Finishing Up At USF

Christmas time is fast approaching! We have been enjoying this time buying last minute Christmas gifts, getting to spend a lot of time with family, and get to accomplish some last minute things before we leave next month on the 13th. Time is flying as we are one week from Christmas!

One of the things I asked everyone to pray for over the last month or so is the time I have been investing at USF in order to get some sort of Fraternity/Sorority Community Group/Bible Study started. We have had two meetings with 2 USF Alumni who were apart of the Greek system, One Intervarsity staff, one Crusade staff other than me, Ross, and one active brother in Sigma Chi, Greg. The meetings have gone well. USF greek life is different than UCFs and a lot different than the south's. Starting a ministry here at USF is going to look totally different. We want to start with a core of believers and by believers we mean seekers, nominal Christians, or anyone that is even remotely interested in knowing more about Jesus Christ. It is going to take the Spring Semester for all the people in the fraternities and sororities that we even slightly know to be believers to build relationships with these people since the alumni and even Greg are a little removed from their chapters. The next meeting is January 5th. Please continue to pray as I phase out of this role that the Lord would be sovereign over bringing key people together to start this ministry. Also pray that we would know if Intervarsity or Campus Crusade are going to be the main backers with accountability to this arm of ministry.

I have also debriefed with Ross and John the two staff at USF Campus Crusade about what I have found in the IFC meetings I have attended, the presidents I met with, and hours I spent trying to basically survey the Greek system at USF since they were never in a fraternity in their prospective colleges. Going through all the stuff for a good 2-3 hours made me a little sad that I am leaving this "in the middle". I trust that God will use Ross and John to follow up some of the things I started or did. I, somewhat on purpose because I was leaving and knew it was going to be hard and somewhat because Grant being born called for me to have an active role in a lot more activities than I will in the future, did not participate in getting to know a lot of Kappa Sigs even after invited to do so by some of the guys I met at USF. It is hard being passionate about Italy as well as Fraternity ministry because Italy does not have any fraternities at the universities. It was probably still one of my main regrets this whole semester, but I know I did the right thing being there for my wife when she needed me ;)

It was hard but okay as I attended my last USF Campus Crusade meeting of this semester. I know that God has called us to Salerno. It is tough because they do need staff at USF. Maybe someday the Lord will bring us back here.

On the Italy front, continue to pray for the two girl Bible studies and the one on one follow ups from Thanksgiving get together that have been been taking place and will continue to take place over the next few months. Continue to pray for Marko as the Lord is bringing him closer to Himself. There is a plan in place for Marko to come to Unveiled Christmas Conference in Atlanta not only to grow in his faith but get to share with college students what the Lord has been doing in his life. Please pray that money comes in to make this happen.

I will leave you with a picture of Grant sucking his thumb. He tries so hard to get his hand in his mouth and when he finally does, it is a grand sense of accomplishment!

What a happy baby...

Here's a little video clip of Grant. The cooing and smiling are both new in the last week or so. It's been so fun finally seeing him react to all of our talking with him and the silly faces that we make. Grant truly is a great baby. Of course, he has cranky days (but so do I, for that matter). But most of the time, he is truly a delight. We are so blessed :)

Thanksgiving Weekend

Every year, during Thanksgiving, what I have to be thankful for seems to get simplier and simplier. This year I am thankful to be in loving relationship with my heavenly father and thankful that I have trusted him for Salvation. I am thankful for my wife, son, and the rest of my family. The Lord has truly blessed me.

This Thanksgiving weekend was a full one for us as we spent time with Amanda's family on Thursday, went shopping and decorated Amanda's mom's house for Christmas, had a second Thanksgiving with my family, and then spoke at Glenwood Presbyterian in Orlando about our summer and God's workings in Salerno. This trip to Glenwood was one of Grant's first out in public. He actually did pretty good. He had poopy explosion while Amanda was holding him sharing about us in Sunday School. He went through two of his three outfits in one morning something we did not anticipate, but hey we can't complain!

We have made it a tradition to have a Thanksgiving outreach in Salerno every year. This year we had twenty people. Some were new people and some were people that were invited by our friends. Please continue to pray for those relationships to go deeper.

The holidays are much among us. Of course there are really only 3: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years that we celebrate in a 5 week range. These 5 weeks are usually busy for everyone, with gift buying, vacations, holiday parties, decorating for the holidays, families, and the actual holidays themselves. Usually during this season, I get so busy that I do not pray as much as I should. There is not as many people that want to hear about our ministry. Students go on their break. As well as praying for my diligence, could you commit to remember the true reason for the season is our Savior Jesus Christ?

Below is a recent picture of Grant :)

Prayer Requests and Reflection

Grant is almost a month old. Time has flown by in a lot of ways. We have been doing well, thankful to God for everyone's prayers during this time of transition. Its amazing that soon it will be Thanksgiving and then the end of the year. Please continue to pray for our support to come in we still need about $600 monthly before we can leave in January.

Earlier this week in one of my times with the Lord, I have prayed through 1 Thessalonians 2 over both the ministry at USF and in Italy. Would you pray that over the ministry in Italy, too? . God has been doing awesome things in Salerno with two girls Bible Studies going on consistently. Continue to pray for the ministry as Justin and Abbey Valiquette have come home for a few months to raise some extra support and Bentley and Sarah Love Crawford are coming home soon to have their baby in the U.S. we will not have any men on our team until we get there. Pray that we do not lose momentum in the ministry with these things happening.

