The View

As I rode out of Rome last weekend aboard a bus heading to the sea I gazed with anticipation out the window.  In fact I switched seats 3 times before settling on one with what I hoped would be a good view.  We were moments outside of Rome when I realized what I was looking at was not a good view, it was a heartbreaking one.  For a moment I flashed back to scenes I witnessed in Haiti, pieces of tin leaning against sticks surrounded by mounds of garbage.  My eyes filled with tears as I looked just beyond this gypsy camp to see a mall, new apartments and even a few villas just a few hundred feet from the encampment.  I had heard and read of the gypsy camps, but this was the first time I was seeing them and my heart broke and my mind was filled with questions.

We continued on and the gypsy camps faded into the distance, but my view of Italy had once again been altered.  I could no longer simply sit and enjoy the beauty of the snow covered hillside towns because all I could think is why don't you help your neighbors?  I wondered about those who would spend yet another night in the freezing cold and rain.  I thought of all the gypsies I encounter daily and how cold my own heart had become to their plight.  It made me think of the other groups of people who call Rome home; the immigrants, homeless, pilgrims, refugees, and those who were trafficked.  The people no one thinks about when they think of Rome.  It was a beautiful and painful prayer-filled ride to the seaside town of Montesilvano.




I arrived on time but was dropped off on the side of the road.  Having confidence in my Italian and my ability to find the beach if it was anywhere nearby I walked into the coffee shop and asked for directions.  The guy had no idea where my hotel was, but pointed right.  So I went right.  I ended up at the train station there was a map, but it did not have the street I was looking for listed, so I asked a guy working on the side of the road.  He again had no clue, but pointed so I went the direction he indicated.  I walked and walked and walked down a long cold neighborhood street.  I only saw one old woman, I smiled and asked her for directions.  She merely shrugged.  I got to what appeared to be the only street with any life on it, and turned in the direction I knew led to the shore and continued on.  I found another coffee shop at the end of that street, asked for directions again, the guy had no idea, but the gal that walked up thought she knew and said it was 2 Kilometers or more.  I found the beach, I wanted to be excited and enjoy the view of the ocean beating against the rocks but it was so ridiculously cold and windy that I could not stand to look at it.  Finally I arrived suitcase in tow at the Grand Hotel Montesilvano (yes that's right a giant yellow building taller than anything else in town that no locals seem to know exists).

After checking in at the conference and getting my key I made my way to the 4th floor praying that my room would have a great view of the beach.  It did, but it was too cold to leave the windows open, the heating was not fully working due to the fact that normally the hotel is closed for the season and had opened just for us.  I laid down on my two beds pushed together and piled whatever blankets I could find on top of myself to try and get warm.  But refused to feel bad for myself as I thought back to those we had passed along the road who would be spending yet another night of their lives under some tin and cardboard.

When it was time for dinner I made my way downstairs and into the dinning room.  I chose a seat at a table filled with people from Napoli.  Some of them acknowledged my presence, but most did not.  I was soon to realize that this was going to be the case at every meal throughout the weekend.  I was invisible, or at best an annoyance disturbing the groupings no matter where I chose to sit.  I had, had hope the first meal when I realized that the girls from Napoli were from a church planted by Twin Lakes Church in Aptos (min from my home town), I thought, great we will have something to talk about.  However, as soon as we got that bit of information established the conversation  was through.

I don't want you to get the wrong idea about Italians, because up until this weekend I have personally never really had a hard time feeling welcomed, but for whatever the reason and I believe there was a reason I was to be the outsider this past weekend.

Our speaker, Peter Mead was given the task of speaking to the theme, His Passion, My Passion; Sharing the Passion of God with the Nations.  I have to say that Peter did an amazing job.  I have heard hundreds of speakers at similar conferences over the last few years and Mead's approach and style of sharing captured my attention like few others have.  Why?  I think because Peter was determined that we needed to look at the scriptures through different lenses, he wanted to impart a different view of the stories we think we know so well.  As I sat and listened to him present the same old stories from a different view my heart and mind were captured once again by the beauty of God's word.

