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.