God has done some awesome things at USF. I have not done a lot there lately as I have been really been trying to focus on being available so the Lord can raise our financial support. We are really close to starting to launch a Fraternity/Sorority Community group. The Lord has raised a few people up to do so. I have also gotten to meet with a few fraternity presidents to get ideas of how we can be resource to the Greek community. Continue to pray for our efforts that the Holy Spirit would lead and guide us and show us exactly what this community group is going to look like.

Our Anniversary

Two years ago today Rodney and I were married. It's one of those weird things to me where in some ways it seems like our wedding was just yesterday and in other ways it seems like we've always been married. Obviously, there have been a lot of changes in this year of our marriage; raising support, moving to Italy, having our first child. But through it all, I am so glad I'm able to look at my husband and be thankful for all that the Lord has done and is continuing to do in our lives. I remember people telling us that marriage would reveal so much our selfish nature. There is nothing like living in such close proximity to some one else and having your lives be so intertwined to bring out the best and the worst in yourself. I can definitely attest to that now. Our marriage has challenged me and grown me so much over the last two years. My mom watched little Grant for a couple of hours last night and Rodney and I had the chance to go out for a nice dinner. We reflected and talked about the last year and all of the changes. We talked about our first year of marriage compared to our second. And I realized how much better I know myself now than I did two years ago. I've learned so much more about how what really encourages me, what really upsets me and how to communicate what I'm feeling and why. What an unexpected blessing! When I walked down that aisle two years ago I woul have said that I knew a lot about myself and a lot about Rodney. And now, when I look back, I feel like I hardly knew myself, let alone any thing about Rodney. The Lord has been so gracious to us as we've grown and learned so much over these past two years.

And now, a little note to my sweet husband- Thank you so much for all that you are and all that do for me, and now for our family. The Lord has used to in such a powerful way in my life. I am so grateful for our love and our marriage.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (from The Message)

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,

Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies.

Here Comes Grant!

Grant Charles Walton was born Saturday 10/17/09 at 6am sharp. He was 8lbs. 5oz. at birth, as well as 20 1/2 inches long.

Continue to check facebook and our blog for more updates. We just got home from the hospital Monday at about noon.

Praise the Lord for a healthy baby with no complications during childbirth! We cannot thank the Lord enough for this as well as a rather complication free pregnancy. Please pray for us as we are learning how to be parents. Pray that God would give us wisdom and patience beyond our years as well as supernatural energy to keep up with this little one. Amanda had a lot of contractions since Wednesday leading up to the birth on Saturday morning so we both have not gotten a lot of rest before he came.

Check out the top image on how Grant and Amanda looked alike at birth! It is kind of crazy how similar they look!

Post Orlando, No Baby Yet!

Grant, when are you coming? We have asked him this many times in the last few days. We are disappointed every time he doesn't answer us. We have tried to continue our lives as much as usual but at the same time, we have to be as ready for him to come when its time. As Amanda likes to say: Eviction Day is coming!

We got back from Orlando last weekend and had a great time. We got to visit with a lot of friends, but since we were only there for a few days, we did not see everyone we wished we could have, but thats how it goes. We had an extremely refreshing time in Orlando. It has really helped us and built our faith in many ways. We were encouraged by many friends, Amanda had a good shower our church OGC put on for us, and we got to hang out with Brett and Nicole Bradley. They are raising support to be in Salerno, also.

This past week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we met on Skype with our team in Salerno for a few hours. We got to develop a bunch of our vision, goals, and focus for this school year coming up. Its so good for us to be in these meetings and get to contribute.

Also this past week at Cru at USF, I got to talk about Storing Up Treasures in Heaven from Matthew 6:19-24. I was not sure how it was going to turn out, but it turned out well as God's word was preached and I got to be his vessel.

Getting Closer

The Countdown to Baby Grant continues. We have started going to the doctor like every week. It is becoming more and more real to me as our stroller and some of our cloth diapers have come in the mail yesterday. To my wife, I think it became real when she had morning sickness a back at the first month. That is how men and women are different, I guess. Here are some recent pictures of us, as you can see, we're getting closer and closer...

We are excited about visiting Orlando this weekend. We have not really gotten to see a lot of people from our church and other people in the city we know. If you are not going to see us this weekend do not worry because we can only see so many people and we will probably be coming back to do our baby dedication and speak at some churches so let us know you really miss us with a comment and maybe we can see you sometime. (That last paragraph makes us sound like we are celebrities, its not true I promise)

Also another thing that you can be praying for everyone out there. Is that I spoke to the Inter Fraternal Council at USF last Wednesday and got a few fraternities interested in what we are doing there and how we can help them accomplish their goals. I have followed up with an email and I got no responses. The Lord answered my prayer with the president of IFC, Matt, letting me speak out of at the meeting Please pray as I continue to follow up with all my contacts that they would be interested and for the few that may not that they would tell me straight up. I will be following up with them on Monday.

