New Experiences and Travels

I have had had some great experiences over the past couple of weeks.  For example, my student Edoardo asked me if he could have his own Bible in English.  The request took me by surprise.  So the next week I gave him an English, thin-line, reference Bible.  I have never seen anyone's eyes light up when they received a Bible, but his eyes were alight with happiness.  I showed him how to use the reference noted in the middle and at the bottom  of the page.  During the Bible Study he used his new Bible and I used mine.  After our study he asked me if he should start reading his new Bible from the beginning or if he should just read where we were studying.  I told him that he could do either and then while he was packing up his stuff he took extra care to put his new Bible back into the box it came in and told me that he would take really good care of the Bible.  It really encouraged me.  I also got to talk with one of the students here about different religions, the little that I knew about them, but I got to share my faith with him and why I believe what I believe.

A couple of weeks ago we had a baby shower for Danielle and Luli.  Danielle is a former Avanti worker and she and Luli stayed here during December.  The ladies here planned the shower for her and we all pitched in and got them some gifts.  I have never been to a baby shower before and didn't really know what to expect, but Ermenita and Jessica planned some games to play.  One game was to guess how many M&Ms were in a jar, which Luli guessed correctly.  The other game, one of the ladies here filled 13 diapers with different things and we had to smell them and guess what was in them.  They were filled with things like onions, mint, peppermint, nutmeg, and Nutella.  She got a lot of great gifts and she told me that she felt very blessed by everyone's generosity, support, and love.

Luli and Danielle

 Above and Below: Diaper smelling game

The pictures below are some of the presents Luli and Danielle received:

Last Friday the ladies here at Avanti went to Velletri for a women's conference, so the men here did physical Friday, the library reading, and game night.  For physical Friday, we moved in the new double fridge, washer, and industrial dryer.  They were extremely heavy, but we got them moved in and set up (thanks College Church!).  At the library, we read The Giving Tree in English and did some activities with them.  They seemed to really enjoy it.  As for Game Night, we only had one person showed up for it.  We played Scrabble for about an hour and then she left.  Hopefully the next game night we will have more students.

 Above and Below: Eric doing vocabulary in the story with the kids

 Below: David reading he story to the kids

On Saturday the men had a road trip planned.  Ryan, Eric, Kyle, David, Luli, and I went to four small Tuscan towns leaving at 7:30 am.  We first went first to Montalcino.  It is a small town with a pretty cool fortress and while we were there they were having a wine festival and the streets in the main piazza. 

Ryan climbing out onto a fortress tower

 Below: from the fortress

  

Below: Luli and Me at the fortress

The next town we went to was Pienza.  There we ate lunch and had an awesome view of the valley we were in.  After lunch, a wonderful wild boar and pecorino cheese sandwich, we explored the town on our own.  I found a pretty good caffe shop on a small side street, but the funniest thing that happened to me was being pooped on by a bird!  Haha.

Below: around Pienza

Below: eating lunch at Pienza

We then drove on to Montepulciano.  It is a pretty cool town famous for their red wine, but more recently famous because one of the Twilight movies was filmed there in the main square.  Unfortunately we couldn't go into the fortress there but we got to walk around it.

  Above and Below: the fortress and grounds around it

 Above and Below: the main Piazza where the Twilight movie was filmed

We finished out the day by having dinner in Siena.  It was my second time there but the first for Ryan.  So Kyle took us on a small tour and told us interesting facts about the town in general, the Duomo, and the Piazza del Campo.  We got back to Scandicci about 10 pm.

After church on Sunday Kyle, Ryan, and I went to Pisa for the afternoon.  We had to wait 2 hours before we could go into the tower there, so we tried to go into the Duomo, the Baptistery, and the Cemetery there but they were all closed due to the fact that there was a procession for one of the saints.  But we eventually got to go into the baptistery before we went into the tower.  After we left Pisa we came back to Firenze and went to see a movie, Il Grinta (or True Grit). 

It was a good weekend.  We got to spend time with Luli, one of the men at the church here, and it was a last hoo-ra for Eric because he and Jessica moved to Tarento yesterday to work with the church down there.  I went with David to take them to the train station and was bitter-sweet to see them leave.  I will miss their company everyday but I know that they will do great things down in Tarento.

As I close out this post I ask that you will continue to pray for us over here.  Pray also for Eric and Jessica and the work that they will be doing down there and pray that God will bless them more immensely than they could ever imagine.  I know that they will be a blessing to the church down there.  Pray that we will allow God to use us here and that we will reflect God's love to everyone we meet whether our students or strangers.  I want to thank everyone for their comments, emails, letter, and facebook message that I receive.  It can be hard being over here sometimes and I thank you all for the encouragement and the prayers.  Make the most of every opportunity to serve God where ever you are.  Ciao and God bless.