I spent a good part of the weekend alone with God; in my room, or on a walk along the bitterly cold shore and through the empty streets of Montesilvano.  In these moments God began to show me how I needed a change of perspective.  I had come into the weekend beaten down, overwhelmed by life, by a lack of support, stressed and depressed.  When I arrived to a gray cold ocean side town and was made to feel like an unwelcome outsider all I wanted to do was cry.  But God met me in my sadness, in my loneliness and my heartache and began to reveal how He was viewing my life at the moment.  He reminded me of; all the friends and connections that I have made in such a short time in Rome, of the beautiful apartment that He had provided, of the amount of Italian I had learned in just a few short months, of the new families I was being welcomed into, of the work He was doing through others I have met.  In short God helped me refocus my eyes upon His goodness and faithfulness instead of looking at my weaknesses and struggles.

Just like God had allowed me to be uncomfortable to get my attention in Moldova at the last conference I went to, He was doing it again to help me see and truly connect once again with those He loves here in Rome.  Those who many find it hard to love, the gypsies, homeless, refugees, immigrants, and those whom many assume it is easy to love the Italians.  God reminded me that He desperately loves all of these people who find themselves living in Rome and He has placed me and my fellow missionaries and the Christians of Italy here for the purpose of showing that love in a tangible way.  

Contrary to popular opinion living in Rome is not a walk in the park.  In fact I got a t-shirt at the missions conference to remind me of just that.  The t-shirt says "Missione non una passeggiata" (loosely translated too: missions not a walk in the park).  Don't read this as complaining, as that would be reading what I am saying incorrectly, but I want you to understand that missions here in Italy like most if not all places in the world is not an easy thing.  Rome may very well be one of the most amazing cities on earth, it may be the center of the Catholic church and it may be a top tourist destination but never let those three facts hinder you from seeing the need in Rome.  Rome is a spiritual battle field, not much different than when Paul describes it in the first part of Romans...

Romans 1

 ¹ Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— ² the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures ³ regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life^[a] was a descendant of David, ⁴ and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power^[b] by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. ⁵ Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from^[c] faith for his name’s sake. ⁶ And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
 ⁷ To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people:
   Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul’s Longing to Visit Rome

 ⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. ⁹ God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you ¹⁰ in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.  ¹¹ I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— ¹² that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,^[d] that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
 ¹⁴ I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. ¹⁵ That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.
 ¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. ¹⁷ For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,^[e] just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”^[f]

God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity

 ¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.  ²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
 ²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵ They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
 ²⁶ Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
 ²⁸ Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Friends, pray with me for the people of Italy, especially the people who live here in Rome.  Italians and non Italians, if you don't know how to pray pray through this passage of Roman's everyday.  Pray for those of us serving here in Rome, not just those on the ReachGlobal team but the other missionaries and Christians here that God would continue to strengthen, equip and encourage us to continue on fishing for men and feeding them the bread of life. You are an important part of the ministry that God is doing here and around the world, don't  be fooled into thinking for one moment that your prayers and giving are insignificant, God uses them to bring people into His family.  We all need to make sure that we are keeping our eyes focused on the right things and the right things are the things that make God's heartbeat, the things He is passionate about are fishing for the lost, and feeding them the bread of life so that they too can come to glorify Him with their lives.

Let's keep the things of God in view and ask Him to continue to open our eyes to what He is doing and how He is inviting us to be apart of it.

LA SUA PASSIONE: LA MIA PASSIONE - CONDIVIDERE LA PASSIONE DI DIO PER LE NAZIONI

In a few minutes I am setting out to attend a conference of Italian Youth with a passion for missions.  I am going as an observer as I am now to old to be a youth.  :)  The theme for the weekend is HIS PASSION: MY PASSION - SHARING THE PASSION OF GOD TO THE NATIONS.  The conference is taking place just a 3 hour bus ride away on the East Coast of Italy in a town called Montesilvano, and to be completely honest I am looking forward  to the chance to escape the craziness of Rome, my routine, and my computer and to enjoy being at the beach...I have missed the beach!  I am also interested to see what the conference organizers have in store, to attend the workshops and the seminars (In Italian) and to make new connections with Italian believers who not only have a passion for God but for reaching out to the World!

