Just wanted to tack on a short addition to yesterday's post--here's the November prayer update. More updates from Bologna coming soon!
It's an interesting time to live in Italy with all of the political changes that are taking place (Berlusconi just went out of power a week or so ago), and it's been surprising to learn more about the culture itself since I've been here. I've had several books mentioned to or recommended to me since I've been here that provide insight into Italian culture or are connected to Bologna. While I haven't had time to look over them yet, I wanted to list them here in case you're interested...
One of my favorite things about fall is watching the leaves change color. It is so fascinating to me how quickly the leaves can change and how many different colors surface during the transition from summer to winter. I always thought fall in Fayetteville was especially beautiful (nothing against Little Rock--I think it was just something about being in the Ozarks on a college campus), but I have to say that the fall colors in Bologna have certainly rivaled Fayetteville's fall hues. It's amazing to me how the colors of the buildings here complement the colors on the trees...
Leaves on a sidewalk around the corner from our apartment
One of the streets that goes to the center of town. We walk on this street almost daily to get to the university campus
The outside of our apartment building--we live on the top floor
I only wish the leaves would last longer--winter is coming soon (temperatures have dropped significantly--close to or below freezing--and it's starting to get dark close to 4:30 or 5 p.m.). Emily and I are trying to master the art of maintaining the right temperature in our apartment. Europeans are very conservative with their utilities, so leaving the heat or electricity on for too long can take a toll on finances if you aren't careful. I caved and bought a fleece blanket the other day...after hearing that January and February in Bologna can bring even colder temperatures, I thought this a blanket would be a good investment.
Two weeks ago, we decided to change our weekly event and invited students and young adults from the local churches to David and Nicole Hannah's (missionaries with TEAM, a church-planting organization) apartment to hang out and eat castagne (chestnuts). Castagne are a huge part of fall and winter in Italy. It's typical to see vendors on the streets in the city center roasting and selling castagne. The event was a huge success! We were so blessed and encouraged to see about 45 people show up and stay at the apartment for a couple of hours. We had everyone from Italian university students, to young adults from one of the churches, to Erasmus students (European study abroad) from France, Germany, and the UK, to Italian high school students, etc...
The Hannah's daugher, Ruby, helping Emily with some of the castagne
Emily with some of the castagne--roasted and ready to serve
Castagne! David Hannah spent most of the night roasting chestnuts for everyone
We have also had the to opportunity to spend more time with students we have met during our first few weeks on campus and have been encouraged by the number of students willing to get coffee, help us with our language-learning, or just spend time with us. Please continue to pray for these students and that God will continue to ordain conversations. Pray that God would be working in these people's hearts outside of our interactions.
Every year, a chocolate festival takes place in Perugia, a city south of Bologna. Festivals similar to this also take place in other cities throughout Italy, and this week marked Bologna's chocolate festival. Piazza Maggiore (the square in the city center) has been filled with everything from shoes sculpted from chocolate to chocolate with chili peppers for the last week. Pictures of this coming in the next post!
Next week, we will be helping Nuova Vita with their Thanksgiving outreach event on Thursday and Friday night. Thanksgiving ("Ringraziamento," in Italian) is fascinating to Italians, and Nuova Vita has seen a lot of response to this event in the past. We will be working on Wednesday to help prepare for dinners on Thursday and Friday night, and we're hoping to host about 100 guests each night. Please pray for these events--that preparation will go smoothly and the dinners themselves will also go well.
Here are a few new prayer requests, and more posts coming soon!
Praise God for our castagne event and for the positive response we've had in meeting students on campus. Continue to pray for these relationships to grow.
Pray for the Thanksgiving event at Nuova Vita and those who will attend.
Continue to pray for our team as we work on learning Italian. This is coming more easily but is something we are constantly working on.
Pray for wisdom as we plan for the spring and wrap up the fall semester. Pray for students who are believers to continue to grow in their relationships with God.
On a more personal note, please pray for my dad as he has been in the hospital over the last week with pleurisy and pneumonia. He is getting better and should be able to come home soon, but he still needs prayer as he recovers. Pray also for our team and other medical issues that have come up with family members at home.
