Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Tutto è compiuto.

By some miracle, I have been allowed a window of opportunity to post my last blog update. I have been home for 6 days now, and have been more busy than anticipated. As I thought would happen, my return has been sweet yet sad. I have been back to work two days now, and so much has changed there. I didn't realize how long three months was until I reflected on what has happened at home while I was gone; people have been married, babies have been born, and friends have gone home to be with Jesus. I am sad, but in many ways jealous because they now see the face of God. I also want to see the face of God. I know that someday I will, but for now, I am here to do the work that he has for me. 

Wednesday 9/21/11
I really cant believe that my trip is drawing to an end. I am in a Plane bound for London trying to remember all of the things that have happened to me in the last 15 days or so. We finished the festival strong. We had battled the Napoli Soccer team for attention. I think there were three games that were happening while we were having the festival making a noticeable drop in attendance, I don't think it lessened the effectiveness of what we did because I know that everyone God intended for us to reach during this trip heard what God wanted them to hear. We had a wonderful last night. I was able to visit all of the tents, take some pictures, participate in some amazing worship, and then it was time to clean up the grounds and start packing all of our things. We stayed at the festival grounds until 11:00 or so. The team did a great job stacking chairs, moving tables, picking up garbage. Julie Neidert and I even went so far as to sweep the entry area outside the park. She and I talked about how cool it was to be able to come and not only serve the people of Casoria and Arzano, but to serve the city as well. I think just being there for people to see that you care and will do something like picking up their garbage says a lot about who we are and about God who sent us. I heard Brian Heerwagon say that there was a mention of what a great job we did for the community in the local newspapers. Naples seems to really be looked down on by most of the people that live in central and northern Italy. Just this morning I was talking to a lady that works for British Airways.. she asked me how long I stayed in Italy. When I told her 60 days, she looked shocked. She asked me where I have been and what I have seen, and when I told her Naples, she said, “and what did you think of Naples?” in a sarcastic and almost disgusted way. I told her that “Naples has a lot of Garbage, but when you get beneath all of that it is beautiful, and the people are wonderful.” She just smiled and went back to getting me my tickets.

After our final Festival day, I chose to stay in Naples with the team and do some of the excursions that they had planned. I wanted to see the places, but they also needed another driver so it worked out just fine. I took a group to see the Naples underground downtown on Monday, and then Tuesday to see the Amalfi coast. The underground was really amazing. I didn't pack my camera with me, but I saw a lot of really cool things. As we drove up the Amalfi coast we stopped at a few coastal towns that are built on the cliffs, they looked very much like the pictures I have seen of Cinque Terre. I don't know that so many people have those southern coastal cities on their radar when they go to see Italy. I had a great time winding back and forth on the narrow road dodging tour buses and rock shear walls. There were several moments when we had to fold the mirrors back and squeeze through spaces that allowed probably a solid half-inch of room. There were a few moments when Bruce Neidert would barely put his hand out the window and pick a flower off the rock wall.. I got to eat some wonderful seafood, put my feet into the Mediterranean, and spend time with new friends. The sun started to go down and it was time to head back to the Hotel, so we started our trip back to the hotels and away from the cliffs.

I had to get up around 4:50 this morning in order to make an early train to Rome for my flight. I made it with plenty of time, it was so nice to not be rushed through an airport. Last night I told Brian and Monte that it was time to head back to reality. Then I paused for a moment; what I have been doing for the last three months is reality. What I do when I am at home is more of an illusion than any mission trip I have ever been on. I am so distracted by the things of this world when I am home. I struggle at home to see beneath the surface of the veneer of lies. Our world has become so believable that everyone sees what is on the surface and can't see the truth that waits beneath. I know when I get home that I will want to save my money for things that I do not need. Things that may serve no purpose other than to steal me away from time that I could spend on becoming closer to my God. We become slaves to our own desires. I am not coming back to reality, I am coming back to an Illusion. Serving God removes the veneer and reveals what the devil does not want us to know; The Truth. I was asked to write one word that could describe what serving in ministry in Naples did to my perspective. I thought about it for a while and what I ended up with was a word that I got mixed responses for. My word was “revealing”. Working in Ministry opened my eyes to the struggles that the People in southern Italy are faced with on a day to day basis. I saw kids not older than 13 years old lighting cigarettes or working very diligently at becoming extremely intimate with other children in public. I could see that Evangelism is viewed as a cult by the Catholic church rather than something that teaches people more about Jesus Christ. I could see how desperate people are to add meaning to their lives. I could see the crust that was over peoples hearts preventing them from hearing what we had to say.


Thursday 9/22/11

I made it back to Seattle. Now I am on the train from Seattle to Portland. I don't have anyone in Portland to pick me up, so I will probably have to find my way, or call people until I find someone that can pick me up. I cant help but think about my new Italian family. I swear I have never connected better with anyone than I have when on a mission trip. There is something about serving God that fills me up. There is an unconditional love that can not be broken. I wish that everyone could know the depth of that love, Unfortunately, it is deeper than we can comprehend... At the same time it's not unfortunate at all, but amazing, breathtaking, unbelievable, and undeserved.

I have gotten so familiar with trains. It is actually quite nice to ride the train back from Seattle to
P-town. It gives me nice time to reflect on my last three months. There is more comfort than an airplane; more leg room, the seats are bigger, and you can look out the huge windows.. I also have an outlet at my feet and WiFi. This train isn't crowded, so I can put a bag on the seat net to me. There are not as many tunnels that the train goes through, so you don't get the pressure in your ears like in Italy. I think that our trains appear to be a little better maintained so maybe the seals between cars are better. The trains here don't go as fast and I'm sure that that has something to do with it as well. I am going to need to check out the bathrooms. I have a feeling that our toilets don't open to the tracks like they do in Italy. I cant say I prefer one way over the other, but I can say that the wind on your backside is mildly thrilling... I loved looking out the window in Italy at the landscapes. I would always think of how beautiful it is. Now that I am home, I look out the window and see what I have seen my whole life. It doesn't seem as beautiful to me because it is what I know. I'm sure that Italians would come here and say that it is so beautiful here because it would be different from what they know.

