08.25.10

Where is Everybody?

Posted in Ancona, Newsletters, culture, family, friends, ministry at 1:42 am

August. I know that over the years we have told you about August. The most dreadful most wonderful month of the year. In church planting work, seeing and having fellowship with your little congregation is very important. Especially since we have adopted an attitude that living life together is something that helps us grow as Christians.

But when everyone is spread out all over, even in other countries, it makes getting together pretty hard! I’m starting to think that God wants this time to be a time of Sabbath and renewal. We have church members in two other regions (like states) and one other country. We have people who have to work Sundays during the summer months, and join us in the evening exhausted but happy. We have a hard time getting together with people because they are at their beach homes or on vacation. Sometimes, even I say “I’m bo-oored.”

Then, I think of it another way. I can use this time to concentrate, really concentrate, on the people before me. Tonight we are having two families over for dinner. They don’t really know each other, but one is from church and the other have expressed interest in coming to church. I’ve been wanting to introduce them for a while. The more relaxed schedule of August makes dinners like this much easier to plan. And no one has to rush off and get the kids in bed for school the next day. Conversation is relaxed. People seem to let their guards down a bit, giving us an opportunity to bring faith into the discussion.

Tomorrow, we are headed about an hour away to the water park with this same family. Since it is hard to take our whole family on a vacation, it is nice to be able to take a vacation day here and there to spend some concentrated time building relationships.

This weekend we are hosting a missionary couple from the Rome area, and I really hope it can be a time of growth and encouragement (and rest, too!). This couple is in the very beginning stages of church planting in the Rome area, and the topic of building the Kingdom here in Italy always comes up. The following week another missionary will be staying with us for a few days.

When all is said and done, I want to look back on my summer knowing that we made many memories. I want to really know that we have used all of the opportunities that God had given us to share and encourage. When school starts, I want to see that we’ve all grown up a bit, not just the kids.

Until next month…

07.30.10

An oasis

Posted in Ancona, church, ministry at 1:43 am

There are perks to being a pastor in a city surrounded by the Adriatic Sea. Although Ancona itself isn’t known for its beaches, a 20 minute drive up or down the coast will get you to some of the finest places to spend a day off you could imagine.

We usually head to the beach before lunch, and take sandwiches to eat when we get hungry. The walk from the car to the beach is pretty far, and the uphill climb on the way home seems like it will never end. But fortunately for us, we have an oasis. One of the Romanian families that attends our church live just about half way between the beach and the parking lot. And they get offended if we don’t stop by and say hello.

One Saturday, quite a few of the church members organized to go to the beach together. There were maybe 15 or 20 of us there, and as the sun went down we all packed our stuff up to head home. I was lagging behind, arms full with the cooler and beach toys. As I got near the Romanian’s house, I noticed their front door open. And inside was … everyone! They were busy making espressos for everyone. The kids were already playing Playstation. People were laughing. At some point a watermelon found its way to the table.

And I was struck by how hospitable these friends were. They thought nothing of inviting 15 people into their small living room and serving coffee. We were all salty from the sea, and yet they invited us to sit on their furniture and chat. If anyone would have passed by their house, I truly think they would have been upset. So we sat practically on top of each other and recharged ourselves for the second half of the walk to the car.

Isn’t this how the church should be? Not just on beach days, but every day? Shouldn’t we always be ready to fling open our doors and invite in whoever happened to stop by? Shouldn’t our house look like an oasis to thirsty people passing by?

07.20.10

Drenched in Prayer

Posted in 24-7 Prayer, Ancona, Newsletters, church, ministry at 2:51 am

When the alarm went off at 6 AM on Monday, I wasn’t thinking good things about Kyle, my teammate.

Mondays are usually a slower day for me. I don’t have any regular meetings scheduled, and I spend part of my day planning out my week and thinking through conversations that took place on Sunday during our church service. The introvert in me takes some time to recharge on Mondays.

But this week was different. Kyle had the idea to do a Jericho prayer walk. Remember how the Israelites marched around Jericho one time a day for seven days, and on the seventh day they marched seven times? And as they finished the last lap, God miraculously brought the walls of the city down.

Ancona’s physical walls are long gone, but the spiritual walls here seem stronger than ever. The church here is making efforts at knocking them down, but sometimes it seems we have a long way to go.

We met at the monument at 7:00, walking along the Viale until we got to the port, and then we turned around and went back the way we came. It took about an hour every day.
We prayed for anything and everything: our church, the church members, our neighbors, spiritual growth, our leadership, maybe even world peace. We prayed for big things and small things.

That weekend, our church hosted another 24 hour prayer room, and this time the one-hour slots filled up very quickly. It seemed as though many went into the prayer room desperate for some time with their Creator.

Sunday morning, we finished the prayer walk with seven laps, though I couldn’t be there until the very end since Heidi was taking her turn in the prayer room. It was a week completely drenched in prayer.

It was also the hottest week we have had here in Ancona. Many of our activities take place at night when it is cooler, which made for a long day when the prayer walk starts at 7.

But I can’t think of a better reason to be tired. Despite my selfish bad thoughts when the alarm went off, a jump in the amount of time we spend talking to God can only be a good thing.