Life as we know it

So its the middle of September. I am discouraged in a lot of ways that I do not want to list out. Well, some of the reasons I have not really pinpointed yet. I do not want to list them out mainly because it makes me more discouraged and I do not like to be negative, but the problem with that is that sometimes I come off being a little bit in denial. You know what I am saying all you optimistic people out there. Sometimes we can be a bit fake. There I said it! I actually hate being fake, but I my realism and my optimism sometimes battle for my behavior and my realism seasoned with shades of optimism usually wins. I feel that lately I have been trying to be optimistic lately and stuck my realism in the backseat, which means also my transparency. So at least, I just want to be open and honest on our blog. It gives me an outlet.

In ministry, I feel like one must act like he has it altogether (although folks I would not try this at home). Sometimes it just happens whether you try to do it or not. Your ministry becomes more like a stock market investment. You want to always make sure the shareholders are always happy so they keep investing. One can never run his or her ministry like a business, but its a temptation sometimes.

Having said all that I want profess that the Lord owns everything including our hearts. The Lord has provided for us to this step even when stuff goes wrong. The Lord has put a roof over our heads. He has given us good health. He has given me at doing language learning even if I am not as good as Jonathan Prudhomme :) We want to hold fast to Isaiah 41:8-10 and apply it to what God is doing in our family.

In other news, continue to pray for my time at USF. In the area of getting involved in the fraternity system and starting a Bible study, I need the Lord's help. I have one person I have met with face to face named Adam that seems interested and then a few friend of a friend people that I have yet to get in contact with. Amanda and I are extremely grateful for John, Kerri, and Ross who are on staff and been a great encouragement.

I will leave you with the comparison the maps of UCF and USF campus. The universities are the same size but USF is so much more spread out. At UCF, you just park and walk where you need to go, but at USF that does not really work because it can take you like 30 minutes, which means extra confusion for Rodney in his parking adventures.

Back in Tampa

Here we are in Tampa once again. We left Italy from Naples back in on August 12th. Amanda and I were extremely thankful to have Peppe, one of the Italians involved with Agape Italia, take us to the airport at 4am since our flight was about an hour drive's away leaving at 6:45am! The whole travel process from Naples to Denver where we had the STINT briefing conference was 23 hours. (We will talk more about that conference in our newsletter in this month). Everything went smoothly for the most part until we got to our layover in Frankfurt, Germany where from there we would fly straight to Denver on a 10 hour flight. We had a few hours so we got coffee. We tried to our terminal but there was a large German policeman who put up police tape and told me I could not go to Terminal C. I preceded to ask in English if there was another way, in which he replied the same statement he made before. I guessed that he probably did not understand English and walked away. We ate lunch and the tape was not up when we came back, but we had to go through customs and everyone was at lunch at 12:30 so no one was at any of the Passport booths. To make a long story not as long we made it to the gate with like 5 minutes to spare from when our plane was going to take off. To make matters worse on the flight my personal LCD monitor was not working. Thank goodness Amanda is good at sharing :)

We arrived in Tampa on Wednesday the 19th of August. From that time through the weekend we had a lot of family commitments including one of Amanda's baby showers. Monday was the first day that we had some time to finally catch our breath and figure out our plan for the few months we are here in Tampa. Basically what we will be doing is as follows(in this order):

1. First and foremost, have a baby. I am trying to serve Amanda the best way I can during this period.

2. Raise extra monthly support. We have lost a few hundred dollars of monthly support and plan to loose a few more because of the economy and we have to raise about $800 more of monthly support. (I have updated our thermometer on the right side of the page with the latest numbers).

3. Do language learning. I am going to try about 10-15 hours a week to learn Italian. I meet on skype with Andrea for 6 hours a week. Amanda is going to build off what she has already learned in class.

4. We will be helping out with the ministry at the University of South Florida which is about 10 minutes from where we are staying in Tampa. We found out that two of their staff left last year after we decided to pursue the endeavor, so we were an answer to prayer for them in some ways. I think it will be good for me to continue in ministry and sit under another healthy ministry before we go back.

Please continue to pray for us because just as we were getting used to Salerno, we are back in Tampa. We understand the Lord is this is more of the process that the Lord wants us to go through in order to prepare our hearts for ministry in Salerno.

The Body

Amanda and I have been attending a church that meets right in Salerno. The services are completely in Italian, although Pastor Dominico does sometimes talk to us in English. The only part we used to understand are the songs since there are slides and we recognize the rhythm to be American songs that we have sung growing up. Just recently we have been understanding about half of what is said by Dominico and other church members during the service. Last week there were 5 nations represented in the church of about 20 as there were people from Turkey, France, Russia, and America. America is truly blessed in someways to have (for the most part) everyone speaking English, but we do enjoy the diversity that we found in Europe. It is sometimes confusing, but it is truly beautiful to see all the cultures and people dwelling in unity in Christ.

We are truly blessed to be a part of an encouraging body of believers here in Salerno. I have met with Dominico a few times just to have lunch as friends and we talk about things pertaining to life as well as spiritual things. As most of you know he is really interested in what we are doing. We have been encouraging each other in the ministry God has called us to. He has had some time off this summer, but during the rest of the time he works as a teacher in Naples. He works full-time and is a full-time pastor. He is extremely educated which comes out in conversations about Italian history and politics which help us understand more about Italy and how to reach people for Christ. Pray for his body of believers to grow deep in faith as well as in numbers from more people coming to faith. Pray that we can really get more students involved in his church.

