exciting to have plenty of friendly faces around to show us the ropes! They have been so helpful and fun, and have really made us feel right at home! You can click on any of the pictures below to see them larger, which I highly reccomend :)

The view of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo last night (9/23)

My favorite part of Florence, the Ponte Vecchio.

After dinner last night, we caught some of this jazz show in front of the Palazzo Vecchio

At a cafe on a roof in the Piazza della Repubblica that Emily showed us today. This is my teammate, Chad. I took this because you can see Emily with the Duomo behind her in the reflection of his sunglasses.

It's pretty tough to get the whole cathedral into a single picture, but here is the actual "dome" of the Duomo designed my Brunelleschi. You can GoodSearch images of The Duomo of Florence if you are interested in seeing more of it. In fact, you should GoodSearch pictures of Florence, in genreral. I am going to try not to take too many pictures of the city itself because I took so many the last time I was here.
*GoodSearch is a search engine that donates 1 cent to the non-profit of your choice for every search you make.

This is a shot of the Duomo from the rooftop cafe. After we left there, we went to the bookstore where I bought my first Italian Bible :)

For the next 2 weeks, we will be learning all of the important things we need to know about where we are, and what all we are going to be doing. David already has a list of people who are interested in starting some English conversation classes with us, using the Bible. I am very anxious to get started. We we also begin Italian language classes on the 6th of October! When those classes end in December, we will move to a city that has a congregation of the church of Christ that has requested an Avanti Italia worker. During our time here in Florence, we will learn about these different congregations, visit some, and make a decision about where to go. Thanks so much to those of you who wrote sweet notes and have sent encouraging emails! I wish you all could be here with me :) Besides that, everything else is perfect. Please continue to pray for the work that we will be doing here.