Because it really is up to Him, isn’t it? We make sure we’re the brightest possible light, and the saltiest Christians we can be.

So now we wait for the walls to come down.

05.30.10

Fish dinner, diesel fumes, and friends

Posted in Ancona, culture, family, food, friends at 2:21 am

Some good friends of ours invited us to attend a fish dinner down by the port. The area of town is called Gli Archi (The Arches), and all of the buildings have a large sidewalk in front and are covered with huge arches.

The dinner was a benefit for some non-profit organization. They spread out picnic tables underneath the arches and everyone mingled around until the boy scouts hurried by to take tickets and bring the food.

There is a street right in front of the arches, and it’s one of the main ways into town. Traffic tapered off as dinner went on, but the occasional bus or streetbike roaring by quickly reminded us to hang on to the kids.

When people think of Italy they often think of a fancy restaurant or a big plate of pasta. They picture wine glasses and pizza. And to be sure, the big fancy Italian dinner is something we enjoy about living here.

But as I sat, scrunched on a flimsy picnic bench with family and friends on either side, I realized that I would much rather have dinner sotto gli archi than in some fancy restaurant. The seafood pasta and fried fish was great, but not nearly as great as the company. I found myself smiling as Trey chatted with Maurizio, as Silla grabbed Francesca to take her for a walk, as Marco brought over a huge dessert that he bought before the pastry shop closed. Dinners like this are just as much for the company as the food.

But … the food was delicious, too!

04.28.10

Spring has Sprung

Posted in Ancona, Newsletters, ministry at 6:06 am

Spring is finally deciding to join us here in Ancona. We’ve been teased quite a bit by warm weather one day and cold the next. I never know when it’s OK to finally put away the winter coats. But today I am starting to wash them up to put away until next year (even though Lance did wear his yesterday).

With spring comes so much newness. Rebirth. Excitement. God uses these beautiful seasons to give our life more meaning. Though the warmth is nice, I would hate to live in an area without changing seasons. Life never seems to slow down. Things are the same day after day. Here, I see winter as a time when God has us recharge. We stay inside more. We slow down. We sit. We relax. The weather may keep us inside. It may keep us craving a mocha enjoyed with dear friends (and gaining 10 “winter” pounds to prove it). Sure, it’s irritating to be wet day after day from the non-stop rain that comes with Italian winters. Yes, it is hard to keep up with the laundry when you can’t hang your clothes outside. Sure, there are small irritations. But, as I see God bringing life to a slower pace in the winter, I feel encouraged to join in on nature’s cycle.

But, just when we are starting to get the itch, spring arrives. No more cabin fever. Newness. I see much newness in the life of our church body. Much growth. The winter brought great Bible studies among our believers. We studied Experiencing God with a couple in our church, and several got together to study A Purpose Driven Life. Now the spring will be time for the fruits of the Spirit to begin maturing and ripening because of this time of study and reflection. Please pray for continued growth in the lives of the believers, namely Simone and Marianna. They have been really challenged lately because of our study together.

Our schedules also reflect spring’s busyness, as well. There are ladies’ events, church events, Bible studies, mom’s get togethers, interesting preaching/teaching times and more all going on right now. Our current sermon series called What the Bible Says about… has been a real blessing. It’s been good to dig into the Word and help the church discover why we believe what we believe.

Also, as you may have read in our prayer update, there’s a new baby at church!! Please pray for Daniel and Simona as they begin their parenthood adventure far away from friends and family (they are Romanian, living in Ancona).

Thank you for all of your support. Though you may not see the significance, you are a vital part of our ministry and lives. We could not be here without you!

04.21.10

Culinary Delights

Posted in Ancona, Team, food at 1:29 am

People always comment on what the food must be like in Italy. The stereotype is mostly true. We eat pasta about once a day, and pizza is always available for a quick snack downtown. But sometimes you just get tired of pasta, and pizza won’t hit the spot either. So what’s a missionary to do?

Down in the center, near Teatro delle Muse, you’ll find Tunital, home of the best Kebab in Ancona. You can find kebabs all over Europe. Some people call them Doner. Some people pronounce it ke-BAB. But on our team for some reason forgotten to history, it’s KE-bab. And it’s delicious. We go there often enough that they know just how we all like it (half meat, half fallafel, a little spicy). And of course …

the mayonnaise blast. A dollop of warm mayo ready to help the first bite slide right down.

It sounds goofy. And maybe we’re a little bit obsessed about it. But sometimes you just gotta’ have a kebab.

(And sometimes we get really sad when we go all the way down there and they’re closed.)

04.01.10

Election Time

Posted in Ancona, culture at 3:10 am

The city comes around and puts up big walls of sheet metal that will soon have posters of the various candidates. You can’t park your car without s0meone putting a flyer on the windshield. Tents are put up in the piazzas on the weekends and people hand you pamphlets and give your kids suckers. It’s election time.

