Summer Project

So we are halfway through summer project! I felt like they just got here but soon they will be off to Rome and Florence. There are 35 of them including the 3 staff. Its the biggest project ever been in Salerno. God has been using them mightily. I have got to be in on some of those meetings or and also been there in a group as they have gone out to initiate conversations with students in English. They probably have met 150 people with 30-40 people being ones they have met with 3-5 times and gotten to hang out with them elsewhere for lunch, coffee, or in Salerno. It is hard because I do not want to neglect my friends also.

I got to share the gospel with Matteo the other day. I saw him for a few minutes since then and just hung out with him in between classes. Pray that I will have another opportunity to go back into the gospel in depth. Pray for my time with Raffele who I got to see for the first time since last summer. My wife and I along with some other friends went to his house for dinner. He has been learning English from Mormons in another city outside Salerno. I got into sharing the gospel at the BBQ with him but was interrupted. We have mutual friends with Francesco and Lucia who I have hung out with a few times. Please pray that at some point they can hear the gospel. My friend Erol on campus is struggling in his faith because he is learning about Evolution in his classes. I was able to give him a book about it as well as talk. Pray that he reads it and continues to have faith. These are just a few of the things God has been doing through me.

The last thing is that I got to go to a soccer game yesterday. It was a little sad because the Salernitana team is so bad that no one came to the last game of the season, but they still have spirit! I hope you enjoy the video.

What Is There To Do In Salerno For Fun?

So many times we talk about ministry on this blog, but a lot of times we do fun things with Italians as part of building friendships with them before, during, or after starting to process the gospel with them. We also go on dates as a married couple, so there are many things in the city we do for fun.

1. Go to an awesome Pizzeria-

Trianon, Vaca d'presa, I Due Fratelli, Pummarola n'coppa, Pucciarelli: it doesn't matter just that you got some good pizza and good person or persons to share it with.

2. Go to the Market-

In one of our posts over the summer, there is a video of one of the few outdoor markets in Salerno.

3. Get some Caffe'-

Bar Rosa, Bar Trieste, Bar 089.....to me it depends if you want to sit outside, inside, or sit in a room overlooking the lungo. I am getting there with appreciating that caffe' tastes different at different bars. Yes, I said "bars" but bars here is where you get caffe'. In America, you go to a cafe' to get coffee, but here you go to a bar to get caffe'. You can also get Alcoholic drinks too. Its like if Starbucks had a full liquor bar. Crazy, huh?

4. Get some Appertivo-

In America, we eat lunch usually 12-1 and dinner 6-8. Here in Southern Italy, lunch is eaten 1:30-3 and dinner is 8-10. Breakfast is usually eaten on the run with you caffe' or cappuccino. There is need for appertivi. Basically its a snack that is meant to hold one over until dinner in the 5-7 range. We go to the L'Office for appertivi because we know the owner. Usually you drink a bitter drink with ginger in it to settle the stomach as you at snack food. You pay for the drink and usually the snacks are provided. I am still trying to get this appertivo thing down because I do not like to snack really and I do not like the bitter drinks.

5. Get some Gelato-

Nettuno or Gerrys? At night if you want to wait a while and be wall to wall with 40 of your favorite friends, Nettuno might be for you, the Nettuno flavor is my favorite flavor in Salerno, but Gerrys is my favorite Gelateria. The air condition does something to you in the summer when its so hot outside.

6. Go the Park

There is a beautiful park in Salerno with benches, shade, and fountains. There is no equipment for kids to play on, but they can run around!

7. Walk on the Lungomare-

Take it from these Italians, its the bomb.com, kinda creepy but hey they did it so I don't have to.

Spring Conference

We got back late Sunday night from our Spring Conference. We took 2 big vans to fit all 5 kids and 10 team members in. In coming up and going back we had to pack both vans at the same time in order to get all the stuff in them we needed to. It also always gets me how different driving in another country is. On top of that it was raining on Sunday evening and there was a ton of traffic as we drove on the autostrada on the outskirts of Rome.

Grant's favorite toy as we drove up

It gave me time to think about a lot of the content of the conference. God works His big story in the small stories of Abraham, Job, and Paul. The most impacting was probably remembering Job's story. His story included incredible affliction, but the central message was not about trials and temptation but just how much he trusted God. He desired answers to all his questions of why he was getting tested when the Lord just wanted his trust.

This week is a little different. One of the leaders of our team is going back home to get married and start a new life. Amanda Craig is in her fourth year here and is considered long term staff in Italy. She is pretty close to fluent in Italian and she has gotten to know the culture here pretty well. We are meeting a few times to discuss the future of the ministry again this morning so we can get her input before she leaves on Sunday. Its somewhat of a debrief in order to bring structure of what the ministry is going to look like for years to come. Between all our team there is 17 years experience of living in Italy not counting Amanda and I since we just got here and Evin the Valiquettes babysitter this semester, so we feel like the dialogue that comes about on numerous different topics is going to be key in the framework of the future.