Letting God Enter In

First of all I want to say Thank You to those of you who have responded these past two months by renewing your support, increasing your support or beginning your support, and for all of the prayers and words of wisdom!  A HUGE THANK YOU!

I would love to tell you that enough has come in, but so far that is not the case.  It is almost the end of February and for this month even with all the extra giving my support is still low.  If you are planning on giving please don't delay, your support is desperately needed!

But I also wanted to let you know about my encounter yesterday just to remind you of how God is at work here, even when things seem grim...

Yesterday I had another language exchange appointment this time with a woman about my age.  Before our meeting I met with God over coffee and asked that He direct and bless our conversation.  As we were chatting in Italian the first 1/2 hour the woman asked me about my work, so I told her what I am doing here.  When we switched to English she asked me if I was Catholic.  I said no, and then she asked me to explain the difference between Protestant Evangelical and  Catholicism.  She was eager to here what I had to say.  She asked where I went to church, and I gave her directions and an invite.  I told her about our home group that meets each week.  I asked her about her own beliefs.  She explained how she used to be Catholic and had lost her faith.  She shared about taking part in a World Youth Day hosted bay the former Pope.  I could tell that it had been a transition point her her life.  She told me of a friend who goes to a Catholic church in the south that sounded to her a lot more like my idea of church.  I asked about her family and their beliefs, and she wanted to know about mine.  It was evident that God was indeed leading our conversation.  When our time was over she asked if we could meet again next week to talk.  Of course I said yes!

Today I am watching the little Bambino again.  You can join me in praying for him and his family and our times together that they too would be directed by God.  And tonight I am meeting with another Italian woman and would love to enter into a Christ centered conversation with her as well.

Thanks again for your prayers and support!  Please keep them coming, I am not ready to come home and it seems like God is opening doors here! 

Not a bad day

Yesterday I woke up feeling pretty crummy, after a night of very little sleep due to a very stuffed up head.  But I had been invited on Sunday to the home of one of the ladies in my church and I really wanted to go.  She had wanted to get together back in Sept, but at that point I spoke little Italian and she spoke even less English.  Now that my Italian and my confidence has improved I was looking forward to getting to know her and her family better.  Getting to her house was no simple thing, she lives outside of the city, which meant I went to catch the train (which I am not loving at the moment due to my run it with one 2 weeks ago) The train was late, because it is Rome.  Then I switched to the metro, when I got the the main metro station which is always a zoo (because it is constantly under construction) it was even more so as they actually rerouted people out of the metro altogether and then back underground, just to switch from one line to the other.  But all this considered I was still doing pretty good.  I rode the metro about 7 more stops and then got off and boarded yet another line for another 4.  In all it took me about 1 1/2 to get to her metro stop, where I called her and she came and picked me up.

She was very impressed that I was able to navigate myself all the way to her zone, and told me so again and again in Italian also adding that she hoped that she and her family could a second family for me here in Rome!  I was honored and blessed and glad that I had made the trip.  And I loved her even more when she suggested we stop for a cappuccino  before heading to her home, a woman after my own heart.  We chatted over coffee and I was able to answer all her questions in Italian; where are you from, why Rome, tell me about your family, do you like the city, what is it that you do, how long are you staying...And I was able to ask her questions as well.  I found out that she is Brazilian, she is married to an Italian, he is from Calabria, they have one son, he is studying to be an engineer, they have lived in Rome for 20 years, she used to work as a secretary in Brazil, and in Rome has worked a number of jobs, her husband works in a restaurant near our church...I tell you all this knowing it sounds simple, but you have to keep in mind we had this conversation 4 hours of conversation in Italian!  After coffee she took me to her home, a beautiful 2 story apartment.  She got busy making lunch and I chatted a bit with her shy husband and son.  Then we all had lunch together.  Two types of pasta, a quiche, samples of sausage, cheese and olives from Calabria and gelato.  She had also made me a cake, but I had to take my piece to go as I could not eat one more bite.