My return is definitely bitter sweet. There is always sadness mixed with joy when mission trips come to an end. I have never felt like mission trips were a job or a duty to me... Even though you could look at them as a job and a duty. It is me working for the Lord and through that comes amazing joy and satisfaction. I must thank everyone who has been keeping up with me the last three months, and I pray that following my journey and sharing in some of my moments with God have not only kept you interested, but given you some spiritual food at the same time; food that will help you grow. That is my prayer. 

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Festival is moving fast!

Tuesday 9/6/11
Shawn and Greg Strannigan arrived in Rome today. We kept them walking. Shawn said that she didn't sleep on the plane at all, and Greg said that he slept for 4 hours... Plane sleeping is ¼th as effective as any other kind of sleeping, so you could say that they had been up for at least 24 hours and now they were working on their last 12... I have to say though they weren't zombies, they were actually communicating with us in words.. We showed them what Dennis and I had seen the other day.. Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Novella.. (or something like that)
When we rode the metro back to the hotel, we went down to the platform, and there were a million people standing there all waiting for the same train. Greg, Shawn, Dennis, Karen, and Micah snuck onto the train near the middle of the crowd in door #1, and I barely got on in door #2. I swear the door shut and pushed me into the crowd... Compressing everyone so that they would fit. We only had 1 stop that we needed to go. I was so crammed that when I would look down I couldn't see my feet. I looked to my left and I could see everyone else tucked into the train huddled around the middle post. I looked to the right past a few armpits and there were about 4 faces staring back at me. I just tilted my head back and imagined the doors opening and all the pressure being released as I backed out of the train. We came to the stop, the door opened; but it was the door on the opposite side of the train. I swear not a single person moved. I saw Dennis and everyone sneak off the train, so I had a little giggle a little smile then started to squeeze through the sardine can to the other side. I swear people did not move. It was as if they wanted me to miss the stop. I made it to the middle of the train where there were a few arms stretched out clinching the middle pole.. they would not let go, so I had to duck and sneak under them. I ended up taking the shape of a diver with my hands together and my head down as I then popped out the other side in a spiraling motion.. Finally, I was out!

Tuesday 9/6/11
Made it to Napoli, had a wonderful lunch with the Delta Ministries team, and checked into the Hotel. The room is probably big enough for a family of 10, so Micah and I should be very comfortable. Tonight we meet up with a few of the pastors from here for an anniversary celebration. Should be a rockin' time Italian Style. :) Be praying for the safe arrival of the rest of our team!




Tuesday 9/13/11
I cant even believe that a week has gone by already I think I have had a total of five hours of down time, not including the time that I have been sleeping in my bed. Driving has been fun and exciting.. there are plenty of moments each day in the car that remind me how close close can be. When there is a knob on the inside of the door that will not only adjust the mirrors, but also fold them back against the van for those tight moments; you know that you are in for a ride. I have actually become quite comfortable driving here, which maybe is a good thing, maybe not.. When I am at home, and I get nervous about how close I come to a car.. It just doesn't really compare. Take those moments and add 15 miles per hour into it, and remove a few inches, and you get Italian driving. If you look at a map of Naples, it looks like a dish of spaghetti.. There are so many tight spots, and a ridiculous amount of signs that make you tilt your head to the side in wonder of what you are supposed to do. My favorite is when you have a stop sign right next to a green light.. All stop signs are treated as yield, and if you are a nice guy and let people go ahead of you, you will either never get a chance go, or someone behind you will drive around you in the oncoming lane and force their way into the traffic. It really is a crazy thing; driving in Napoli.

The festival has just finished its third day. I have been running security and driving people back and forth from the Festival grounds, the hotels, the church, train station, airport, and from people's homes for Pranzo (Lunch). I have worked a night shift at the grounds, and spent so little time awake at the hotel room that I eventually ran out of clean underwear and today sported a pair of swim trunks in their place.. Not the most comfortable thing when you are walking most of the day.




I think I should fill you in on some of what God has decided to use me for. I have been invited to share my testimony to the churches here, and I even was asked by Doug Valenzuela (Lead Pastor/Missionary and founder of both the Arzano and Casoria churches) to share it during the festival on the main stage. I don't know if he was serious, but I know that God wants to use me in ways that may not be my first choice, but really, my testimony is not my own.. It is His testimony, and He gets to use it in whatever way he chooses. I am just a vessel; a servant who wants only to serve Him and carry out his desires that he places into my heart. I have shared my testimony for the Arzano church, and Greg Strannigan shared his testimony at the Casoria church. Again, I am amazed at what he does with my testimony and how it affects the people that hear it. I start to feel like I just repeat, repeat, repeat, yet people continue to come up to me and tell me how God used it to speak to them in different ways.

The festival has been amazing so far, the music, the booths, the people that have been coming. As far as security has gone, I have had to wrestle about 14 people to the ground, and spray 2 people in the face with mace...
but seriously, that was a joke, and what trouble we have seen has been minimal.. Plus, those are the people that we would love to have around so that they can hear the message of Jesus Christ. Just as a doctor does not come for the healthy but for the sick, so Jesus came for the lost. the Festival wouldn't be very effective as an out reach tool if it were only Christians that attended. 


