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?

04.12.09

The Wonderful Insanity of the Prayer Room

Posted in 24-7 Prayer, Ancona, church, culture at 3:03 am

Kyle is in the prayer room right now singing his heart out. I’m sitting just outside, waiting for my hour to start. It’s 7 AM, Easter Sunday morning. I look over the list of people who have signed up to pray and see that Kyle is going on his fourth hour of prayer. The early morning hours are always hard to fill, and who ever is on call has to pray if no one shows.

There’s a part of me that thinks we’re nuts for doing this. There’s nothing special about the room. We decorate it, and sometimes have a theme to help people to focus their thoughts. There are some candles and a big wooden cross. But it’s just a normal room. But at the same time there is something very un-normal about it.

I’m in a country where Easter is barely a religious holiday for most people, and really not much of a secular holiday either. I saw a poster in the center of town for an art exhibit that is opening up tonight. It’s just another day. I’m preparing to preach a simple Easter message and don’t really feel very Easter-y.

So I’m faced with this blah feeling about Easter, and this morning that feeling collided with the wonderful insanity of the prayer room. Ho-hum faced off with holy. Shrugged shoulders met bended knees. A yawn met a whispered prayer.

Guess who won?

04.09.09

Earthquakes

Posted in Ancona, church, ministry at 4:38 pm

Since moving to Italy, from time to time we feel a little rumble in the earth. Never anything large, and often something that you’re not sure you really felt until you read in the paper or see on the news that there was a tremor.

This week the city of L’Aquila in central Italy was hit with a powerful earthquake that, as of this moment, killed over 200 people and has left thousands homeless. We’re fine here in Ancona. As a church we’re trying to figure out the best way to help. We’ve been overwhelmed with people writing and calling to ask if we’re OK.

Jasmina Tešanović has written a very beautiful summary of what life is like in L’Aquila right now:

As I watch the TV, I know this is not a science fiction disaster movie, this is the new realism. Only last night the same television showed me an old movie with Ana Magnani: the post war late 1940s in Italy. It seemed so different: the good guys had defeated the bad guys. There was hope. Watching these high tech rescue squads, ambulances heavy with gear and with high pitched Italian sirens, politicians in Armani suits with Missoni ties, blonde sexy news announcers with cosmetic lip surgery, all scampering among the ruins, I feel uneasy. Where are the real people? Whatever became of normal life? Trained dogs sniff for normal life beneath the rubble.

You can read the entire article here. Please note that the website this article is posted at occasionally posts some off-color items. Browse carefully…

Keep praying.

04.08.09

Prayer in the Piazza

Posted in Ancona, Team, church, ministry at 4:27 pm

Once a week our team gets together for Prayer in the Piazza. It started as something a little uncomfortable for me. I much prefer praying in private. It’s sometimes difficult for me to come right out and let other people listen in on my conversation with God.

But as time passed and relationships with teammates grew stronger, I began to look forward to this time together. We pick a piazza to meet at, find a stair or curb to sit on, and pray. Eyes open, looking around, watching the sky and the people and the traffic. Sometimes we meet for coffee, and sit outside as people pass by, often bumping into us, completely unaware that they are being prayed for. Often times the line between prayer and conversation with teammates gets blurred as a moment of prayer turns into a discussion time about an issue we’re struggling with.

I used to see these pauses in the prayer time as interruptions, and would try and bring the focus back around to prayer. But if we really believe that God is present with us anyway, and if prayer really is a conversation with God, it seems to make sense for prayer to become like talking to the person across from us. It seems to me to be, as Brother Lawrence’s book is titled, The Practice of the Presence of God.

Our prayers often focus on asking God to show us where He is already working in this city, and how He is already causing the church to rise up. Big prayers and little prayers, while sitting in a piazza and watching the world go by.

I think the church needs more Prayer in the Piazza.

03.24.09

My kids couldn’t be more Italian

Posted in Ancona, family, kids at 4:16 pm

Around 3 PM this afternoon Heidi called me to say that the water was out. I got home around 4 PM, checked with our upstairs neighboor who said she didn’t have any water either, and called the water company. They played a recorded message saying that they were aware of the problem and things should be up and running around 8 PM.

Later in the evening, Chloe and I were driving around and she was asking when the water would be fixed. She stopped mid-sentence and asked, “Dad, if we don’t have water, how will we boil pasta?!”

Couldn’t be more Italian, could she?

