Taking a Step Back

Our STINT team – those of us completing a 10-month internship with Agape (Crusade) – took a weekend to escape the “routine” and reflect on the year we’ve had.

We went to Ischia, which is an island off the coast of Naples. It was a beautiful place, though sadly we didn’t have much time to explore because we weren’t there for vacation.

Guided by some folks on staff in the States, we spent the weekend thinking about and discussing our experiences and growth in the following areas:

• Relationship with the Lord
• Relationships with our teammates
• Learning and living in the Italian culture
• Launching spiritual movements

I know that the weekend was only the starting point for my reflection, but here are some highlights that I’ve already realized:

• God’s love is infinite, and it’s been poured into my heart through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). This is the case for everyone who has accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. Knowing this, am I allowing God to love others through me, or am I still trying to love people with my imperfect love? Am I allowing God to love me through other Christians?
• I really value well-cast vision and a like-minded team that will run with me in pursuing the vision.
• I appreciate Italy for all of its faults and beauties, and I’ll miss it when I leave in less than 3 weeks. One of the best lessons I’ve learned here is to get to know the people that I see regularly. Italians know, for example, that the woman who rings up their coffee has two kids named Giovanni and Silvia who are preparing for their exams. Italians know about the lives of the people that I’ve never taken the time to even say hi to. So, I eagerly await my return to the States because I’ve not only learned to slow down and take interest in people but I’ve also grown to appreciate that I’m returning to a country where most people are native speakers of the same language as me.
• Launching spiritual movements isn’t easily broken down into a formula. Thank goodness. There is a particular truth that has stood out lately: God wants the Body of Christ to be unified. My role, whether I’m in vocational full-time ministry or not, is to point people to Jesus. That’s what all Christians are called to do. We all have the same commission, and we all follow the same God. We should focus more on the things that unite us instead of the small things that can cause disagreements and division. This is the beginning of effectively launching spiritual movements.

Looking through a garden's gate, I can see the sun setting in Ischia.

 

The island was full of beautiful ceramic art, like this decorative address tile.

 

This store was full of ceramic treasures!

 

Some beautiful tile with the sunset in the background.

 

The island was full of these vibrant flowers.

As we begin the search for a restaurant, we pause to look at a map made of...you guessed it: ceramic tiles.

Many of the restaurants proudly displayed their fresh catches of the day.

Behold the wonder of Napoletana pizza.

I love how God sometimes surprises me with fun scenes like this as I mosey through the streets.

Our STINT team out to dinner to celebrate what God has done this year.

Culture Week

April 18-26 was culture week in Rome. Why is that significant? Because  entrance to all public sites is free.

Amy and I went with our Italian friend to Palatine Hill for a picnic, and then Beth Ann joined us. Amy had to leave, so the three of us who remained went on to explore the Roman Forum and the Colosseum.

It was a great way to enjoy the city, spend time with a student and coworkers and save money. Please pray for more opportunities like this to live life with students, deepen our relationships and have time to talk.

Enjoying the inside of the Colosseum for free!!!

 

A view of the Forum with the Colosseum in the background

The Arch of Titus

Our day of touring comes to a close

If you’re ever planning to come to Rome, look for info on culture week! I’m pretty sure it occurs every spring as a celebration of the birth of Rome on April 21st.

Vacation

In April, my good friend Hrubs – er, Holly - came to visit for about a week.  I’d been looking forward to this week since before I left the States.

We decided not to run around like crazy tourists but instead to go at our own pace and enjoy a restful vacation. It was beautiful, especially considering that I was deliriously sick for most of Holly’s time in Rome.

We went to the Galleria at Villa Borghese, and it is my new favorite museum in Rome. The sculptures by Gianlorenzo Bernini are incredible. They truly draw you into the action and emotion as soon as you step into the room.

Daphne turns into a tree just as Apollo touches her in Bernini's "Apollo and Daphne."

 

David hurls a stone at Goliath in Bernini's "David."

Persephone struggles to escape Pluto's firm grip in Bernini's "Pluto and Persephone."

We also admired Bernini’s work at St. Peter’s and inside the Vatican Museum.

An altar carved by Bernini inside of St. Peter's.

Probably one of my favorite rooms in the Vatican. There were several of these beautiful, crumbling angel sculptures by Bernini.

We also went to one of my favorite restaurants for a cooking class which lasted all afternoon. We learned to make two appetizers: breaded and baked onions and bruschetta with pureed mushrooms. The first plate that we learned to make was ravioli stuffed with ricotta and spinach. The second plate was Roman chicken. For dessert, we made sandwich cookies with Nutella filling. (Nutella is a chocolate-hazelnut spread, similar to peanut butter’s consistency.)

