The 15th Already!

Wow, the time is flying now. Like really flying!

This weekend was very chill. Saturday Janae and I went to Jacob's Well for a while, then we napped all afternoon. I think I posted that day... so Sunday is the day we did stuff!

Yesterday we went to the same Baptist church as last week. There as a wedding as part of the church service this week! It was really neat! I was talking with an Italian guy who was visiting the church for the first time and I asked him if this was typical for Italian weddings, and he gave me a strong no! It was his first time to be in a different 'church' than the Catholic Mass and he said that the service was much more interesting than Catholic Mass. I was amazed that he was so willing to share his honest thoughts! I could tell that he was really interested in this thing all us called 'church' and why it was so different than the 'religious' ceremonies he knew until yesterday. I wonder if he will come back next Sunday...

After the service, we were convinced by all the elderly women to come to the reception in the basement of the church! So here we were, Americans at a wedding reception for people we had never met! How wild! No one seemed to mind, and they kept pushing us back to get more food and made sure we were completely content.

After the reception we hung out with the young group (college age people, singles, etc). One of the girls, Melissa, is from Ireland and she is leaving Wednesday to go home. She had been in Genova to study at the university here. She is a Christian and when she came to Genova she wanted to go to an Evangelical church, so she found this one. Everyone loves Melissa! She is a joy, for sure and I am sad to see her go and we only met her on Friday! Her dad has been here too, so it has been nice to talk the same language with people, even if there is a strong Irish accent! :)

There were 7 of us that went out on the Navebus, a boat used for transportation in Genova. We took it to the other side of the city and then took a train to a beach. I had not brought my swimwear, so I decided to roll up my sleeves and soak up some sun while everyone, minus Chandra (the Indian guy) and I, played in the water. It was wonderful! I also got a little tan! Which is fun... since last summer I was stuck in-doors the whole time! And don't worry, I didn't get enough to cause a painful burn, just enough to bronze my skin a bit... haha.

One of the guys, Jonny, got stung by a jelly fish, but don't worry, Chandra is a doctor and promised that Jonny would not die and he would be ok!

After the beach, Melissa was texted by Dustin (guy from our team), he wanted to know if anyone was up for Indian food. So we took the train back Genova and waited around for Melissa's dad to join us. We then made it to the Indian restaurant, where Dustin and friends were. I got an amazing dish, and Chandra told us that the food was pretty close to authentic, but he did not like it too much.... I thought it was amazing though... but then again I am not Indian and I have only had one other Indian dish before... lol

I had a great conversation about dishcrew with Dustin after his friends all left and he stuck around with our group. It was nice to talk in our own language... sorry for everyone who does not understand, but dishcrew at Moody is very tight and even though we never worked together, we still know all the lingo and it was a refreshing thing for me to talk with someone about the people and job I love back at school. :)

We left our apartment yesterday around 9:00 am, we returned after 11:30 pm!! What a long day packed full of fun! So all that to say, we made it to bed after 1:00 am... we have a lady staying with us and she arrived last night while we were still out, so when we got back time was spent getting her situated, visiting, and journaling!

Today we went to school, tomorrow is our last day. I have mixed feelings about that! I wish I could learn the language faster, but it is quite draining on me and Janae to be in class for so long and not really know how we will practically use this after we leave in a few weeks. :( But the relationships we are building are incredible.

Today there were 4 new students in our class. A french couple, a lady from Sweden, and a girl from Budapest. All 4 of them speak loads more Italian than the rest of us, so Janae and I sat there with tired, blank stares for most of the 4 hours! Gabriella even talked less today! But we asked her to join us for lunch after class, she was so excited to do things with us! The lady from Sweden came along too. We had quite an incredible lunch, I got a chicken salad (isalata di pollo) and the others got a rice with mushrooms dish (sorry don't know what it's called in Italian!). We also just enjoyed talking with both Jenny and Gabriella.

After we ate we went over to Jacob's Well so they could know where to look for us if they wanted to hang out again after school some day since our last day is tomorrow. Gabriella hung around for a long time. She and her mom may start coming to Bible studies with the Italian pastor and the group that meets every Thursday in his home. We also got to meet him and his wife today. Sweet people! His wife speaks Spanish as well as Italian, so once again I found myself combining both Italian and Spanish to make conversation with her. At one point I did not understand at all, and so she went to Dustin for help, but he got confused too, so I'm not really sure what she was trying to say to me... hopefully the communication thing gets better! :)

This evening we are relaxing and I just got off skype with Heidi for a long time. I was so energized by speaking with her! It was good to hear her voice, as well as my dad and brothers for a little bit! Praise God for that. Thank you everyone for caring enough to read these long posts and to keep praying, God is doing things in Italy. My heart is breaking for the thousands of people here who only have a negative view of God, to them He is only a judge who does not like sin, He is not a God of love! Pray that Italians will learn of the love of Jesus and how much God desires to have a relationship with people.

Another prayer request is for Andrew and Natalie Debelak, they have been sick since their return from the states about a week and a half ago. They really are having a hard time getting better. Tonight Dustin is babysitting their two young boys so that Andrew and Natalie can go to the doctor. Pray that they will get answers and for healing so that their ministry can continue.

Love to all! Thanks again for all you are doing to be a part of this, God IS doing BIG things!

Think about and pray these verses for the Avant team in Italy:

You therefore my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
2Timothy 2:1-2