Maddalena Update!

by Leslie

“We sleep in a crypt!!” This is one of Mark’s favorite things to tell people about our house. Most will look at him with skepticism in their eyes, while a few obviously think it’s really cool that we do. In fact, our bedroom is mostly underground and has some walls that are over 2,000 years old. It’s a room you might see on a tour of a museum… complete with rock arches and walls. Mark is certain that these walls contain dead men’s bones… To me, it’s kind of cozy – it’s warm, and dark, and quiet… all things I like when I'm sleeping!! I guess that is what perspective is all about, right?

People often ask me, “How’s Italy?” And I know they really want to know, but I never quite know how to answer that question. If you are reading this blog, then you REALLY want to know how Italy is, so you can read on for the latest. But I think mostly, I am formulating a perspective on Italy that won't be fully developed until I get home and have the birds-eye view. So, that will be in a different post.

OK, so what’s the latest??

We are planning a distribution of Maddalena for March 8, 2011. This is International Women’s Day, which is celebrated world-wide, just not so much in the US. Here it is called “Festa Della Donna” or “Party of the Woman”. I love that in Italy, they make everything a party!! So, we decided to celebrate women here by giving them the Maddalena DVD in order for them to see, hear, and know the love of Christ. Since the film demonstrates how much Jesus cares for women, we thought it to be a perfect holiday to share it.

Last week I was in Rome to meet with our Agape Italia staff teams there. I came away very encouraged by their ideas and plans for how to use the film in their ministries.

the Colosseum in Roma

So far there are plans being made to:

• show Maddalena in a movie theatre


• give Maddalena as gifts to college students who will be invited to a jazz club


• give Maddalena to pastors of several churches who will show it to their congregations and use it as a tool to explain the Gospel to their friends


• give Maddalena away on the college campus along with Agape Italia contact information


• use Maddalena in an English club for language practice
  
  

Additionally, I am working with a team in Bologna who wants to do a large campus distribution of Maddalena on March 8th. They are also researching how to be able to show it in a women’s prison there!

We are also in the process of getting the film on television here in Italy.

As you can imagine, there is a lot of work to go into planning and executing these kinds of outreaches. Please be praying for all of the teams who have been given these creative ideas.

In all of it, my daily prayer is that my focus be an eternal one. The spiritual battle is fierce here and so often my flesh wants to bail out. I want to be true to the calling to which we have been called. I want to see possibilities rather than obstacles. I want to live moment by moment in the power of the Holy Spirit. I want to see lives changed here in Italy. Lord, give me Your perspective!

Wow, What a GREAT Weekend!

by Leslie

A Wonderful day Frolicking in the snow a couple weeks ago!

"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Jesus in Matthew 6:24

I have been thinking about this verse a lot in light of living here in Italy. The thing is, we all know that no matter where we live, each day has its own trials. And, if we look for them, each day has its own blessings too. I am thankful to live in a place so unfamiliar that I get up each day knowing that I will be faced with brand new trials and adventures – like walking in the rain, but always looking for a rainbow.

So, I arise each morning wondering what will happen. Something always happens. Yesterday was no different as my precious husband decided that he wanted to unclog the drain of the sink in our bathroom. It drains… but slowly. I was thinking that I see a lot of Drain-O products when I go to the store, and have wondered if this was because Italians don’t break out a wrench to unclog pipes…. But, Mark likes to go after the real problem, so off he went to the bathroom. About 30 minutes later he came upstairs with two coins in his hand (both bigger than quarters – later we determined that one was an Italian Lira and one was a Dutch Mark!) and declared that he found what was clogging the drain. This was pretty amusing since neither has been used as currency since 2002.

In Mark’s other hand was a piece of broken pipe. And “PING” there it was…our trial for the day! See, getting a piece of pipe here isn’t like it would be at home. In the USA, on a Saturday afternoon, you would hop into your car and zip over to Home Depot and get your replacement pipe. Then, you zip home and put it on and everyone could brush their teeth in the usual fashion that night.

Well, Mark walked out the door to our little hardware store (Utilita) here in town – which we love, by the way! But they didn’t have the part, and told Hubby where he might find it down in the city. Mark left for the bus stop with a look of determination on his face that would shame a Spartan… he WOULD conquer this problem! I won’t drag this out, but… the other store was closed, and there would be nothing open until Monday (tomorrow) so the sink drain is still in pieces. I only accidentally turned on the faucet once… so far!!

Today (Sunday) was a rainbow day. My sweet Italian friend, Laura, invited me to her son’s basketball game. I became a fan of basketball last year when our (U.S.) high school team went to CIF playoffs, so I am kind of missing it this year. The boys who were playing are all freshmen in high school and in Italy they play year-round club, so I knew they would be pretty good. Turns out I wasn’t disappointed. Aside from the cheering being all in Italian, I could have been in America. They played the same way… and the gym smelled just like they do in the U.S.! The best part was that afterwards the girls and I were invited to lunch with a few of the families from the team.

I love any opportunity to interact here. Our lives touching Italians lives in hopes of shedding some light in a dark place gives us courage to go on. So, it was pranza (lunch) for 11 people. I met two women who were very warm and kind. The one sitting next to me was talking and gesturing so much that I (seriously!!) almost got stabbed by her knife several times.

The Italian speaking was quick and lively… I understood only some of it, but they tried to include me. The food was amazing making me think that we should always bring locals when we eat out. A giant plate of spaghetti was in front of me as they all spoke together… I was working hard at eating without cutting it. And I was trying to finish, but the pile of pasta wasn’t getting much smaller. Looking at that plate and being so full made me laugh to myself as I was trying to ingest foreign words into my over-full head!

The most hilarious moment came when the waitress brought out some mushrooms on a yellow toast-ish looking thing. When I asked what the rectangular wedge was, they told me very clearly, in English, that it was “mice”, as a big piece was placed on my plate. I asked again and was given the same response… after I took a bite (I know!). I said, “You do realize that ‘mice’ is the plural of ‘mouse’?” At this, they roared with laughter at their mistake…. I too was laughing, of course. It was actually corn…or “maise”, which was delicious. I love the Italian sense of humor and their way of making you feel comfortable. What a lovely rainbow day we had!

Hope you're having a great weekend too!

Love,
us all

Speaking of the Blog...

Both Emily and Grace are now blogging here:

http://em-caughtinbetween.blogspot.com/ Em

http://compared-to-what.tumblr.com/ Grace

Enjoy their musings!

Preach the Gospel Everyday...to Yourself!

“The Gospel isn’t the ABCs of the Christian life…

...it’s the A-Z of the Christian life!”

Tim Keller, Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church

Been so good to have Joe visit the last few days!