03.15.08
Posted in Team, finances, ministry
at 1:27 pm
The exchange rate is a cruel, cruel thing. It’s one of those things that I never thought about before I moved overseas. But now I watch it way too often.
Here in Italy, we use Euros, which happens to be a very strong currency right now. Our “paycheck” is in dollars, which happens to be a very weak currency right now. Put those two facts together, and my average, three-bedroom apartment which used to cost around $850 is now over $1,000. And that’s over the course of just a few months!
I think we’re hit doubly hard here in two areas: housing and groceries. Both of these are things that can be trimmed only so much. A family of nearly 6 can only cut out so much food and so many bedrooms!
Jason emailed us a link you may have seen which basically indicated there is no end in sight to the dollar’s drop.
So when do we start worrying? Does a point come where we all pack up and go home because it costs too much to live here? Do our supporters even understand how horrible it feels to raise all of this money and watch it disappear just because of some silly world currency market? The thing that really bothers me is not so much that things cost a lot of money, but that I feel like our supporter’s donations just go right down the drain because of something none of us have any control over.
I think Jason had some great advice for us in his email, “Read it. Be aware. Don’t worry. God is big. Keep praying and cinching your belt. Let’s be more generous.”
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02.24.08
Posted in Team, family, ministry
at 4:50 pm
Life has it’s natural ebbs and flows, doesn’t it? It seems like for while I’ve been in a bit of a slump. Just a kind of malaise that I can’t quite put my finger on and I can’t quite ignore. I’m tired. It’s hard to stay motivated. I’m a little grouchy and impatient. And no matter what I do, I can’t seem to shake it.
My teammates are incredible, and each has privately asked if there’s anything they could do to help. I would have loved to have taken them up on the offer, but honestly couldn’t think of anything. Then Jason nailed it last week when he asked, “How long has it been since you’ve taken a vacation?”
The line between work and home has always been very blurry here. Lots of ministry things happen in the evenings when people are available, which also tends to cut into family time. The computer is always on, beeping when there’s a new email to respond to. And we tend to be a pretty mobile team, so I can work just as easily from home as from our office. I think the result of this is that I tend to always be working. Since we had two teammates gone from the field for about four months, the workload increased and I now find myself without any energy.
So my wife started cooking up a little four day trip to Florence. And I can’t help but smile at the prospect of getting away from it all. She knows me too well.
Wait … didn’t God take a break once, too? It almost sounds Biblical…
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02.10.08
Posted in Team, church, ministry
at 3:41 am
Our team just finished its twice-annual planning retreat. I look forward to these times together, and always love to see how God is going to direct His church here in Ancona.
I have a teammate who is pretty much opposite from me. He’s a thinker, a philosopher, loves reading books with unpronounceable authors, and is more liberal that I am in almost every area. And I honestly wondered before this retreat if I we could ever get on the same page. I like reading, sort of. I really don’t like the philosophical ping-pong of ideas. And I’m pretty conservative in my thinking. So is there space for both of us on this team? Are we doomed to frustration and irritation? Will he constantly see me as this stuffy, boring, uptight guy who needs to be free? Will I always roll my eyes at him, thinking he needs to grow up a little and be a little more disciplined - and for heaven’s sake tuck in your shirt?
I have to confess that the answer really surprised me. We never did come to blows. We never argued, in the negative sense of the word. There were times where I had to stop and pinpoint where he was coming from. And there were times when he wanted to explore the outcome of my way of thinking. We may have scratched our heads a couple of times at each other, but at least I was able to learn something in the process. And I think our team (and the church) is better off for it.
It’s the beauty of this crazy kingdom that God is setting up here.
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08.26.07
Posted in Team, church, ministry, travel
at 3:43 pm
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Our team recently hosted one of the first events focused on the guys in our church. We decided to go white water “refting” (that’s how it’s pronounced here) at the Cascata delle Marmore, about two hours away from Ancona. Being the manly men that we are, we opted for the normal rafting, and not the rafting “soft.” The falls in the video above started just up the river from where we began our adventure down the river. And, incredibly, these falls can be turned off. Several times a day the water is diverted from the falls to a nearby hydroelectric plant.
I really enjoyed getting to have a time for only the guys to get together and do something quasi-dangerous. I got to see a side of our normally-mild-mannered church members that I might not have gotten to see otherwise. And you can’t help but see the lessons involved as we tried our best to be unified and work together to get home safely.
The only thing I didn’t really enjoy … the wet suits.
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08.19.07
Posted in Team
at 2:43 am
I am very glad to be on a team that knows how to have fun. Every now and then we have a Team Fun Night. It’s a time where we get together and not talk about ministry stuff and let our hair down. Or, as the girl’s did last night, put our bangs UP. That’s right folks, it was 80s night!
It was hilarious! As everyone walked in we all giggled at the high tops, polo shirts, and neon colors. It was like we were all taking a glimpse into our pasts to see what we were like in Junior High. Matt prepared an incredible “mix tape” of songs from the 80s. We would all stop what we were doing and start belting out some cheesy song at the top of our lungs.
I know it’s not essential that a team be able to have fun together, but it sure does help!