Before leaving she lent me some Christian books in Italian so I have something to read, and she invited me to come back anytime, especially during the summer when I want to go to the beach, she has an extra guest room, and they are not far from the beach. Like I said a woman after my own heart!

From this appointment I did my best to hustle back to the other side of Rome where I was to meet up with Anne a fellow missionary who has been here a year with GEM (Greater Europe Mission) but is heading back to the stated with her husband next week.  This was my second meet up with Anne this week because she is hooking me up with a sweet job.  I am taking over her role and babysitter/English teacher for two different kids in two different families.  I met the first family and child on Tuesday, they live on my street just two buildings down, which is amazing!  I am excited for the chance to get to know some neighbors and to use some skills I have.  And now we were meeting up at the school of the second child where we would pick him up and walk to his apartment together.  I am happy to say I am in love with this 4 year old little man.  He is adorable, and there is possibly nothing more hilarious then watching a little kid playing with cars stop to chew out in Italian one imaginary driver whose parking job was hindering the flow of traffic out of the parking garage.  Complete with sincerity, hand gestures and facial expressions I see Italian's use everyday  but watching a 4 year old recreate the situation on the floor of his bedroom and understand how ridiculous and funny it is was pretty amazing.  Another reason I am so glad I did not let this cold keep me from my day.

I got back to my apartment around 6:30pm and sat down to craft my newsletter letting my supporters know that I am in a bad financial state and really need their support and prayers. Over the next few hours I received emails of encouragements, promises to pray and even a new supporter! Then I watched the latest episode of American Idol online and was just about to fall asleep when my phone rang at 11pm.  Not a normal time for my phone to ring, I answered seeing it was Joe another fellow missionary from GEM who we work with.  He let me know that their whole station wagon was full of kitchen stuff for me from Anne and Andy, and wanted to know if they (he and his wife) could come unload it.  Of course it was fine, I got dressed again, and they showed up with bags and bags of kitchen supplies and food!  What an amazing blessing!  I had woken up expecting a day that would be tiring and overwhelming, and went to bed last night overwhelmed by all the ways God had blessed me!

Not Good and yet...

Friends my heart is overwhelmed.  This has perhaps been my toughest month in Rome and yet I am starting to see God open doors into the relationships and places He wants me.  It is my belief that Satan is not happy about this, and hence He is taking every opportunity to hinder the progress I am making here in Italy.  I have had a run in with a train badly injuring my leg, I spent a week sick, I have had to stop attending language school, and some of my friends here have returned to the states and too top it all off I am seriously underfunded!

You have no idea how much I hate, HATE continually having to ask people for more support, I feel like a broken record.  Yet, as a friend and supporter reminded me yesterday raising financial support is an ongoing part of the life of a missionary.  She suggested that I lay it all out for you clear as day so that you are well informed and able to assess the need for yourself.
ReachGlobal requires that Single missionaries serving in Rome raise $6285 a month.  When I left for Rome last July I departed in good faith based on the promises of faithful giving. (some of it monthly, some quarterly and some yearly.)  Since being here there have only been 2 months where the total $6285 pledged actually was given, usually I am seeing about ½ come in.  I was hoping that those who give once a year at the beginning or end of the year would help to make up this loss, but that did not happen.

This means that at this point, almost 8 months in my Ministry Account is severely underfunded.  This ministry account funds not just my salary (which has been cut by $1000 a month) but also our ministry here in Rome, heath care, retirement, travel, payroll services in Minnesota as well as other office costs at out headquarters, housing, conferences and training, and language school.  Because of the huge shortfall in my account I have had to take a $1000 pay cut and stop attending language school and they have frozen my ministry spending until my account reaches the minimum balance required of $4,500.

