It's been a busy couple of months.

So I realized that it's been so long since I updated my blog that I never mentioned the earthquake. A lot has happened since the last post. 1. Earthquake: I'm sure you all already know, but we had a couple of earthquakes in this area at the end of May. It was really scary for me because that was the first time I had ever felt an earthquake. We had a lot of aftershocks and there was quite a bit of damage in the area. Thankfully, no one from the church had any major damage and neither did the church building. However, there are still many people staying in tents because their hones are unsafe and recently we've been trying to help. We've made several donations to a couple of the camps. The government provides certain items to these people, but the main concerns are the heat and the mosquitoes. We've made friends in one camp in particular and we've been going to visit them, bringing drinks and snacks every Sunday afternoon for about a week. One couple has come to church on Sunday morning twice and they are coming again this Sunday. Please pray that we can be an encouragement to these people, that they will see the love of Christ in us and that they will be open to accepting Christ. More to come...

Spring Updates:

It's finally Spring! The weather has been perfect lately and it reminds me what a beautiful country I live in.  Believe it or not, sometimes I forget. Ma l'Italia e' davvero bella!  I got back from visiting the US for Carrie's wedding about two weeks ago and since then I have been trying to enjoy as much cappuccino and gelato as possible. Now that I'm here again it's back to work as usual.


These are some of the things we've been working on:

Earl Lavender's Visit:
Earl Lavender, professor at Lipscomb, has been coming to this part of Italy every year summer for a very long time.  This year he will visit our church in Bondeno! We are planning an afternoon of evangelism in the city and then an evening of study where Earl will give two different messages.  We will have visitors from other churches as well, so it will be an exciting day.  We are also helping the church in Belluno to host a night of teaching with Earl.  The next day we will travel to Belluno to evangelize together in the city of Belluno and study again together that evening.

Children's Play:
Our kids are putting on another play!  The kids did an incredible job with the last play, "The Man in the Well", in October.  We're all working hard (especially Daniela) to make this next play even better.  We don't have a title yet, but the theme is 'helping your neighbor'.  The big day is June 17th and we still have a lot of work to do, but I know it's going to be incredible.

New Songs:
I've been working on putting together a book new songs that also includes the sheet music.  Last year Emily Woodroof did an amazing job translating songs for the youth and putting them into a book.  People really like the new songs and now we need more books.  We also have a number of people in our church who would like to learn alto, tenor and bass.  So I'm working on getting a new book put together.

Prayers:
Please pray for the things listed above. Also, I will be moving toward the beginning of June.  I've been with Mina and Umberto for almost a year.  They have been very welcoming to me, but being older, it's better for them that I find new living arrangements.  I have a couple of options, but I haven't figured out where I will go yet.  Please pray that God will put me where I can be most effective in his work here.
Please pray for the youth at Bondeno.  The Sunday evening Bible studies have been going very well recently.  They have been more curious and asking difficult, but great questions.  Please pray that God will speak to them and grow their faith.
Recently I have gotten to know several people outside of the church.  Please pray that God will open their hearts to hear the gospel and that they feel welcomed to worship with us.
Thank you all for your support and prayers!
Feel free to come visit!

CST 2012: Christian Ski Trip!

A couple of weeks ago we had our first annual (hopefully) Christian Ski Trip!!  We took the youth from our church in Bondeno to meet with some of the youth from the church in Vicenza and the youth from the church in Belluno to go skiing.  We left early Sunday morning with two cars full of people, gear and food and headed for Belluno. We met everyone at the Belluno Church of Christ for worship on Sunday morning.  Belluno is a fairly small city in the Dolomites and the Belluno Church is small with about 15-20 members.  They were thrilled to have us visit.  With 8 guests from Bondeno and 5 from Vicenza, we had a great group.  Everyone was encouraged by our time together, especially the members in Belluno.  They were amazed to see the room so full. Belluno, being in the mountains and a little further north, can't always be involved with the retreats and meetings hosted by other churches in Italy, so I am so thankful that we were able to visit and I hope to have the opportunity to go there again soon.
After worship we drove further into the mountains to Malga Ciapela.  Half of the group went skiing and the other half played in the snow.  I was in the half that played in the snow... With sleds and a bit of imagination, we had a great time.  For me, the best part was seeing the Dolomites covered in snow; it's one of those memories that you know will stay with you forever.  I don't need to actually ski.  Put my by a window where I can stare at the mountains and give me a hot chocolate and I'm happy.

The next day half of us went skiing again, and this time I skied.  I think at this point I would classify myself as a beginner 2.  I still haven't been able to advance to intermediate.  Actually, I did better than I ever have before -- I think it's because I borrowed skis from Luca's 7 year-old cousin.  But we had a great time! Daniela tried skiing for the first time and did an amazing job.  She has no fear and fell when she wanted to stop, so that was entertaining.  The best part was spending time with the youth from Belluno: Marco, Laura and Jelena, 3 amazing kids who are so much fun.  We had such a great time hanging out with them and it just makes be want to go back to Belluno even more!  We should be able to make it back up there this spring.

Monday evening Jelena's family invited us to their house for dinner.  Her dad made pizza and it was incredible.  He also made his famous strudel, which is just amazing.  After dinner we sang and prayed together, another incredible time spend praising the Lord!  We drove back to Ferrara that night and we were all completely exhausted, but I hope to do it again next year.