Below is a picture of the church. Dominico is 5th from the left. We are all the way on the right.

Saturday Morning in Salerno

When we lived in Orlando, one of my favorite things to do on Saturday morning was to go over the Winter Park Farmers' Market. I guess it all started in college when I could walk over from Rollins before most of the campus was even awake. I love to walk around and see all of the plants and fresh fruits and veggies. We would usually end up picking up some coffee and breakfast (chocolate croissant for me and a crepe with chicken, veggies and sauce for Rodney). If you live in Orlando and haven't checked out the Winter Park Farmers' Market, you definitely should!

Well, this Saturday morning we went to the Salerno version of the farmers' market. Unlike the market in Winter Park, this market is every morning, not just on Saturday. As we walked along the rows of vendors, we couldn't help but notice the similarities and the many differences.

Overall, I have to say that the fresh produce here is much better than anything I've seen in America. When you walk by the mounds of peaches, you can't ignore the amazing smell. Below are some pictures of the market. As you will see, in addition to the produce there are also many other items for sale including clothing, shoes, candy, pots and pans, laundry detergent, rugs and curtains, just to name a few. There is also a whole row full of fish and other seafood items. We haven't been brave enough to try any of the seafood yet, but I'm sure it's nice and fresh.

Yes, this man is using his bare hands, don't be alarmed...

Now that's some fresh sword fish!

This is just a short clip from the market. We just didn't want you to miss out on the sounds of the market, as well as the sights.

The Weak Will Be Strong

It has been awhile, but many headaches from trying to learn Italian later here we are. I won't spoil our language learning escapades as they will be in our newest newsletter ready to hit the streets any day now.

What I do want to talk a little about is how Christ calls the weak to His service. I know its kind of crazy that Jesus wants weak people to preach His gospel, but He does. In addition to attending a church on Sunday nights, Amanda and I usually try to listen to some sermon on Sunday morning. The past few Sundays we have been listening to sermon's of Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City. We listened to one on the Community of Jesus. Some of the interpretations he pulled from Luke 6:12-36 was that Jesus saved us to make us into a people not just forgive our sins. The values that we hold dear are weakness, sacrifice, grief, and exclusion in which His grace gets stronger when we lose the world's recognition.

The last statement along with I Corinthians 1-2 hit me hard. Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 1:17 after he talks about people in the church boasting about who baptized them that God sent him to preach the gospel not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. He goes on in verses 26-31 of chapter 1 that Christ chose the weak, low and despised to shame the strong, powerful, wise and rich according to the world's standards. Also in the first two verses of Chapter 2: And I when I came to you brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

So why am I talking about this? I am weak! I have hope! I am right where Christ needs me to be so that He can use me just like He did Paul. Everyone puts Paul on a pedestal but he was just a weak man controlled by Jesus Christ. I do not have compelling eloquent words of wisdom. I do not want to hold dear what the world does. I am totally nothing without Christ and Him supernaturally making it possible in the Spirit demonstrating himself through me in His power as He did with Paul (2:4-5).

Italian Recipe

Mario, who has been serving with the team in Salerno for the past two years, recently posted this recipe on FaceBook and so I thought I'd pass it along to all of you. Scarpariello is a classic local dish. Most of the restaurants in town have some version of it. I've never been a huge "spaghetti" fan (I know, ironic, since I moved to Italy) but this sauce is different. With all of the chessy goodness in it, I think it helps to balance out some of the acidity of the tomatoes. While I haven't used this exact recipe yet, I know that Mario is a great cook, so I'm sure it's delish! So enjoy, and while you're enjoying say a little pray for the people of Salerno.

Scarpariello for 5 people:

Ingredients:
3-4 lb of cherry tomatoes the size of golf balls
1 1/2 sticks of butter, could use less if you feel like losing some flavor for less fat.
fresh basil
500gr parmigiana cheese.
500gr penne pasta.
peperoncini

**Notice how parm and pasta are equal. this is very important to achieve the thick creamy sauce.

1) In a huge pot, put stick of butter and all the tomatoes in and cover over med high heat until they are all popped, about 12 min.
2) Then uncover and turn to med heat, now you can stir a little, and remove the skins if you like to. You also want to add some basil, and peperoncini. Let simmer for 30min to 1hr, depending on the quality of the tomatoes. it should start to look think.
3) Oil water and start cooking pasta, 10 min before sauce is done.
4) When you drain the pasta keep 1 cup of that water to add to the sauce in a min.

5) Now add and mix all the remaining butter, the sauce, the pasta, and the parmigiana together. add around 1 cup of left over water slowly while mixing.

6) Serve immediately, garnish with fresh basil leafs.

Sto Studiando Italiano

We celebrated July 4th with some Italians. Below is Ilaria, Amanda, and I making the colors of the American flag.  Ilaria was a person we talked about on a newsletter from the Fall about her coming to know the Lord.  She was one of the people that got baptized at the baptism from the last newsletter.

