Spring Cleaning!

The Edwards left today for 2 weeks to visit some churches in Scotland (where they will plan to work after leaving Italy), so Lindsay and I have been in FULL cleaning mode! We straightened, scrubbed, and scraped all morning and it was very refreshing! The happiest members of our household were our two goldfish who are too excited to sit still!

Some cool things:
First, a man that I will call Don came into the church building yesterday afternoon, interested in some English lessons. He and Chad talked for quite a while, and he decided to stay for our mid-week Bible study that night! He talked to several of the members and explained that he is "Catholic by tradition" but that he has recently began searching for a personal relationship with Jesus. Brandon's lesson last night was on the differences between denominations and the church of Christ. (Yes, I understood everything-whoo hoo!) Don agreed with everything that was discussed and said that he will definitely be back on Sunday!

Also, when I walked into the coffee bar today, the waitress handed me exactly what I always order without me having to say a word. Ok, so maybe it's not as cool as the first thing, but it is pretty neat...or just means that I need to quit my coffee addiction that I have developed since moving to Italy.

I will be "out of the office" all next week starting tomorrow. Please do not be offended if I am not able to respond to emails! I hope you all have a wonderful week, and don't forget to wear GREEN on Tuesday!!!

Nomenclature

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!

We Saw the Sea Today...kinda...!

(I started typing this post Tuesay, but am finishing it on Wednesday)

Chad, Lindsay, and I decided to walk to the sea since it appeared to be so close (looking at a map) from the other building, where we were today. We set out with high hopes of finally getting to see the water up close! Upon arriving at the end of the road we were disappointed to find a fence, a lot of grass, something that looked like a gross pond, more grass, and then the sea. So close, yet so far away. Someday.

It was such a beautiful day that we ate our Chinese food outside! The weather was absolutely perfect! This afternoon, Lindsay and I started working on the Bible outline for Xin. I think it's coming along pretty well.

Tonight, we had an amazing turn out for singing. Don and Joyce Shackelford and Shawn and Donna Daggett were all in town visiting. We had a special pizza fellowship to welcome them and it was a lot of fun!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JARED!!!
Woot woot!

We are Marcing!

I hope you all remembered to set your clocks forward on Saturday night! We won't be doing that here for a few more weeks. Now, there is only a 6 hour time difference between us. Aww.

Yesterday was a fun and eventful day. Everyone at church was so excited to see Lindsay! A lot of them know her from her time spent here on campaign in the summer. Brandon, Chad, Lindsay and I went with some of the members of the Catania congregation to visit the congregation in Paterno last night and help them eat the food at their fellowship meal (Agape) following services :)
You can see some pictures of the funny kids in my photobucket.

Also, be sure and check out Lindsay's blog! She has a link to a really fun video about the Italian culture and it is SO true!

This morning we met with our landlord and his wife to discuss the new lease that will begin in April. They are so nice, but they talk so fast that I can't understand a word! Luckily, Lindsay's Italian is great! I will try not to "use" her too much ;)

When we were at the building this morning, Chad walked in with an amazing surprise! He shaved his head! He looks like a different person! I know several of the members are going to be very excited!

Yay for Lindsay!

Lindsay got here last night, and I am SO excited! Now, our team is whole. To welcome her, we had dinner at our apartment last night and had Neil, Etta, Burton, and Daniel Guion over. There were 10 Americans around the table, and that's the most I've seen in 2 months! We had all American food, so it was a nice change for a night. I'll add some pictures to the photobucket album soon. After dinner, all the guys and Lindsay went to play soccer with a bunch of the guys from the congregation (like they do every Friday night) They play higher up on the mountain where it's colder and it snowed on them! They were also able to see lava flowing out of Etna!

Last night, one of my students (who has actually been very disinterested in the Bible) said that she would like for me to explain to her more about the Bible and who all the writers are and what each book is about. This is huge! I am going to need your help, though. If anyone has some type of "Bible Outline" or knows where I can find one online, that would be GREAT! I have found a few, but was wondering if anyone has a really good one that they have found helpful. Please keep this effort in your prayers, as well. I think that God is really working in this young woman's life.

As part of this transition period, I have been working on a new schedule to make sure that all of my time is managed in the best way possible. This includes an hour of Italian study each day. I had a breakthrough at the Thursday night Bible study. I understood everything that was being said! It was amazing! I was so excited!

I can't believe that it's March! Where has the time gone? I miss you all so much, and really appreciate your emails, cards, and most importantly your prayers!

Giulia and Elisa

There are two young ladies from the Catania congregation that are really shining examples, and encouraging to me. They are each happily present every time the doors are open. At worship services, they sing at the top of their lungs, and know every word to the songs by heart. They always make a point to come up and say hello with a big smile, and even a high five!
Giulia and Elisa are both six years old.
"...Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 8:3-4

This week is flying by like all of the others! All of the English/Bible lessons are continuing to go very well, and I am encouraged by that. Presently, we are in an interesting transition mode as Brandon and Kristin prepare to leave next month, and we are preparing to step in and take over. Although we have taken all the English lessons, there are other aspects to our lives here (such as working with the congregation, starting new programs, taking the apartment) that we are learning how to manage. It's all a part of learning and growing. You really can't help but grow in all kinds of different ways in an experience like this.

Lindsay will be here in 2 days, and I couldn't be more excited! It will be really great to have her here and have our complete team.
Please keep all of us in your prayers as we transition. It's a very exciting, yet crucial time in our work here.

Snowday

Well, I am super jealous of all the snow that most of you are experiencing. Luckies. It's about 60 degrees here today, so I'm pretty sure it's not going to snow. Too bad it had to be on a Saturday, huh students and teachers? Thanks for all of the beautiful pictures you have sent!

Yesterday, Chad and I participated in our first Saturday Distribution. I was not sure what to expect! A lot of members met at the church building in the afternoon and we all folded fliers that told about Jesus and about the church of Christ. Then, we went out into the streets. At first I was nervous that someone was going to throw a flier back in my face, or at least ask me a bunch of questions that I didn't know how to answer in Italian. To my surprise and relief, it ended up being a wonderful evening! We split up into pairs and I had the pleasure of being partnered with an older member named Stefano. I won't even try to spell his last name now. We went to the busiest street in Catania, faced opposite directions, and handed fliers to people walking toward us. After a few minutes, I really got the hang of it. You don't have to be pushy, people just take the fliers when you hold them out! I felt like I was telling every single person that walked by about Jesus. It was great!

Today, Charlotte wore a lovely little blue dress to church. I am sharing this because it was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. It was blue and cream and she had teeny tights to match.