A typical day starts early and ends late. I have to drive a load of people to the church in the morning, and then we usually carpool to another destination. Since the festival doesn't start until around 6pm every day, we have the morning for outings.. and then Pranzo... but someone has to drive them. When Festival finishes up, it is somewhere around 10:00PM, and we start taking everyone back to the hotels. I take a load to my hotel, and then if needed another load to another hotel that is a little farther away. Seems like every night there is a little something different that goes down. For instance tonight, Dennis and Karen went to have dinner at an Italian's house.. I had to pick them up around 11:00pm at the festival grounds, then take Alessia, a friend and interpreter, back to her house which was some other city that I cant remember the name of.. if you think directions are hard in the US... try taking them in an Italian city.. first of all.. none of the road's names matter, because they are not labeled... or at least I don't know where to look. Second. there is no structure as to the direction a road goes. Just as I said before, a road map looks like spaghetti. At least in the US you could go to 4th street.. or 5th street.. its one block over from 4th street.. yea, doesn't work that way in this place. I finally got back to the hotel around midnight.. last night was largely the same time wise, if you exclude the 3:30am to 8am security shift that I got to work at the festival grounds... What I have remaining on my agenda for today is to shower and go to sleep. My day starts at 7 tomorrow for more driving!! In case you have gotten an impression from what I have said that I am not really excited about what is going on here, I just want to let you know that it is not what I am intending to show you... I love it here. The people are so wonderful. Their hospitality is remarkable, and their love is sometimes overwhelming and driving around is better at waking you up in the morning than caffeine. I'm sorry that it has been a week since I have updated, but this is really one of the first opportunities that have gotten to type... I don't really have that many pictures either...

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Firenze to Roma

Wednesday 8/31/11
Today we have to make runs around town returning things that we have borrowed to prepare for our trip to Napoli. We have the guitar and projector from the Florence Gospel Fellowship, and we have 3 bikes that were lent to us by the pastors of the Methodist church who lets us use their church for worship. Our days in Florence are coming so close to an end.. I met a girl named Annelie yesterday that told me a story about when she first got here. It was December, and she hadn't met any christian friends that could encourage her. 
She was praying that God would show her to a place where she could be with some. God put into her head the song “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet”. She said that it was in her head all day, and that evening she went for a walk down where the Christmas decorations were and heard the same song in the distance. She followed the sound to find a Latin congregation worshiping together and they welcomed her in. She struck me as someone who leans very much on the strength of the Lord; It was so awesome to hear how God had provided for her needs. I thought it was a wonderful story of someone allowing God to step in and lead her to a place where there is comfort; leaning not on her own understanding. The song that he gave her was his word and it was a lamp unto her feet and a light unto her path.. It led her to a place where she could be encouraged and strengthened. I love that.

Thursday 9/3/11
I started to pack up my things, I don't have a whole lot to pack so it didn't take very long, but I spent most of the morning reading the in John and Romans. I took a (platonic) walk with Annelie in the afternoon, we ended up walking for the rest of the day. We talked about anything and everything. I got to know her and she is a girl that walks with Jesus everywhere she goes. We read the bible together at Palazzo Pitti, and walked all over the city. We met up with Dennis, Joubert, Aniola, Mary, and Albiola at 9:00 to get Gelato and to say our goodbyes. Annelie wanted to walk up to Piazza de Michelangelo afterward so she and I walked some more. Everyone else in the group decided to stay. We prayed together for friends, for family, and for each other. It was really wonderful to be with her that night.

Friday 9/4/11
We packed all that we had left into our bags, settled our bill with the Landlady, and Joubert helped us over to the train station. We said goodbye to Joubert, and headed off to Rome. I have to say that I didn't really feel like smiling very much. All of the friends that I have made in Florence have made me not want to leave. I don't know how I can keep from coming back. Dennis and I checked into our hotel and then it was pretty much nap time, so the hotel room shut down. I didn't really feel like sleeping, so I went outside to what turned out to be the smoker's lounge with my bible and read the rest of Job. I had a few people come out and smoke here 
and there, but for the most part I was oblivious to them; just me and God... and the occasional breath of smoke. After a few hours I went back into the room and rousted Dennis out of bed so we could go for a walk. We went and walked by Trevi Fountain, and then over to the Pantheon where we sat down for dinner. When we were finished we went started to head back to our hotel.. we turned the corner to go down the stairs into the Metro, and they had closed the gates... We couldn't take the metro. I was totally disoriented, so we took a taxi back. Luckily Dennis speaks enough Italian to explain where our hotel was.

Saturday-Sunday 9/5, 9/6
Karen and Micah are now with us, so we are all four in a single hotel room. I love being cozy. They have a double bed, and then twin sized bed over in the corner that actually is a bunk bed which collapses. I chose to sleep in the bottom bunk, assuming Micah would want the top. I was right, Micah wanted the top. So I must tell you about this bed. It is a child's bed. I have never had a problem fitting onto a mattress before. 
Since it is the bottom mattress of a collapsible bunk bed there are large gaps around the edge of the mattress so that the hinges have a place to go when it is collapsed. I cant tell you how many times my foot or knee has slid down into these things. Not to mention that it is encased in a hard laminate board. The board goes up above the level of the mattress, so if my arm flops off the bed in the middle of the night, my arm bone (Ulna?) on the outside of my wrist collides with this board and it feels like running into something with your shin. If that does not wake me up my hand goes numb because it holds my hand above my heart. ...or my ankle will get pinched down in the crack between the mattress and the board right on that bone that sticks out, or I get to wrestle with the metal spring/hinge that is on the other side of the mattress and is always very cold... On top of all of this, it squeaks every time I move. Don't roll over in the middle of the night, or you might wake everyone up. I think it might be more comfortable just sleeping on the floor. The bed is a very creative design, but I wouldn't score it so high in satisfaction. I don't mean to complain just because I think it is ridiculous, I think it is actually quite comical. So maybe you all can enjoy that at my expense. :)

"Hey Bob? If you want to talk, you are going to need to come in here, I'm a little busy."
We have been walking Karen and Micah around to try and keep them vertical. I think they are doing pretty good. There are no shortage of beautiful churches to see when you walk around. I swear we were not even walking in an overly touristy area and we kept running into them. We meet up with Shawn and Greg Strannigan tomorrow, so we will have to do the same for them.. Got to stay vertical! Get over that trashy jetlag. 