My heart is overwhelmed because I feel like I am just really starting build good relationships with Italians, my language is improving, and I am finding niches for ministry.  I have tried to make the best out of the situation, taking on two babysitting jobs with Italian families where I am there to teach their children English.  This is helping me supplement my income a bit and it gets me into the homes of my neighbors.  Because I am missing language school I am working hard to meet up with complete strangers to exchange language, which again lets me meet more Italians, but is not nearly as effective as school.  Today I went to the home of a family that goes to my church, and spent four hours or so talking with them in Italian over lunch and coffee, this is a great new connection and the mom really wants be to consider them my second family here in Rome.  I have encountered a woman from Moldova and her two children for a week now each time I go downstairs to the Coffee Bar to do my Bible study.  I am praying that God will help me to help her and her family.  Last week one of the girls from our home group led the Bible study for the first time and did a fantastic job, she is hoping to move into our neighborhood which would be a great new addition.  We have had a number of people visit from ReachGlobal some joining our team and others to attend a conference on ministring to the refugee population in Europe, Sarah has been asked to start teaching English at our local library and she has asked me to help her, and I am back to teaching English on Tuesday nights where some good relationships are forming.  I was also able to write out my testimony in Italian and am working on putting it to memory.  And next weekend I will head to a conference for Italian youth interested in missions.

So, as you can see many GOOD things are happening, and it breaks my heart to think that I might have to come home in the next month or two if my support does not increase by $3000 a month.  It would be such a shame to have to leave right when all of these connections are happening.

I have been reading through the Bible with my home group four passages each day and as I read through Exodus this past week a few thoughts struck me and I feel they apply to God’s provision…
1.       When God called the Israelites to leave Egypt he first had them go to their neighbors and ask them to give them their gold and jewelry.  And God prompted the Egyptians (who did not believe in God) to give over these things.
2.       The Israelites were likely in shock and totally excited by this as they had been serving as slaves for quite some time, they likely doubted that their asking would produce such a bounty.
3.       Later when it came time to construct the Tabernacle God had Moses request the people to bring forth all the gold and wealth they were willing to give in order to accomplish His desire.
4.       I am guessing based on knowing humans and having read the story of the Israelites short term memory problems with how God continued to provide all that they needed that giving up this wealth that God had provided was very difficult.
I am asking you point blank to think hard about how God has met your needs and how He continues to meet your needs.  Then I am asking you what God had Moses ask the people of Israel, to give willingly whatever you can out of what God has blessed you with.  If you are already doing so, thank you.  If you are one of the many who promised to give but have not been giving I ask you to start today.  And if you are not giving and can give willingly to the work that God is doing here in Rome then I ask you to give today too.

I am asking all of you to pray for me.  Pray that I would not become discouraged, that I would continue to serve faithfully with joy.  Pray that my language learning will not diminish, and that my new jobs will help tie me over as well as help me build relationships with these families.  Pray that God will supply all my needs as I know He is able to do.

If you are a member of a church or a group who might be able to join my support team please pass along my need to them as well, for we are all one body!

Waste Not

I am learning that God has let nothing in my life experiences go to waste.  Turns out that even my Online Dating experience prepared me for life as a missionary.  This week I signed up online at a sight for people searching for Language Exchange Partners.  Much like one signs up for online dating minus the pictures and with much less upfront information.  And now just a few short days later my inbox is filled with Italians who want to meet for coffee and to exchange an hour of English for an hour of Italian.  Today I am meeting with my first 2, then Sunday 1, Monday 2...I am taking a break on Tuesday and Wednesday to attend the Refugee Highway Conference and then 2 more on Thursday.  Just goes to show you that you never know what God will use. 

Footing

Just when I thought I was getting my footing here in Rome...I am just starting my 8th month of living in Italy.  And things were settling into a routine, wake up go to school for 4-5 hours, homework, time to meet with people, go to bed.  But this month God had different plans.