03.12.09

Finger Bump

Posted in Ancona, health care at 10:51 am

I’ve written several times about the health care system here in Italy. Our first big experience – the birth of our youngest – was fairly positive. There were some obvious differences, but the price of approximately €0.00 made the learning curve worth it. It seemed to be similar to what we experienced in America, but decentralized. You are responsible for more of your care, your record-keeping. There isn’t really a central location or doctor that coordinates everything.

So we’re now facing our second experience. I have a bump on my finger.

Eww a cyst!

Eww a cyst!

It’s not a big bump, but it kind of hurts. So I figure I’ll talk to my main doctor about it. He’s a great guy – very laid back. But I’m learning that he mostly just writes prescriptions and sends you to specialists. His office is about 8′ X 12′, there aren’t any nurses (only a morning receptionist), no billing, no appointments. It’s basic health care boiled down to the bare necessities.

He agrees it should be removed. Since it’s on the skin he gives me a prescription for an dermatologist appointment.

I make the appointment and find out the doctor sees patients at the city hospital. And there’s a wait of about eight weeks. I wait and show up and pay the €16.50 only to be told that my little bump is under the skin. I need to get an ultrasound and go see a surgeon.

Back to the primary doctor. He gives me a prescription for an ultrasound and a surgeon. I go to the office to make the appointment. They tell me there’s an spot open in Castelfidardo (about 35 minutes away) to see a surgeon. The ultrasound will take about three months and I have to go to Loreto (about 1 hour away). I ask if I need the ultrasound first, and they told me to ask the surgeon.

So I head to the appointment, and he tells me to leave since I don’t have the ultrasound.

More waiting. Then I decide to call about getting an ultrasound done privately. There are two systems here – the private, cheaper system that involves long lines and lots of headaches, or the private system, which is more expensive but generally easier. I call to see about changing my appointment to a private doctor. And to my surprise, there’s an appointment available in three days here in Ancona for €65. I take it, she prints out pictures of my finger bump, types up this fancy report, and I remake the appointment to see a surgeon.

And today was my appointment. I showed up, paid €16.50, and waited to go see him. They call my name, I sign a paper, and the doctor looks at the bump. And then quickly dismisses me. Apparently they coded my appointment wrong. I need to see a surgeon who works on hands. He’s a general surgeon, not a hand surgeon. I sat there, kind of stunned that I had wasted another morning on another fruitless appointment. The good news? He’s not going to charge me for the visit!

I was struck by a comment he made. He said that if we were in “some place like Africa” he would remove the bump himself without any problem. But since we’re in Italy “we have a better system.”

Really? I’ve been trying to get a tiny cyst removed for about five months now. I’ve been to offices all over the place and no one seems to be willing to help a foreigner understand a system that Italians struggle with. I’ve learned that most people just pay extra to see private doctors to avoid this mess. And sometimes I get nervous as to what might happen if something really serious is wrong someday.

We’ve got good doctors here, but it seems like they are covered in layer after layer of bureaucracy and apathy so no one seems to get anything done.

But hey, at least it’s cheap, right?

01.18.09

En Garde

Posted in Ancona, kids at 6:45 pm

So my son is a fencer. When he first started I didn’t know the first thing about fencing. Now I know just enough to be able to tell who won a match after it’s over. It’s been a really great experience for him, and I think has taught him a lot of discipline. And maybe even given him some self-confidence.

Here’s a video we took of one of the preliminary rounds of his last tournament. A red light on the scoreboard means a point for him, a green light means a point for his opponent. However, if any of the lights are accompanied by an amber light, the point isn’t valid. In this kind of fencing, only a direct hit with the tip of the foil counts. The scoreboard knows which part of the foil hit. Our son is on the left, furthest from the camera. The lady with the black purse that walks in front of me is one of his coaches.

Hope you like the video!

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10.17.08

How to move in Italy, Part 5

Posted in Ancona, culture at 8:24 am

So I think I can finally say that we’re moved into the house. It took a while, and there are still a few boxes laying around that we don’t really know what to do with. But it’s starting to feel like home.

I promised pics of the kitchen. I’m was glad we paid them to come and install it, but I think next time I could definitely do it myself. They make it pretty much idiot proof (which is good since we’re probably going to have to add some things on.

Here’s how it started: a pile of boxes in the living room. But this is only about 1/3 of the boxes.

Then the bottom cabinets:

Then the top cabinets:

Then the super-classy black fronts:

All done!