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Fiesole


Friday 8/26
Dennis and I went to the pool again today. We have exhausted our pool pass, so now if we want to spend the day at the pool we get a little worse of a deal. The time that I have been able to spend with Dennis has really been a blessing. Maybe its just Dennis' character, but sometimes he asks me questions that I would never anticipate. Now that I know Dennis, I know he is very prone to do that. Before we knew it the time was about 4:00 and we had to head back to the apartment and get ready for the Friday night group.
Eniola          Albiola       Oliviah             Mary    
Everyone came over around 7:00. We had Pizza, the staple, then two of the girls brought over some Nigerian style fried rice and chicken.. It was amazing. I feel a little spoiled; the Pizza was crap after I ate their food. We have been watching mostly Pixar movies on fridays. I had no idea which one to show, so I let them decide, the choices were between WallE, Toy Story 2, and Tangled; they chose Toy Story 2. They evening was fun, everyone left saying that we need to get together before Dennis and I head down to Naples and then back to the States, so they said we should all go swimming, so we will see what happens.

Saturday 8/27/11
View of Florence from Fiesole
Okay, so today we had Fiesole on the calendar. Fiesole is a city that is really just a suburb of Florence, but if you go back a few thousand years it was, just like all the others, its own city-state that was a rival of ...again, everyone else... It would be like Portland, Milwaukie, and Beaverton all being at war with each other. Only, 
Fiesole sits on a hill that is literally right next to Florence. So I guess it would be more like the West Hills being at war with downtown Portland. So back a few thousand years, they could just look down the hill at their rivals and plan their attacks. We went up and checked out some old Roman, and Etruscan ruins that were discovered back in the early 1900's. They had to stop during the war, then resumed in the 70's. The ruins were pretty cool. We walked up to a Monastery that sits way up at the top of the hill, and then met up with a friend of Dennis' who he has known for a really long time. His name is Alan Earheart. We were supposed to eat dinner at he and his wife's place, but before we ate Dennis really wanted me to see where Alan works. So we went to some place down on the hillside... oh wait. Its the former residence of John D Rockefeller's daughter and her husband which was donated to Georgetown University, and has become a Villa from which students are allowed to come and study. The site that I linked to does not give its view of Florence, but it is basically the same view that I gave you above.
It sits on a 50 degree slope and has an amazing unobstructed view of Florence. Its gardens are absolutely beautiful. It took a beating during WW2 from allied bombing and a few mortars, but let me just say that the Georgetown students have a treasure, and if I were a student, I would be fighting to get over here for a semester. Alan is the director of the facility and gets to spend a lot of time there, only he looks at retaining walls that are failing, and stairways that need to be closed off.. or gardens that are not being cared for correctly. In the end, I guess its still a job. We had a really nice dinner at his place out in the countryside. They have a little country villa that they rent. It sits on the other side of Fiesole from Florence, and is so quiet. Dennis and I went out into the olive/pear/fig orchard and ate some figs. 
Stayin' regular
I think I ate about 6... Taken either fresh or dried, figs are very good in fighting constipation. This fruit is regarded as a dependable laxative because of its huge cellulose content and its tough skin. The tiny seeds in the fruit have the property of simulating wave-like movements of the intestines. This way, it can facilitate for the quick and easy evacuation of stool and keeps the alimentary canal clean.” Ill just stop there. Dinner was good, then we got a ride back home, and since I was so tired, I just went to sleep. I'm looking forward to serving down in Naples.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Napoli friends go home / Trip to Lucca


Thursday 8/18/11
For our last lunch before our friends went back down to Naples, we made them an American meal; mmm, delicious cheeseburgers. Besides my brother Taylor, I have never ran into someone who likes mayonnaise as much as Andrea Mazza. I couldn't believe the amount of mayo that he was putting on his burger and in his coleslaw.. I think he may have even licked the knife from the mayo jar. I have really enjoyed getting to know him. He and I sat at the table and would try so hard to communicate.. then we would bust out Google translator and go back and forth. Google translator will butcher sentences if you don't put them in perfect grammatical order. It amazed me that we could sit there and talk by typing back and forth. Its just like chatting on facebook, only you can look at each other and make noises, hand gestures, facial expressions, and even slap each other.

Eniola and Oliviah
Oliviah and Eniola are two girls from Tanzania and Nigeria that come to church with us and come to our bible studies. They decided that they were going to come and cook African foods for us tonight. Eniola made fried plantains, and Oliviah made a dish called Mtoro which is also made with plantains. We have air conditioners in all of the rooms of the apartment but the Kitchen. The large doors that open to the balcony makes it impossible to keep the kitchen cool. I decided I would endure the heat with them and keep them company as they cooked, so I sat at the kitchen table and talked with them. The food was very delicious. I was impressed.