Peppe and I have became good friends.  In Italy, nicknames are taken from the end of names unlike in the U.S. where it is the beginning so a nickname for Giuseppe (Joseph) is Peppe.  I like the way Peppe is not afraid to ask questions or talk about anything.  He tells it like he sees it and his honesty has allowed our friendship to grow really fast.  His uncle owns a school in Nocera where students from the U.S. come to study abroad.  Peppe has learned English because he has been the guide for the American students getting them whatever they need.  We joke that he is their "babysitter" because of how he has to attend so many times to their drunken habits.  In Italy, we discuss, that people drink one or two always or have some wine with dinner, but these Americans come and get drunk every night.  Last Friday, Peppe and I spent some time going around his town and eating lunch and talking about deep topics to shallow things like stupid American movies.  He has told me that he wants to learn more about Christianity since, from studying the Bible with our group, he is still learning about who Jesus really is.  I enjoy spending time with Peppe. This evening we will go with the Crawford's to a big mall called Volcano Buono(Good Volcano) which is next to the bad Volcano, Vesuvius :)

I have also spent an evening with another Giuseppe.  It was a really good time and helped both of in our English and Italian skills.  He speaks just a little more English than I do Italian.  Giuseppe has a cool story of how his friends lead him to Christ a few years ago.  His parents are Catholic and they do not agree with the Evangelical way.  Stuff sometimes is very hard for him because when people here when they become "Evangelical" which for them is just actively pursuing their relationship with Jesus Christ they can excommunicated slightly from their families and friends. He explains it is very difficult to talk about this new fresh relationship with Jesus because no one wants to listen to him. A lot of times Catholicism hear is nominal just as Christianity in the U.S. is very nominal.  I hope to meet more with Giuseppe to discuss the Bible since he has not ever really been "discipled" only attending church on a regular basis.  On the way home, we listened to some Michael W. Smith and Third Day in his car, which was cool for me to see he listens to Christian artists in America!  Below is a picture of me and Giuseppe.

Andrea has agreed to tutor me in Italian this summer.  He is a language major and knows English very well.  We talked for about 3 hours this Friday and I learned about many things, but most importantly the difference of using -ando onto a verb in Italian is like putting an -ing in English but in Italian it is always in the present.  If you want to say "I am studying tonight", it's: "Studio stasera" because you are not currently doing it, but "I am studying now" is: "Sto studiando adesso.  Andrea has really been challenged by our group in the last year to have more of a relationship with God and Jesus Christ.  Andrea has been a practicing Catholic, still being active in the church unlike many young Italians, but has now understood the gospel and that it is only by Christ's good works that we are saved.  Below is a picture of Andrea and I.

Please continue to pray for me to learn Italian and not get frustrated and my time here and my relationships with my friends that the Lord would use those relationships.

Trash in Salerno

You might be wondering why I am writing about trash.  A lot of students are taking exams and busy for the summer, so many of them cannot hang out.  They do not go to campus as much, which means we do not also.  As they finish their exams, more and more of them are becoming free as they days go on in July.  It has been good to have some free time to get stuff set up around the apartment as well as recover from the summer project's pace.  We have been reading and studying the language. 

The other thing has been taking up our time is trying to figure out what the new trash schedule is.  The trash in Naples and I believe some other areas of the region used to be (and still could be) controlled by the mafia so it always gets taken care of, capische? :) A little Godfather for ya. The way trash is taken care of in Salerno is changing and they are trying to recycle more, no big deal, right?  Wrong!  The Valiquettes, the Crawfords, and us have not gotten the necessary trash cans, schedule and bags. One night I even tried to get rid of the trash in a pile by some businesses and I was yelled at in Italian.  I responded,"Quale giorno, vetro? No lo so. Quale giorno, organico? No lo so.  Quale giorno, carta? No lo so.  (Which day, glass? I don't know.  Which day, organic? I don't know.  Which day, paper? I don't know.) They got the picture and left me alone. Check out this fun schedule........Yea click on it and zoom in real close.  I found it at my neighbors, took a picture and translated it so I knew how to get rid of our every growing, smelly trash in our apartment.  I think we figured it out, even the part of the trash man coming between 8pm and 4am, meaning that day is actually that night. One of the great things we have grown accustomed to in becoming acclimated with the new culture.

It's a boy!

As some of you may have already heard, we just recently found out that our first child is a boy.  We are both very excited (not that we wouldn't have been excited about a girl) but it's just so much more real to know the gender.  Just during the past few days I have really been able to feel a lot more connected to the baby, just by knowing that it's a little boy in there.

We have also recently decided to come back to the United States for the birth.  After seeking lots of advice and really praying through all of the options, we both really feel like this is what's best for our family.  Obviously, our parents are ecstatic to have us coming back for a few months.  For us, this decision is a little more bittersweet.  Just when we were hoping to be settling into a routine here in Salerno, we will be leaving.  Of course there are many pros to coming back to the US for us too.  It will be a huge blessing to be surrounded by family and friends as we welcome our first child.  It is also a comfort to me to know that I'll be able to stock up on tons of American baby products before we leave and have to rely on the adventure that Italian products can be.  

Lots of people have been asking me how it's been to be pregnant and living in Italy.  

Overall, it's been great.  The slower pace of life here gives me the complete freedom to nap in the afternoon if I need to (all the stores are closed then anyway).  Several times people have given my their seats on the bus.  I'm definitely getting plenty of exercise as so much of daily living here involves walking to the grocery store, walking to the bus stop, walking to our friends' apartments, walking, walking, walking.  I joke that with all of the walking that I have done, that I better have the easiest delivery ever.  (I know, there are no guarantees, but it's a nice thought, right?)

