April News

Hey everyone!  I know, I know its been a while since I've posted but we have had several things going on since the last post.  The weekend of Easter (or Pasqua as it is called in Italian) we went to a youth conference in Bologna.  We got to see several old friends from Farrara, Roma, Vicenza, our A.I.M. friends from Prato, and Eric and Jessica.  I also got to meet a few new people, one was a guy from Padova named Leonardo.  He is a college student and was just baptized in October.  The conference started on Saturday and lasted through Monday, but we were only to be able to be there on Saturday.  It was a good time and the speaker, Franco from southern Italy, did a really good job.  The next day for Easter we went to church and had a cookout here at the school for some of our friends.  We grilled out steaks, sausages, chicken, and ribs.  After we ate some of us played Apples To Apples and played until midnight.  It was a great night.

Me and Marco

Me and some of the men

Some of the Ladies

In other news, I have a new student!  His name is Leonardo and he is a university student.  Last week at our first class we just did a kind of get to know you talk in English asking each other questions.  Our session lasted an hour and a half.  He is curious about Christianity and was asking me questions.  At the end of the class he asked me if we could hang out besides once a week for class.  I said, "of course!" and it is something I have been wanting to do with some of my students.  Many are older than me and work a lot so they don't have a lot of time to spend outside of the lessons.  Speaking of which, I also got to hang out with my student Edoardo this week as well.  We went and got coffee last Thursday afternoon at the Piazzala Michelangelo.  That is a piazza that overlooks Florence and has amazing views of the city.  After we had coffee he took me tot he church and told me that I needed to come over to his apartment for a cookout with him and his girlfriend soon.  I have been praying that I could spend more time with my students and now God is answering that prayer.
 
A couple of weeks ago we hosted a concert at the church here in Firenze.  The concert was a high school chorus group from Decator, AL.  They were doing a tour/vacation through Italy.  One of the former students from that high school went to Harding and the HUF program and she was the one who got the choir director in touch with Robbie Shackelford.  They students did a good job and they sang beautifully.  I met some of the students and they came up to me and said, "Ciao" and I would respond with, "Ciao!  Come stai?"  and they would just look at me and I would then say, "How are you?"  Then their eyes would go wide and say, "You speak English?!"  And when I as talking in Italian with some of our students from the Bible School the choir director came up to me and said, "Thank you for coming tonight." to which I replied, "You;re welcome and y'all did a good job."  He then said, "You speak English very well." and I said, "Well I would hope so as I am from the States."  One of the parents, Terry, I talked to asked me what we did where and I got to tell him about teaching English using the Bible, about my students, about the Friday night activities and all the other things we do in Firenze and Italy.  Terry then asked me why I wanted to do mission work in Italy, and I gave him a very condensed version of my time in Greece as part of the Harding University in Greece (HUG), Croatia, and Hungry.  Apparently I got very excited talking about my students and why i wanted to serve God over here that Terry said that he could tell I had such a heart of God and people, and an enthusiasm to serve.  And then he did something I didn't even expect, he prayed for me right then and there.  I was very encouraged by that prayer and by having someone praying for me that I just met 10 mins. ago.

As part of our chores here at the school we have to help clean different areas.  Every few weeks we have to help Rossa in the kitchen by washing dishes or helping her with anything else she might need in the kitchen (it is also a great time for me to practice my Italian).  Since I like to cook, I try to pay attention to what she does and ask her questions.  One of my favorite dishes that she makes is a side dish of peppers.  I asked her to make them one week so I could learn how to cook them myself.  Since then I have made them twice and have done a pretty good job, at least the other workers here of said it was good.  Here is a picture.

And finally, my parents were here this past week!  It was very good to see them and spend some time with them, but I will have to post about that next time. 

As always, please keep us in your prayers.  Pray that we will allow ourselves to be used by God and that everyone we meet will see that there is something different about us.  Pray that we will not shy away from opportunities to share our faith with others.  Please pray that we will be encouraging and loving to each other, our students, and everyone we meet.  Ciao and God bless.