Sarah and I finished getting ready, and then headed to the train, which we took to Travestere a beautiful much quieter part of the city. From the train we hopped on the tram, and then walked the rest of the way. On the way we saw the Tiber, and the Island that is also or was also the Jewish Ghetto.
There was also a monument to honor famous writers and poets from this part of Rome.
And a family home where Dante stayed, where each Sunday they read in the courtyard some of his writings. Right outside the door of the church was a little outdoor market, where I spied two nuns and a priest bartering I think.
We actually made it a little early, so we wandered down the street passed a sweet old fiat in excellent condition as we made our way to Piazza Di S Maria.
In this square there is a church from the 15th cent. (I think) that has the first fresco of Mary sitting on the throne and being worshiped by the leaders of the Catholic Church.
Sarah who is amazing with history said this came long before this was even a doctoral belief.There was a little old man playing his accordion, there are a lot of people here who play accordions.
It is quite popular on the subway too. Of course they would also like your money, but at least it is better than just sitting in the street begging.Church, the church we went to is a church that was planted and built here in the mid 19th Century by the Baptists. It is quite small but in a great part of the city so it is worth about 10 million, hard to believe when you see it, not that it is not cute, it is, but 10 million is a lot. In this tiny building we joined maybe 150-200 other Christ Followers for a time of worship! Beautiful heartfelt Spirit led worship.
In someways it was very similar to our church in Felton; they have a worship team that like ours is led by women, and they met to pray before they started the service as ours does, but they just gathered in a circle up front. They started with announcements like we do, then songs. The songs were filled with life, I have decided I love singing worship songs in Italian! It was the drummers birthday and he is from Brazil I think. There was the drummer, three female vocalists, and one male, a guitar player, a flautist and a keyboardist. It was beautiful, and everyone sang and clapped and praised the Lord. Oh and they too use Media Shout, which is handy until they kinda did a split or a round of sorts, then it is a little harder to follow, but I managed. There was also a lot of time for prayer, they had people up front pray as well as a time for the Body of Christ to pray. Then more and more singing and more prayer and offering and more prayer. We sang Seek Ye First at some point in Italian of course. Then there was a puppet show put on by the youth of the church, it was done very well, I hope you enjoy.
They are going to be taking their show into the local hospitals and put it on for the kids there. You can be praying for them as they go out and share the good news here in Roma!
After that it was time for the sermon, they have a husband and wife who are sharing the role of pastor. They actually over see three congregations, so they take turns preaching. Today we had the wife. She spoke out of Ecclesiastes 3: 1-11 talking about the fact that we as adults get caught up in a cycle of worry and yet Jesus came o break that cycle of worry. We need to trust Him and know that there is a time for everything. I really loved the service.
From there we went back to the Piazza for lunch with the 3 ladies that Brian had picked up from the US. We had a great lunch together and got to share with them about the need in Roma, as well as hear their hearts. It was a great lunch.
After lunch we ended up wandering all over the city towards the Forum and the Capitol Hill area. I took lots and lots of pictures. It was fitting to see the Forum on the Ides of March.
Now it is about 8pm and we are just sitting down for supper, and to rest our weary feet.
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