And I will never understand how it works. Italy has a multiple party system. It’s not just republicans and democrats (with a couple of minor parties here and there). There are dozens of major parties and even more minor parties. No party who receives less than 5% of the popular vote can take office, so the parties form coalitions which can get enough votes. The coalition a person votes for will contain several somewhat-similar (but certainly not identical) political ideologies.

I passed by a newspaper headline just before election day (actually, it’s election weekend here). The headline read, “Photos of all 140 candidates inside”. 140 candidates? Yep, because for regional elections you can vote for the party and for the person you want to win. 140 candidates! How can anyone keep that straight?

Here’s the kicker … if at any point anyone is unhappy with where the government is going, it gets dissolved (it’s happened over 50 times since World War 2). Poof! It’s like it never happened. A temporary government is set up until elections can take place. Oh, and the current prime minister, he controls the state-run media channels (RAI), and also personally owns the competing channels (Mediaset). There are almost no independent media companies.

So basically, I don’t understand a thing. And my fear is, I’m not sure the Italians do either.

01.14.10

Time Flies…

Posted in Ancona, Newsletters, Team, church, culture, family, kids, ministry at 4:00 am

I just realized that I typed “Volume 8 — Issue 1” on the byline of our most recent newsletter. How is that possible? Is this really the eighth year of sending out newsletters?

A lot has happened over the years. We spent over two years in the US raising support for our work in Ancona. What an experience that was – easily the most faith-stretching experience of our lives.

Then we moved to Perugia to study Italian. We enrolled in a small language school and tried to train our mouths to make all the weird sounds we heard all around us. We also adapted to the Italian rhythm of life, and enrolled our two oldest kids in school. What an experience that was – easily the most faith-stretching experience of our lives.

Next we moved to Ancona and started to dip our toes into life on a team. We learned all the reasons why working on a team is such a great thing, and we also learned why it can be a really challenging thing. The Italian culture started to feel a bit more familiar to us, but things were still new and scary sometimes. Moving to Ancona and working on a team was a great experience – easily the most faith-stretching experience of our lives.

After our first furlough, we came back to Ancona with a new confidence. The language wasn’t quite so difficult. Our kids were doing pretty well in school. We even had a baby in Ancona. Our team leader asked us to be the interim team leader for six months while he was in the US. What an experience that was – easily the most faith-stretching experience of our lives.

Just before our second furlough our landlord gave us six months to move out of her apartment, and we were faced with finding a new place and completely furnishing it with absolutely no way to pay for it. What an experience that was – easily the most faith-stretching experience of our lives.

Which brings us more or less to the present day. We still get our faith stretched on a regular basis. God still pulls us through despite our doubts, and shows us how faithful He is to us.

And through it all, He’s forming a church in Ancona. Sometimes He uses us, and sometimes He does an end-run and brings people to us that we never would have even met. He molds us and shapes us and chips away at our rough edges until we become more and more like Him.

And to think. It’s only taken seven years so far…

Thanks for sticking with us.

10.22.09

Getting Settled In

Posted in Ancona, Team, church, culture at 12:16 am

The transitions are always weird. We kind of have our feet in both America and Italy. We love both places, and if you asked us where “home” is our answer would really would depend on the day and how we’re feeling about things.

We made it back to Italy safe and sound. Our apartment was cleaned and ready for us (thanks team!). Our car insurance was turned on – though somehow gremlins got in and ruined the transmission while we were gone. The church welcomed us back with the usual hugs and kisses alla Italiana. But somehow things seemed different.

It was a little like we were on the outside looking in on everything. Ministry and church life obviously goes on without us. It’s not like people are sitting around and waiting for us to get back. But it takes a while to get back into the rhythm of life. And the transition was in some ways a little uncomfortable.

But slowly, things are seeming more normal. The routine of school / sports / Bible studies / prayer times / classes / etc. is starting to take over. We’re renewing our friendships and our apartment seems like home again. It all reminds us that neither here, nor there, is our true home.

05.25.09

Being the Outsider

Posted in Ancona, culture at 4:00 am

A couple nights ago the class representative for our oldest’s class organized an end-of-the-year dinner. It was your typical Italian feast with all of the courses (appetizer, two pastas, grilled meats, salad, dessert, and coffee). As we were all sitting down, someone had the idea to separate the guys and the girls. We took up the entire outside area of the restaurant. The kids were on one side. Dads in the middle. Moms on the other side.

As we’re sitting there chatting I just sort of sat there for a bit and listened to the other dads talk. The mayor of Ancona recently resigned (in scandal, of course) and they were talking about the nine candidates who were running. And of those nine, many were people they had all gone to school with. They started telling stories about so-and-so who used to ride on the hood of cars going down country roads. Or the other guy who they all said was destined to be in politics (not sure if that’s a compliment or an insult).

All of the sudden it hit me. Most of these guys have known each other since they were kids. They went to elementary school together. They’ve watched each other grow up and get married and have kids. And here I am, the American protestant pastor trying to insert myself into a community that has been around for forty years! There are a couple of dads in particular who try and pull me into the circle, but for the most part I’m an outsider.

I don’t say this to start a pity party. But it does bring a little prespective. How many class dinners do I go to before I can tell stories about so-and-so? Am I going to stick around long enough to get drawn in?