This month because I am not fully supported I had to stop attending my language school.  At first this seemed like getting the rug pulled out from under me.  I had just passed a very hard level of Italian and had studied very hard for my test after having missed quite a few days last month being sick.  My pride wanted me to say, no I have to keep attending this school, but wisdom and money said no.

But as I thought about it I realized that this may in fact be an answer to prayers.  I had been frustrated that I was not meeting more Italians and that I was not able to spend a lot of time with God or in my neighborhood.  Because I cannot afford language school for the time being I am finding free and creative ways to improve my Italian.  One of these ways is to find language exchange partners.  And as it turns out there are a lot of Italians looking for just that.  So in this way because of my need, God is going to be filling my schedule with Italians whom I can and will be expected to talk to.  Hmmmm...feels like a good thing.  And as I have been browsing the language exchange websites searching for partners, it seems like there are quite a few who are studying or have an interest in Film and Television, hummmm what was my major again?  Oh yes, that's right Film and Television.  Seems like once again God never lets anything go to waist.

Now that I do not have to be up before the sun to get to school I can also start my days with God.  And I figured that I would bring a little bit of CA into my neighborhood by having my time with God at the Coffee Bar downstairs.  This is not really done here, people do not just sit around at coffee shops like they do in CA reading their favorite book or Bible for that matter.  But, I figure since this Coffee bar is in my neighborhood and I desire to be a light in my neighborhood one good way to make people begin to take notice of me is to let myself be different.  Which in this case is a comfort to me, as I have missed my morning quite times at Coffee Cat with a cappuccino and my God.

Already I can tell that Satan is not so excited about my new found avenues for ministry.  Two nights ago, I was heading to go teach English at a local church and when I went to board the train like I do almost everyday my footing was not good, and I slipped landing with my left leg and half of my body between the train and the platform.  Thankfully the kind people inside the train pulled me up quickly before the train doors shut on me and before the train departed.  However in falling I injured my leg pretty badly as it hit the train.  I decided there was nothing to do but continue on to class as I had invited some new friends to try out the beginning level, and did not want them to show up and not find me there.  I transferred to the metro, and then after hobbled tears falling to the rest of the way to the church.  Some of the other teachers helped clean me up a bit and got me some ice for my swollen leg.

Yesterday when I got up I knew I still needed to meet with God and encounter my neighbors so despite the pain I went to the Coffee bar and settled myself at one of the outdoor tables.

just as I was finishing my reading and beginning my praying an older woman with bear legs (sunny but COLD) the size of my wrists if that came and sat down, I looked up and knew instantly that this woman was homeless.  Now we have homeless for sure in Rome, but not in this neighborhood.  She looked cold, and she was using a cup of hot water to mix with a can of soup.  I recalled that I had 2 extra pair of tights that were too small in my apt. and some gloves, so I asked her in Italian if she was cold.  She promptly put her thumb on her nose and all 5 fingers wiggling about stuck out her tongue and made an ugly face.  I was a bit taken aback, but seeing as I am from SC was not totally thrown off.  I packed up my stuff went home, put together a gift bag for her; sweater, tights, tea, crackers, gloves, and a book about God in Italian.  I made my way back down there, and handed the lady the bag.  She looked surprised, and then angrily spat out words that I could not make out, and then demanded for a coffee.  I told her I did not have coffee, as I had left everything else back in my apt, including my wallet.  She went back to her soup, and I went back home.

I had been reading Exodus, about Moses being sent to the Israelites to get them to leave.  And had noticed how at first when leaving meant harder work for a time, they were willing to stay as they were rather than get rescued.  Funny how God works.  Then at home I listened to Dad’s sermon about the Famine in the Land and again was struck by the idea that the people here are unable to see their own true needs, and are willing to stick with quick fixes.

All this to say, please pray with me as I try to get my footing in this new approach to language learning, and ministry.  Pray that God would continue to reveal His path to me, and not let me stumble.  You can also pray that my conversations with these new language partners and times in my neighborhood that  God would be glorified that people (myself included) would be aware of the need for a savior, for rescuing and would find that in Jesus.