Friday 8/19/11
We had our Friday night group meet in the evening. We had a great group! With two of the girls from Napoli still here, and two new people there were 14 of us. We setup Dennis' computer to watch “Kung Fu Panda 2”, and had American style hot dogs with potato salad. It was fun to get everyone together.

Saturday 8/20/11
Vania and Fabiana left for Napoli today.. Joubert and I helped them take all their luggage to the train station. There is a tunnel that passes under the intersection outside the station that we went under, I got some great looks from some of the vendors down there snickering at my bike. I made a Vanna White motion with my hand displaying my bike to them and said “Rossa Grande” which means “Big Pink”. That is what we named the bike that I typically ride. It is a pink girls bike with a nice pink bell to match. I feel like I have talked about it before, but I do feel mildly silly riding it around. It works awesome though. We dropped them off at the “Binario” (train bay) and came back home. Right now everyone is passed out around the apartment and I am just sitting on the couch in the living room thinking about reading some more of my book. I think I can read for about 5 minutes before my brain starts to wander off in another direction. I constantly find myself looking at the words as if I am reading realizing that have no idea what I just “read” I go back up to where I last remember and start over, but the same thing happens. If that happens to me 3 times in a row I put the book down and go do something else. The temperature inside the apartment is comfortable, and who knows what it is outside; probably right around 87°-90°F

Sunday 8/21/11
Just some door in Lucca
With the temperature being as hot as it has it sure has been nice to go to the pool. I don't think there has been a night since I got here that I have slept with anything covering me. Our dilemma is always who is going to take the bikes. Dennis cant walk because it pretty much cripples him. So that leaves two bikes. Micah likes to ride the bike, but gets a little anxiety when it comes to the crowds and fast moving traffic. Karen loves to ride but feels the need to be with Micah. Joubert and I love to ride the bike, but we don't want to ride if Karen wants to ride. When we all decided to leave the pool, Joubert decided to say at the pool a little longer with his friend Djogo, so my decisions were either stay at the pool, ride the bus with Micah so Joubert has a bike and Dennis and Karen could ride, or let Micah ride with Dennis and Karen and take the bus my myself. I chose to walk. I walked all along the Arno listening to my music. I saw no need to put my shirt back on since it was so hot. I had a nice and peaceful walk home. It was something that I have actually been wanting to do.

Monday 8/22/11
The Quicks (some of them)
We had some people that the Quicks have known for a long time over for dinner. Their names are Alan and Anna Marie Earheart. He is from the US, she is from Ecuador, and he works for Georgetown University here at their campus in Florence. She cooked some wonderful chicken for us, and we all sat around the table laughing and talking for a good hour. They have a son Max who is maybe two.. We turned on Toy Story 3 for him and ended up all getting sucked in. They had to leave halfway through the movie but by that time I was totally hooked. I cant think of a more manly thing to write on a blog for the world to see than how I found myself fighting back tears as the movie came to a close... Dennis, Karen, and Joubert were all sitting there watching; I had to start blinking/getting something out of my eye for a disguise. It was a sweet ending. It was sad, and happy at the same time. Man! So many of those kids movies get me...

Wednesday 8/24/11
Guinigi Tower
Today we went to Lucca; one of the old cities that has Etruscan origin. I think I read that it was colonized by the Romans in 180 BC. Like most of the cities around here, it was a city-state and was a rival of ...everyone else. It is one of the best preserved medieval cities I believe. Once you get inside the walls of the old city it is easy to get lost in the narrow streets and tall buildings. There are a number of towers in the city, but one of them in particular called Guinigi Tower that stands 45 meters tall has several oak trees that spout out its top. I have never really seen anything like this. It was only 3.50 Euro to go up in the tower and I have to say... it was one of the coolest places I think I have ever been. I tried to get a picture of the tower from somewhere other than at the bottom looking up, but failed.. ...probably at the fault of the narrow streets and tall buildings. Of the towers in Lucca this was the only tower that was spared during the 16th century when most of the towers were either demolished, or cut down. 

It dates back to the 14th century. Which means that it is from the 1300s. Its pretty stinking rad if you ask me. It was Karen's last day in Italy before she heads back to the states for 10 days, so she wanted to go and see something nice. The train ride only cost us about 5.30 Euro to get there... It was cheaper to get there, go up in the tower, and come back home than it was to buy two drinks during lunch. We still had a nice lunch, but for the cost, I don't know that I could see anything that would give me a more lasting impression. We took the train home and ate at Ciro and Son's for dinner.

Thursday 8/25/11
well, Karen is on her way back home for a few days. She has some things that need to be taken care of. She, Dennis, and Micah headed down to Rome this morning. Joubert and I took their luggage to the train station and loaded it all on the train for them. So now, I am sitting in the apartment by myself wondering what to do. I could walk around Florence, but I cant think of anything that I haven't already done. Not to mention that it is like 96º outside. And I dont feel like having sweat drip down my back into my pants. So I figure its a nice opportunity to update the blog, and keep reading Genesis. There are always dishes to be done, and clothes to be washed, so I will probably do that too. All good things.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Pisa and friends from the South


My apologies for the long time between posts.... things have gotten hectic. 