I just wanted to post an update with the October prayer letter, and write a little more about what's been happening here in Bologna. I had every intention of posting more information last week, but time has just flown by--we're very busy, but we're beginning to settle into more of a routine. First, here's the prayer letter:
Over the last month or so, our team has attended two conferences and a church retreat, completed an intensive language course, and begun meeting with students. The first conference, Nuovo Inizio, was held in a small Tuscan town called Grossetto. This conference is specifically designed as an orientation for new staff and STINTers. We enjoyed the opportunity to escape the busyness of city life for a few days to learn more about life and ministry in Italy. Our second conference was a fall conference for all of Agape Italia staff. We heard from several pastors throughout the country (Florence, Sienna, etc.) and Agape Italia leadership. The perseverance of these people in the face of all of the challenges to ministry in this country was especially encouraging to me. Many of them had spent 15+ years in prayer for God to move in specific ways before seeing any response. Our director, Franco Basio, spoke a lot about humility. This topic has come up over and over again in the last several months. God continues to reveal to me how utterly dependent I am on Him for everything--for life itself--but how reassuring to know that, while I don't really control anything...He is in control of everything, and He is my Father.
We also attended a retreat for the young people at one of the two churches, Nuova Vita, here in Bologna. Our team enjoyed the opportunity to get to know some of the believers from our city. The group was small, but very international. At one point, we were able to go around and share testimonies. It was incredible to be hearing from people from all over the world--Italy, Spain, India, England, the U.S.--about how Jesus has changed each of their lives. All of the testimonies were told in either Italian or English and translated to Italian or English so we could all understand.
Our language intensive lasted for one week. It's been helpful to have a crash-course on language, as this is something so critical to interacting effectively with students. We will continue to study the language throughout the year on our own and, hopefully, with a tutor or through another class. On our last two days of class, one of our teachers asked that we present on each of our countries (the other students in the class were from Turkey, Khazakhstan, Poland, and several other places). Matt and I were able to present on our states, since we were from the same country--we introduced them to peanut butter cookies (peanut butter is not common in Italy, and, if it is available, it is usually expensive), and I tried to teach them to call the hogs. I wish I had a picture of the looks on their faces after I tried to explain in very broken Italian why we "call the hogs" in Arkansas and how we do this--needless to say, I think they were a little confused and thought it was pretty amusing.
In the last week or two, our lives have settled into a more consistent routine. We typically spend mornings together as a team--praying, studying scripture, planning and language learning. It's a blessing to work alongside people with such great hearts. In the afternoons, we spend our time on campus. We are currently in the process of talking with students to get a better idea of spiritual attitudes here in Bologna. This has been amazing to me. The lack of hope in this country is so evident, and it is heartbreaking. As we ask students if they ever think of God, and what they think of Him if they do...so many of them have told us that they are either "ateo" (atheist) or agnostic. The statistics that evidence this reality are out there, but it's something wholly different when you can attach statistics to specific faces and names. It has been encouraging, though, to see how many of them are willing to spend time with us, though they don't know us at all. Italian social groups can be somewhat difficult to break into--many of them have known their friends for a very long time.
On Wednesday nights, we hold an aperitivo event in the city center. This event is more social, and allows us to invite students to spend time with us in a more relaxed atmosphere. We are also in the process of starting a discussion group for students who are interested in spiritual issues.
In the last few weeks, I have been reminded so much of how my idea of who God is impacts every area of my life. Oftentimes, our life experiences have more of an impact on our idea of who God is than what He tells us in scripture about His character. Right thinking about God can truly transform our lives.
Here are a few prayer points:
Praise God for the students that He has brought into our lives. In the last several years, Agape staff in Bologna were not able to name any students who might be interested in truly getting involved with the ministry. We now have several names.
Praise God for His continued provision--time and time again He has answered little prayers about everyday life here.
Pray for the students we are meeting on campus. We have had so many great conversations in our short time on campus--please pray that God would grow relationships with students who are spiritually interested, and that God would continue to ordain conversations on campus with the students He has for us to meet.
Pray for the believers on campus here in Bologna. There are only a couple that we know of, but pray that God would grow them in their relationship with Him and use them to witness to His glory here.
Pray for the churches here in Bologna that we partner with and their witness in the city, Nuova Vita (New Life) and Forte Torre (Strong Towers). Pray that God would grow these churches and work in and through the members. Nuova Vita has been in the city for about 30 years and is a church-plant from TEAM ministries. Forte Torre is newer in the city--this is the church that everyone on the STINT team has decided to attend. Right now, there are only about 20 or so people who attend regularly.
Please pray for our events with students--the discussion group and our weekly aperitivo. Pray also for our Thanksgiving outreach with Nuova Vita.
Pray for Italy as a whole and the churches and Agape ministries throughout the country--Florence, Rome, Salerno, Milan, Sienna, Sanremo, and Palermo.
Emily shared this song with our team during our last meeting, and I thought it would be worth posting here, too...