One of the challenges have been that I feel like people are staring at me all the time.  Culturally, there doesn't seem to be a stigma attached to staring (no one tries to pretend that they are not really staring if they are) and so as some of the few Americans in Salerno, it's not uncommon for any of us to get some strange looks.  However, when you couple that with getting used to the fact that I'm much bigger now than I'm used to be, it's been a little challenging.  It's much better now that, at least in my mind, I clearly look pregnant.  But there was a phase when I was convinced that I didn't look pregnant but just fat, my clothes stopped fitting right and I just felt awkward all the time.

The other biggest challenge has been my seemingly unquenchable hunger.  Some days I literally feel like I could eat constantly.  Within an hour of finishing a meal, I'm ready for a snack!  I was joking with Rodney the other day that I can eat groceries as fast as we can buy them.  It's a little harder to buy food in bulk when you have to carry it back without a car.  The other challenge in this area is that so many things are closed in the afternoon and then dinner restaurants don't open until 8pm.  Needlessly to say, if we're out and about and I've failed to bring some snacks in my purse, Rodney can have an unhappy, very hungry pregnant lady on his hands.

Culture Differences and Our Trip to IKEA

First, I just wanted to say this post is just to some things about Italian culture that are just different than ours. (The pictures all have to do with alcohol, but that was not really intended to happen). The second part of it was about our trip to IKEA in Naples to get some items for our apartment in Salerno.

These pictures were all taken at an Italian mall.  As you can see the drink in the bottom left is a Virgin Mary not a Bloody Mary

This is a Burger King meal.  Yes they have beer on tap at Burger King, I had to get it because of how ridiculous it is.

This is a bar/restaurant but in the back of the picture is the playplace that you would find at McDonalds or Burger King.  They had plenty of room in the restaurant but decided to put it there.

In Salerno, it is not common to see some public displays of affection.  I did not attach any pictures because I feel that would cross the line :)  In the U.S. people would get so many stares and it is so culturally insensitive it would not happen too much.  It is just people hugging and kissing on the sidewalk or on a bench.  If you are not Italian it will surprise you every time.

In the U.S., Sunday night is a night of getting stuff together for your week, relaxing, resting before the week starts.  In Salerno, Sunday night is one of the busiest nights to go out.  You will see people the most people walking around at 1am or 2am.  I think for this reason Monday morning many stores are closed and do not follow there normal hours.

This brings me to my next point.  Stores close at all different hours here.  Sometimes stores are closed and the hours on their door say otherwise.  These are not just "mom and pop" stores in the city but chain stores outside of downtown.  When you travel to the store, be prepared.  You could travel 30 minutes and the store could be closed and have no sign of opening soon.

The culture here is so laid back.  Servers at restaurants are extremely slow.  Not in a bad way of course:) but in the way that they want you to enjoy your experience.  After a 2 to 3 hour meal, they will ask if there is anything you need.  You say, "No I am done", then you sit there for about 10 minutes, and you are like where's the check, I do not want anything else?  You have to ask, its not assumed you want to leave.

Coffee is a short shot of expresso not a relaxing drink to sit down and enjoy.  It is meant to help with digestion, give you a pick me up for the day, or give you a chance to do something with a friend.

Driving is absolutely crazy. There are no real lines in the road in the city. So even though there is enough room for two lanes of traffic, people weave in and out in cars and mopeds. This brings us to the story of us driving to IKEA to get some small furniture and things for our already furnished place.  We rented a car to go about an hour north to Naples where the IKEA is.  So after praying a prayer of safety, we started on our way.  For all the guys out there, driving here is driving how you always wanted to in the U.S. but never had the ability to.  Its like have 5 of the most aggressive drivers you have ever experienced on all sides of you at all times including the weaving moped component. We only had one person back up on the highway because he missed his exit :) Once we reached the area that the IKEA was at in Naples getting to it was another story.  There were a series of signs that look like the one below and there was no continuity between signs so you follow a few of them for a while taking turns off what looks like interstate off-ramps and then after like 5 IKEA signs you stop seeing them for the next few off-ramps.  These off-ramps are coming every 1000 feet so its rapid fire signage.  Lets just say it took 20 minutes to get to the IKEA we could see from the interstate :)

   

We finished and headed home.  The road names are small and only the to and from cities are listed.  When you traveling in a small area, two roads could go to the same place but just take a different route, so it made it difficult but we made it. I pulled into the small streets of the historic center of Salerno where we live and unloaded the stuff as quick as possible so that I would block anyone because I was double parked.  

I went uphill to get the car out of this area which was a bad idea.  I should have just gone the wrong way one-way (which I have seen Italians do so many times).  There are two cars behind me as I go uphill with mopeds coming at me with about one foot of space on each side and I had to pull the emergency brake, rev it up, and drop it to risk from stalling out and going backwards down this 60 degree incline.  I spun out a little since the street was wet from rain in front of a store with about 5 Italians watching me on the street.  This by far is expert driving, beating my advanced driving I learned in Miami a few months prior.  I do not want to do this for a very long time!

Below are some pics of the car filled to the brim of stuff we needed from IKEA and Carrefour (the Italian version of Wal-Mart).