Wednesday 8/11/11

Karen wanted to take me to see the leaning tower of Pisa. Now that the time came; we got up, headed to the train station, and took a 20 minute ride to the west coast of Italy. I didnt notice anything very captivating in Pisa. Dennis had jokingly told me earlier that the Pisa tower was a third the height of the Duomo bell tower in Florence. So I was not expecting to see anything particularly amazing from a size standpoint. 
When I looked it up on Wikipedia however I found that it is much closer to two thirds; 183 feet. I remember climbing a tower crane that was that tall... and then my heart lunged into my throat for about 5 minutes... So I started to get more excited. I also found out for the first time that the Leaning tower isnt just some tower, it was the bell tower for the cathedral there. Construction started in.. 1173, no big deal.. I also found out that no one really knows when Pisa was founded, but they do know it was founded by the Romans back in 180 B.C., so it is at least 2191 years old. We got to Pisa, found the right bus, and drove across the city. I remember looking out of the bus at a wall with the spire of a dome sticking out above it. We all got out and walked through an arch in the wall, and there it was staring me in the face.
I found it very fascinating. The way it leans just draws you attention. I feel kind of bad for the cathedral, because I didn't see anyone paying any attention to it. I looked at if for a few moments before my attention was sucked back over to the tower. However, I did notice something. I guess you notice more when you have done some construction, lets just say I'm not surprised the leaning tower leaned. When things don't look quite right, that is usually because they aren't.

Moving back over to the leaning tower... 
When you stand under the lean and look back up at it, it is actually quite impressive. I was mesmerized. For 15 euro you could go up in the tower, but that was more than it took for a round trip from Florence. So, with my budget in mind I passed on that one. It's one more thing that I can save for someone special anyways. :) After we left Pisa we went to Livorno to try and eat some seafood.. I found that it was pretty much a port city with venetian design. Turned out none of the restaurants serve food until 7pm and it was only 3:30, so we checked out some of the HUGE cruise ships in port, took some pictures, watched some fishermen, and headed back to Florence. When we got back we ate at a nice Argentinean restaurant and called it a day.
Oh, I saw an amazing photo opportunity. Tourists are so funny to me. Everyone wants to hold up the tower... and walk on the grass... 

Saturday
We have been planning on hosting some of our friends from Naples. The pastor from the Church in Caserta and his family along with some of the youth from the Camp are coming to stay with us for a few nights. I believe that some of them have never been to Florence, so it will be fun and interesting to show some of the Italians their own country. I have to start reading up on all of the things that they are going to want to see so I can tell them the facts again. Two of the girls from the camp showed up today. Dennis went and met them in a piazza near the apartment, and we invited them over for lunch. They rented an apartment very near to ours, so it was easy to show them where it was.

Sunday 8/14/11
Having these bikes has really been a blessing when you have nothing to do. You can always just hop on a bike and take a ride. The city of Florence is very hospitable to bikes with lanes all over the place. When we are all riding the bikes we have to find creative ways to all stay together to get to wherever it may. Either some ride and some walk, or we all ride... if you know what I mean. On a number of occasions I have taken matters into my own hands to get places and jumped on the back of Dennis' bike and stood on the rack that sits on top of his back tire. With both Dennis and I on the bike the rims sit a little closer to the street, but we get around just fine. We attract stares too, but thats never hard to do when you have Dennis with you.


*Sometime in the last week*
A customary greeting for Italians, is to kiss both cheeks when you show up... at least that is what Italians from Napoli like to do. Alessia Crispo from camp came to the apartment this evening, and so I went up to greet her and started to do the whole cheek kiss thing. I realized that I was going to the wrong cheek and just sort of froze in place; completely forgetting which cheek I was supposed to go for first. She bobbed her head left and right in one of those awkward, “we almost kissed, but don't acknowledge that it happened even though everyone saw it” moments. Seems like it happens to me all the time around here..

There are 8 of them up from Napoli. 5 of them are staying with us in the apartment, and 3 have gone in together on another apartment. Two of the girls came up 2 days before any of the others, so we have been entertaining for just under a week I think. The apartment that they rented is about a 5 minute walk away from us but still in the historical downtown of Florence. We have had a wonderful time with them. The first day that we had them all here we walked them all around Florence. I really didn't take any pictures, I just took Joubert's video camera and started filming. I put together a little home video but its in English, so only a few of them can watch it and understand what I am saying. I had a good time making it though. We took them to see all the big tourist spots save the statue of David. There are so many fakes around here that I don't know if the feel the desire to. We stayed out walking around for quite a while getting gelato, and watching street performers, walking through the old city. I like to imagine what it would have looked like 1000 years ago, what people would be wearing. I like to think that they all wore those tights with the puffy leg ...things. Who knows. Anyways, we walked around Florence that night.

Wednesday 8/17/11
Today was a pool day. It is so hot around here right now so everyone liked the idea of going to the pool. I filled my backpack with my camera, the video camera, towel, and my mp3 player. Most of us had to walk to the bus station and take the bus to the pool, and 3 of us rode bikes. We had a great time. There is something about sweating profusely, then jumping into a nice refreshing pool that makes me feel like... I dont know what it makes me feel like other than good. For those who don't like talking about bodily fluids I apologize, but I like to lay in the sun with my music until I can see a drop of sweat running down my nose (which only takes maybe 4 minutes), then run and dive into the pool.. We had all kinds of Jumping contests. I took pictures, so I cant say that I am in any of them, but I had a good time. There are those moments where Dennis calls you over to the edge of the pool to “ask you a question”... Dennis is one of those people that you have to spend some time with before you know what is really happening. He can keep his composure through seemingly endless jokes. You go to the edge of the pool to see what he wants, and he grabs both of your feet so that you cant walk away and works it so that you eventually end up in the water... or everyone decides to have a nice little competition to see who can jump the furthest out into the water, and Dennis walks by and pushes you in on the count of 1 of 3. ...or when you are laying in the sun with your eyes closed he dumps a bottle of water on you... all of these things Dennis loves. If I leave you with only that, I feel that I am painting a poor and one-sided picture of Dennis, so I will also say that it is all in good fun, and he is actually one of the people in my life that I feel I can confide in. Though he is like a big child, he is an encourager, and someone that always makes you smile. When we were finished at the pool, Dennis and Karen took Angela and Tony up to Fiesole for dinner with Alan Earheart and his wife. Alan works for Georgetown University up on the hill overlooking Florence. The others and I went to the Duomo. They wanted to get up into the top to see the view, so finally I had someone to go with. It was a beautiful day; perfect for a view. We climbed the four hundred and sixty something steps up to the top. 
For anyone who is mildly claustrophobic I don't know that this would be an amazing experience for them. I remember looking at some of the modifications that they have done to the building for tourism, thinking, “How on earth did they get a full sheet of Plexiglass up here?! What a nightmare.” the corridors are not wide enough for two people. If you have to pass someone, then you need to turn sideways and shimmy past each other. I think I am the only one in my family that can just walk upright through most of the corridors. In the case of an evacuation... your finished. Your not getting out of there; its is pre-safety codes. However, I was intrigued by the masonry and the overall composition of the structure itself. I am thinking since they chopped down all the trees in Tuscany to build scaffolding for the dome; they figured they had some space to build all the other stuff. And when I say stuff I mean beautiful Florentine buildings. The view is really amazing and I think well worth the climb.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

