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).