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08.16.07
Posted in Team, ministry
at 7:36 am
Twice a year our team tries to get away for a few days for a planning retreat. This summer’s retreat just finished up, unfortunately without our teammate, Josh, who is in the US right now.
We discussed virtually every aspect of our ministry here in Ancona. Everything was on the table for discussion. We wanted to evaluate everything we do here, to see if it lines up with our purpose and vision for the church here in Ancona. Meetings like this can be difficult. Feelings can get hurt, and battle lines drawn.
But incredibly, none of that happened. Jason, our team leader, led an incredible three days of dreaming about the church here. Several things emerged from the meetings, some of which I will be sharing with you soon. But the thing that bubbled to the surface time and time again was a desire to have an increased emphasis on prayer. More prayer on our team, more prayer as a church, and more prayer in our community. The message that God was sending us was unmistakable.
Can you join us as we go before the Father and ask Him to help us with the task He has given us? Ask Him to work boldly among the people in Ancona - especially those that are already believers here - and to raise up a vibrant community here. Please join us as we make beautiful, harmonious music before the Lord.
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08.12.07
Posted in Team, church, friends, ministry
at 5:22 am
Marcus and I met at an outdoor coffee shop the other day. As we talked, we saw a friend of ours pull up on her scooter. She’s the lady that cuts all of us Americans’ hair. I knew that she was closing up her shop for a week to go visit family down south.
As she started to drive off, I jokingly asked her to make sure and bring me some wine from her parents’ region. She looked at me and said, “Are you serious?” I thought I may have offended her somehow and said, “Well … I’ve been down south and tried it before.” She paused and said, “Tomorrow, you come to my shop and I will bring you a bottle of wine I get from a farmer around here. It’s wonderful.” I thanked her and she drove off.
The next day, I got a call. It was our hairdresser. My wine was ready.
So I stopped by her shop, she gave me a bottle of homemade wine. No label. Just a glass bottle and a kind of makeshift cork that reminded me of a Mason jar (they’re fairly common here for bottling your own stuff). I thanked her for her kind gift, and went on my way.
As I walked to catch the bus back home, I sort of smiled as I thought about what a different life I have here in Ancona compared to America. It was raining. I was walking slowly down the slick sidewalk with an umbrella in one hand and a bottle of homemade wine (that the lady who cuts my hair gave me) in the other. The piazza where I was going to catch the bus is actually where a lot of the winos hang out, so I was sure I was going to fit right in. But at the same time, I was honored that she wanted to share something with me that is so important in Italian culture.
Despite the differences, I absolutely love it here.
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08.09.07
Posted in Team, culture
at 9:32 am
Ikea has opened a store here in Ancona. I’m not a huge fan of the place myself, but I can’t deny that some good deals can be had there. Just before we left for the US, a set of bookshelves that I paid way too much for came crashing down to the floor. There was a huge hole in the wall where the anchor pulled loose, and the shelves themselves actually broke. Clearly, a high-quality piece of furniture.
So now that we’re back in Italy, we made the trek to Ikea for some new shelves. My teammate, Marcus, had to buy some big pieces for his kitchen, so we thought we should rent a truck. We didn’t have that much stuff to transport, so Marcus opted for the smallest truck available.
I personally wasn’t really prepared for how small the “truck” was going to be. It was a tight squeeze for two of us to fit in the cab! Here’s a great picture of Marcus unzipping the back.
But you know what? It worked, and it was cheap! And we had a couple of laughs as I drove it on the highway and tried to get it to go 70 km/h so cars wouldn’t run over us.
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07.30.07
Posted in Team, kids, technology
at 3:50 pm
I got a kick out of watching Trey play with my teammate’s Nintendo Wii. Somehow, as the littlest, his turn to play seems to get skipped sometimes. So as we were leaving their house, he told me he hadn’t gotten to play yet. So we all sat down to watch him play a round of Wii golf and Wii boxing.
And he was really good. I was really impressed at how he was able to just pick up the remote control and play it. The games really are intuitive enough that a five year old has no trouble at all. We all laughed as he went nuts during boxing, but was able to hit the golf ball really gently to knock it into the cup.
I suppose I need to start a Wii jar to save up our extra €€€.
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04.30.07
Posted in Team, travel
at 9:39 am
I was surprised to hear Jason offer me an apology on the phone the other day. I really had no idea what he was talking about. He explained that he felt bad for missing the anniversary date for our move to Italy - April 15, 2005. I looked at a calendar, and sure enough, we left the US for Italy more than two years ago.
I sort of felt like it was cheating, since we came back from Italy a tad early because of some scheduling issues. I tried to remember the excitement and raw nerves of that day. The picture of us in the ticketing line with three kids and thirteen large containers must have been something. I remembered Heidi’s mom and sister crying as we went back behind security. I remembered Heidi’s dad’s quick goodbye at the curb. I thought about all the goodbyes that I had already said in the days before our departure.
But as my mind snapped back to the present, I was really surprised that two years had passed since that day. All in all, the move to Italy was … do I even say it? … easy. God blessed us with a great team who made the transition as painless as possible. There were always hard days where we longed for the comfort and ease of our life in the US. But we’ve settled in, and are excited to see how God will use us in Ancona.
Here’s to as many anniversaries as God will allow us in Ancona…
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