The Market



..From Sunday 8/7/11

Church was very comfortable. I have never gotten to recline in a nice plush couch during a service. 
This is one of the pictures he used.
We had a few people attend; I literally mean 2 people attended. Maybe it throws people for a loop when you tell them that church services will be held in our apartment for the next few weeks. Then they decide not to go, or maybe there just isn't anyone in Florence. Church is the people, not the building. We had a nice time. Dennis told me that even my pictures are a form of worship and asked if he could use them for our little service. He set them as the backdrop of lyrics for worship songs. It felt really good to have something I have done be used to glorify my God.


Tuesday 8/9/11

Just down the street from our apartment.
We went to the Open market today. I didn't pack my camera, but I had taken this picture of a small shop in one of the streets near our apartment and totally stole the picture below from someone else's website. We didn't go to the small shop, we went to the big one below. We were in search of more “Bomba” it is a kind of paste that is made with peppers, tomatoes, and oil. It is to die for; we put it on almost everything... Except yogurt; I can't imagine what that would taste like. I needed to go to find shorts. I left most all of my shorts in Uganda. I took only one pair. I also brought a pair of jeans – don't ask me why.!? The weather here has not really been catering to anything that covers legs. I think 90% of the time I don't wear a shirt either. So, when you have one pair of shorts, it makes it hard to do washing... I would have to walk around for a day in my underwear to let them dry. (Not saying I haven't done that, but it would be nice not to have to.) 
Open market only on tuesdays. 5 minute bike ride away.
I got up early and went out into the living room so that they didn't get out of the apartment without me. We rode the bikes and locked them up while we walked the really long market. I have to say I am not very good at shopping, but I did enjoy some of the things that I tried on. I am not the average 6' that the rest of my brothers and cousins are, so I usually have to hem most things that I buy. The shorts that I have been wearing come down a little below my knees which makes me hot too. Whether I am at home, riding the bike, or even walking around I tend to roll the bottom of my shorts up so that they are above my knees; it looks a little odd, but it is comfortable and keeps me much cooler. I wanted to find a pair of shorts that I didn't have to roll up, and I figured in Europe I could totally do that. I kept finding man-pris which are even worse. I started to consider finding a pair of pants and cutting them into shorts, but what ended up happening is that I found a few pair of pants that I really liked... as pants. So I bought them for a meager 2.50 Euro each and kept looking for my shorts. Dennis kept making me try them on. There aren't really any dressing rooms. So when we would ask they would point to the back of their vans, or behind the vans. I actually had a “Dressing Room” that was about a 1 ½' wide space between a dirty van and some kind of holly bush.. try taking off a pair of shorts and trying on a pair of pants while keeping them out of the dirt, not leaning against the prickly leaves or the dirty van, and avoiding being seen... I'm no good at it.. I felt like I was walking a tight rope. However, it resulted in a slick pair of European white pants that make me feel like I should be wearing a huge pair of sunglasses sitting on a Ducati. I eventually found a pair of shorts that I actually really like. They were more expensive than the pants, but they are a little shorter than normal, and aren't bulky like cargo shorts. Now I can stay cool and maintain a good temperature!

How do I capture the Glory of God?
I have been reading a book that Rena Anderson recommended to me. It was actually a free book that was mailed to me called 'Revolution in World Missions”, by K.P. Yohannan. It talks about getting back to the real purpose of missions. He criticizes the way that many churches today participate in missions,
        “When we allow a mission activity to focus only on the physical needs of man without the correct 
    spiritual balance, we are participating in a program that ultimately will fail. However this does not mean that 
    we must not be involved in compassion-type ministries that reach out to the poor, needy, and hurting 
    people all around us. 
        ...When Jesus came he not only fed the people's souls with the truths of heaven and Him as the Bread of 
    Life, but he filled their stomachs with fish and bread and wine as well.
        He opened not only the eyes of peoples hearts to see the truth, but also their physical eyes, restoring 
    their sight to see the world around them.
        He strengthened the faith of the weak, while strengthening the legs of the lame. 
    ...It was not one or the other – it was both, and for the glory of God.”
That makes me feel good because I see our mission teams doing that.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Passing time