Follow Up to Last Post

As I said in the last post, we are trying to meet a lot of students that our American students have become friends with so we can keep them connected with Agape Italia.  One unique thing that I forgot to mention in my last post is that Amanda and I got to go over to another city to meet Dylan and Chevas's friends.  We ate dinner at Raffaele's house.  We got to meet his family and friends.  They were so nice and hospitable. They picked us up at the train station and drove us to the house where we had a great time talking and singing before they took us home.  We ate fresh Mozzarella di Bufala and hot dogs with special sauces specially designed by Raffaele.  It was a great time where we got to know some the parents of Raffele and get to have Amanda and I's first home experience in Italy.

The other amazing thing that has been happening that I forgot to mention is Amanda has really gotten to connect with a lot of girls on project.  They really look up to her as an older sister.  She has really gotten to have an impact in her small group Bible study.  Small groups, discipleship and Bible study are things that she loves to do and it has been a great asset to our team this summer.  She has connected with a lot of the girls in a way that she will get to have a special connection for years to come.  Every night, the girls beg for "Storytime with Amanda"  where she gets to tell a funny or meaningful story about her life.  A lot of the things she has gone through make the girls laugh or point them to Jesus because of how he has changed her life.

Chevas, Chiara, Sasha, Dylan, Rodney and Amanda at Raffele's house.

As Summer Project Continues

Girls talking some girls and a guy they met on campus.

Playing poker with some Italian friends

At the beach with some Italian friends 

America versus Italy soccer match.  We were losing bad until some Italians switched to our team.

Kevin, one of the Americans, doing some of his magic tricks

So it has been two more weeks.  It has really flown by.  This week is our last week on campus and we are really trying to get all the friends we have met to be friends with all the people that will be on STINT next year or people that are on the long term team here.  The above pictures are just a few representations of our time here.  It is hard to always have a camera on campus or remember to use it to take pictures of all our friends.  A lot of the summer project students have tagged me in pictures on facebook also.

I have met many friends in the last few weeks.  We have gotten to share a lot of our lives with them.  It is exciting to know that I will have more time here in Italy with them.  My friend Pasquale had to go back to Algeria to work.  I was very excited to give him my Bible since he did not have one and it has been hard on him to be there.  I am excited to get to spend more time with him when he comes back next month since he works one month and then is off for a month.  He is very honest and that is what I appreciate about him.  We hope to discuss more of the Bible and life when he returns.

I have gotten to become friends with two  guys named Davide who are friends.  They have been so nice to us and invited us to play soccer and to the beach as you can see in the above pictures.  Their hospitality is very encouraging.  They were really excited to talk deeper things of life and we got to share the central message of the Bible with them.  They had never really read the Bible before so were excited to hear about it and were glad we talked about it.  They said sometimes we talk about unimportant things so much it was good to talk about something important.  They are also very transparent.  Being here in Italy, I have learned more to appreciate being open and wanting to sacrifice my own needs for others.  I love how genuine the people are here.  They are open and I enjoy being open with them.

Amanda and I have gotten to encourage and be a leader to all the students this project also.  It has been great getting to know them and being there while they have grown in their faith.  It has been good getting to see them share their testimony about what God has done in their life and just the good news of Jesus Christ and how his gospel changes our lives when we trust his sacrifice and live for Him and not the world.

Please pray for the group that we can continue to spread the good news of Jesus and what he did for all of us on the cross.  Pray that we would get our friends connected with Americans that are staying in Italy longer.  Pray for Amanda that she has energy and pray for both of us to not frustrated some things that have not worked out to what we thought.  

The First Week Or So

The guys of summer project on our day off

The Girls of summer project on our day off

Its hard to believe that it has already been a week and a half here in Italy.  Today, we get a little free time because of the Italian independence holiday.  We have been on campus now for about a week.  We as a summer project have gotten to share the gospel many times with students.  We had a lot of students go to our barbecue on this past Thursday also.  I did not have the best time on campus this week.  I was pretty sick on last Tuesday and slept for like 4 hours and fought that off.  Also we missed part of Wednesday because we had to turn this document into the post office requesting to live in Salerno.  Those things coupled with the language barrier equalled a frustrating time on campus.  The language barrier is pushing me to study more Italian even before we start formal language learning with our class or tutor. For now LiveMocha will have to do.  Its awesome, free, and like Rosetta Stone.  

Since the first six weeks our primary goal is the summer project, we have to try to find English learners as they do.  The great thing about the summer project is we are really learning how to be servant leaders and getting to help them in sharing their faith, some for the first time.  I have to remember I am here for the long haul and to have patience with building relationships with Italians.  I did get to spend time with Pepe who has known the STINTers (11-month interns) since September.  I am excited to get to be his friend in the future. I did get to have some good time on Friday playing basketball with Davide who I met at the barbecue and has known the STINTers for 2 months..  That was definitely the highlight of last week.  I hope to continue to hang out with him, as he spoils us because he speaks great English.  

I hope to update you every week during this season.  Its tough because we have a full schedule. 

Pictures Finally

Us in Atlanta

Our Plane

1st night in Salerno

Training

Campus

We are here!

We have arrived in Salerno! After leaving at 6pm eastern time from Atlanta on 5/18 and we got to Salerno after taking two planes and a 3 hour bus ride at 5pm the next day.  Salerno is 6 hours ahead so there was about 17 hours of total travel time!  All of our 11 bags got to Salerno okay along with all the students bags which is a total answer to prayer.  We did not have to pay any for extra bags because the 7 other men other than me on the summer project we came with totally served us by checking in one of the bags and being responsible for moving the bags to Salerno. We have been pretty much been settling in since then and do a lot of training with the summer team that the year long interns have been doing.  