Monday 8/1/2011

Now that the first leg of the Italy mission is complete, I decided to sleep in. The Duomo bells chimed all morning, but I resisted them. Honestly, I cant tell you if they wake me up, or put me to sleep.. There is something really nice about listening and nestling back down into the sheets. They are not an unpleasant sound at all.. Then there is the chime of a watch... when I hear people's watches, it mildly annoys me for some reason; especially when they let them beep and beep... when my watch goes off in the morning, I panic and search to find it so I can shut it up, and then stuff it under my pillow. As far as I'm concerned, the Duomo bells can just keep going. I didn't end up getting out of bed until dang near 11:30, which is absolutely ridiculous. As soon as I wake up, the day is half over. I was going to go with Dennis and Karen to the open market to find some leisure shorts to wear, but they had to leave without me since it closes not long after 1:00pm.
Yesterday we borrowed some bikes from the Methodist pastor of the church building that we meet in on Sundays. He allowed us to borrow them since he and his wife are heading to the beach along with the rest of Florence. Every corner you turn, most of the shops are closed. There is a 3 week period during the beginning of August where Florence basically shuts down. The only Italians that remain are the ones that work in any type of tourist business. Everyone else takes off for the beach. It is supposed to be unbearably hot during the 3 weeks. Well see how hot it gets. When Dennis and Karen returned from the market my day kept dragging on. I was feeling too lazy to do anything but just sit. I had to go through all my pictures and update my blog, but ended up “beating around the bush” until we finally decided to take the bikes out in the evening. The sun was down making it nice and cool. Dennis, Joubert, and I went up and down the cobble streets whizzing through crowds, and ringing our little bike bells..
The pastor of Florence Gospel Fellowship (which is our church here) and his wife are taking vacation for the next three weeks, so we are holding services in the apartment for the time. We have the guitar, the projector.... and that pretty much sums up the property of the church. We tried the projector out and watched a few episodes of Modern Family. Then eventually went to bed.


Friday 8/6/11
We invited as many students as possible over for dinner to spend some time together. Most of the students have headed back home for the summer... There are a few remaining that came over, but besides Dennis, Karen, Micah, Joubert, and I there are about 4. It was good to see them. One of them is returning home in the next few days, so it will be down to 3. We are setting up a “friday night fellowship” for students, or whomever would like to come and enjoy dinner and a movie.. What ended up happening last night was; 
while I was setting up a movie I just happened to open a flashlight picture with Dennis and Tony at camp wearing capes and crowns.. that spurred on a whole evening of drawing more pictures with flashlights. That has become something that everyone seems to enjoy. Dennis is getting the hang of it and is actually drawing some really beautiful pictures. He took a clear plastic cup, stuck the flashlight inside it, and drew huge angel wings on one of the girls that was here.. It is beautiful.
One thing that I have been thinking about lately is idleness.. I realize that I am in a transition period where I am basically waiting for the festival, and I find myself enjoying being idle. I don't want to enjoy being idle. We are trying to get bible studies and fellowship nights going, but the season is not catering to that at all.
As more and more students go home for summer, I feel more and more like I am being forced to sit. I am afraid to go and see too many things because I don't want anyone to get the impression that I am taking advantage of those back home who have sponsored me to come and be Jesus's hands and feet. If Jesus were here I don't think he would care about seeing the Duomo, or going to see the statue of David. He would be going to those people who are begging with their faces hidden against the cobble streets in the background, knowing full well that these things that the world looks for and desires to see is just that; what the world desires. Jesus sees through those things straight to the heart of those tired and needy souls who desperately need him. Just being in Italy looks like a vacation. When I look at the tourists walking around, I see people that are distracted; looking at things that were constructed by the direction of the saints and designed as if there was a way to somehow capture the beauty and extravagance of our creator using things of this world yet I feel are only, as I talked a little bit about in a previous post, bringing glory to the city, country, or author of the art. Forgive me for judging; I don't know the heart of the tourists or the beggars.

Sunday 8/7/11
I took a walk by myself listening to my iPod this morning. I intentionally left my camera so that I could enjoy the sights without trying to take a picture of them. I finished my walk and had to do it again with my camera. Seems that every time I take a picture it never looks the same as it did the moment I saw it. I think the reason for this is my peripherals. I cant capture the scale of anything without a wide angle lens... If I had a word of the day, it would be scale (or tourism, but lets talk about scale). Having said what I did in the previous paragraph, I find myself equally as mesmerized as all the other tourists by what I see. When you look down a street and see a giant looming dome that towers above everything around it, you feel the draw. I am impressed when I can walk 100 feet and all the buildings that are near me have changed, but the large one hasn't moved at all. Its the same as looking at Mt. Hood; whether you are downtown Portland or in Oregon City; it seems to look the same because of its immense size. I get that same impression when I am walking around here. ...Now that I have compared a mountain to a building I feel a little ridiculous... then again; its a nice comparison of a sliver of God's creative ability (that took him less than a day), to the total creative
power of man (that took One hundred and Forty years).. Whether you agree with me that it is the total creative power of man or not, show me something that is bigger and better than a mountain, and Ill show you something bigger and better than what you showed me. :) Okay, another thing that I find really hard to do is to take a nice picture without tourists in them. Oh my gosh, don't even go near the Ponte Vecchio on the weekend; what a joke. Yes, the picture on the right is of the Ponte Vecchio. I must have said “scusa” ...well, ..I don't know how many times, but I said it a lot.

Hey! A very small and out of place door!.. I wonder where it goes!? I think all the street vendors store their knock off umbrellas, paintings, sunglasses and purses in there. How else would they be able to flip their merchandise so fast.. You could look all day and never find an umbrella, but as soon as it starts to get cloudy, they have them at every street corner! Whether they are storage for the street vendors, or homes for little people; I love them and always experience a desire to go inside them. Tonight is our first church service being held in the apartment. We are re-stringing the guitar as I type this. The little pins that go into the bridge of the guitar have been launching past my head constantly. Ill keep you posted on how it goes!