We got to witness an outreach that one of the churches that partners with the ministry and the other Christian ministry on campus put on at the hotel the project stays in last night.  Students were not the main focus so there were not many english speakers there for our students for summer project to talk with.  I did get to meet Pastor Antonio who is the other pastor we will work with other than Pastor Dominico.  

Today was our first day on campus.  We got to do about 2 hours of prayer walking as well as learn about where everything is.  One of the things that we do not want neglect this summer is prayer.  We are calling God to act and preparing our hearts for ministry when we pray.  It is a necessary part of ministry.

We have some pictures that we will post at a later time.  We have currently misplaced our camera cord in all our bags!

5 More Days To Italy!!!!

We are counting down the days.  There are 3 full days until we leave Saturday morning and 5 until we leave for Italy.  We are packing, getting bank accounts set up, planning for babies in Italy, trying to finish our New Testament Survey class, and trying to adequately spend time with all our family.  Between those things and all the ones in between, we are busy.  There is so much you have to think about before you leave the country, let alone move to another one. 

We have been eating at a lot of places that we really like that we will not get to eat in Italy.  I am a huge fan of Pei Wei so we got to eat there with my family a few weeks ago.  We have gotten our share of Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Jason's Deli's Ranchero Wrap with no jalapenos of course, right Amanda ;).  The one that got me was Jeremiah's Italian Ice.  Its only in Orlando area.  The "gelato" they have is good, but it knocks the real gelato of Italy.  I like Jeremiah's but does not compare to the real gelato of Italy.  Amanda is going to miss it though.  She will just have to get used to the real thing;)

There has been errand nightmares.  When I say errand nightmares it means store clerks not knowing what the heck they need to do.  I had to go back to a T-mobile store because the store's way of switching from post-paid cell phone plan(regular) to pre-paid(pay as you go) was different than customer service.  After much arguing they took back my extra SIM card that I bought :).  RadioShack is supposed to know everything about everything and help you buy the right product.  I found that was not true when I bought a European Power Adapter.  As soon as I got home, I found it does not work in Italy!  We bought the right ones online, but had to take the other ones back.

We found out that our financial support goal is going to go up by 10% so our goal is going to be about $8300 give or take.  That in some ways has been hard to take because as soon as we reached 100% we have to raise more for the new Walton.  In a lot of ways, we trust that the Lord has brought us this far, He is going to do the rest.  In a few others, thats easier said than done.  We are just ready to do what we have said we want to do for the last 8-9 months.  In a lot of ways we feel like we are starting the first day of school going to Italy.  We feel excited to go but there is a lot of nervousness about everything working out and about doing ministry. I am learning daily to give everything over to the Lord, everyday.  Well, need to go and pack some more suitcases.  I look forward to keep you updated.

Here We Go!

We are leaving in a few weeks to finally embark on our much anticipated journey.  Saying goodbye is not something I am good at.  If I had it my way, I would just go and not say anything.  Its nothing against anyone but just the way I prefer to do things.  We do have so many people that have stood by us in so many ways it has been great.  In some ways, we feel so independent leaving in a few weeks and in other ways I know that we could not do all this without everyone's support.  

Some of you might have seen on facebook the news about us being pregnant.  We are thanking God for giving us this incredible surprise.  I know most of you are like "Surprise, I think you knew what you were getting yourself into".   To make a long story short, with present conditions, we were told by doctors that we could not conceive.  The Lord is good!  In a lot of ways with being so accountable to everyone for our ministry, I am worried about what people will think.  Also since this time is such a transitional time for us that in some ways it looks like it is just something else to think about as we leave and live our lives in Italy.  It has been hard for me to struggle to not go into either one of those pitfalls.  

We trust that the Lord is sovereign.  He does not put on us more than we can handle.  He does all things well and He is more than enough for me like two great songs off a Chris Tomlin worship album that we have.  Sometimes it also bothers me that I have to fight for joy for this.  Even if I am 90% joyful I get angry at myself for being even 10% not.  We have to trust the Lord and I have to support my bride as number one.  Thanks everyone for your prayers during this time.  We are ready to do ministry in Italy, but now mindful of the life growing inside Amanda!

Visa Don't Leave Home Without It

In this past week, we made a trip to Miami and back to get drop off our visa paperwork!  Stuff is getting more and more real for us.  We have currently been in Orlando tying up loose ends before we are going to be primarily in Tampa the last 3 weeks that we are here in the United States to say bye to our familie

We went down on Monday after we picked up the paperwork from Crusade headquarters.  We got to have some quality time with the team leaders Dylan and Chevas Grace who as our first assignment we are leading the summer project team with.

Here is a picture of Dylan and Chevas.  Dylan was my bible study leader my first two years of college.

On Tuesday morning, we went to drop off our visa paperwork at the Italian Consulate.  We got there right when it opened and it took a total of ten minutes.  They did not even look at our passports as we dropped off the paperwork to see if we said we were!  

We had some extra time so we did a little sightseeing around Miami before we left.  Here are some pictures of the lighthouse and scenery on Key Biscayne.