Fresh, homemade ravioloi with a light sage sauce!

 

Roman chicken. We liked it so much that we ate it for Easter dinner.

Amy, me and Holly holding a plate of delicious Nutella cookies.

I like being a tourist. I think I forget to do that because I’ve been living here for eight months. Hopefully this is only the first of many international adventures with Hrubs and Kerry.

Go!

God wants every person on this earth to be reconciled to Himself. Do people know this? Do they know how it all happens? How can they know unless someone tells them? And how can someone tell them unless that person is sent?

If that sounded familiar, it’s because it’s a paraphrase of the apostle Paul’s words in Romans 10.

"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" -Romans 10:15b

I’m in this city to point people to the Truth and to be an example of Christ’s love (obviously, through the power of the Holy Spirit). Are there enough followers of Christ in this city doing the same? Unfortunately, not yet.

But YOU can change that! How?

• By PRAYING for God to raise up and send more laborers here to Rome.
• By GOING to the nations yourself!
• By FINANCIALLY SUPPORTING those who are going.

The Trevi Fountain

In what context can you come to Rome?

• Spring break – about 1 week long
• Summer project – about 5-6 weeks long http://gosummerproject.com/showproject.php?id=368
• STINT – about 10 months long (or 20 months long if you do it twice!) https://stint.uscm.org/info_pages/home
• International Campus Staff (ICS) or Staff STINT – as many years as God calls you

The columns at St. Peter's

Why would you come to Rome?

• To embrace an opportunity to trust the Lord. Wow, that’s quite the can of worms….
• To learn how to share your faith in Jesus in a natural way – a skill that you’ll use for the rest of your life, no matter what path you follow after some time in Rome.
• To see and experience God’s heart for all nations.
• To live and minister alongside a community of Christ-followers committed to one another and to the Great Commission.
• To grow in your faith and character.
• To bless this country with the knowledge of the greatest Gift of all time: Jesus’ saving grace.
• To worship God.

Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that in order to be a “good Christian,” you need to come to Rome. What I am saying is that I think it’s vital for you to ask the Lord where He would have you go. If you follow Christ, you are SENT somewhere as His ambassador, whether that’s to a cubicle, to Africa, to a hospital as a nurse or to your neighbors. I suggest Rome because I have loved my STINT experience here. It has changed my life, and it’s been one of my favorite years so far.

One final plug: pray about going to a CITY. By the year 2030, an estimated 80% of the world’s population will live in cities. That means you’d influence a huge chunk of the world for Jesus simply by living in a city. Very cool!

Please comment if you have questions. I would love to talk with you further.

La Sapienza, Rome's largest university

Say Cheese

One of mine that might be used for ministry.

You know the cliche “A picture is worth a thousand words”? Well, I think it’s a cliche because it’s true. The organization I work for believes this too, I would say.

Crusade, or Agape here in Europe, developed an innovative ministry tool called Soularium a couple of years ago. Basically, it’s a collection of 50 photos that people can make selections from to answer questions about their lives and their thoughts about spiritual things. So, if I ask someone to describe God, they can choose some pictures from the collection instead of just using words.

I’ve been asking God to show me how He’s uniquley designed me and given me passions that can be used to connect with people and reflect His character. In other words, “God, how can I just be who You created me to be and do ministry as a natural part of my life?”

If you’ve been following this blog, you may have noticed that photography is one of the passions that God has given me.  As God would plan it, He placed another staffer in this city who loves photography. So, we’ve been talking about how we can use photography in Rome. We like Soularium (the 50 photos), but we want to do something a little more personal to really draw students.

We want to ask students to go out and take pictures for us, instead of us giving them a set of pictures. This way, we are truly seeing things from the students’ perspective. We’re hoping to give assignments with spiritual themes followed by discussion of each student’s work. We’d love to have students show and tell their views of hope, freedom, love and countless other topics through the realm of photography. We would potentially also complete the assignments and participate in the discussions. Prayerfully, we’ll connect with a student who will run with this idea and begin to minister in Rome through photography.

I’ll do my best to keep you posted. Please leave a comment if you’ve tried something like this or have suggestions. Amy, the other staffer working on this project, and I would love your feedback and your PRAYERS.

Would you pray:

• For God to guide us as we plan, try out ideas and seek students
• For God to open students’ hearts to Jesus through this creative medium
• That we’d wisely and broadly publicize this photography project and see God’s fruit

Another potential ministry photo of mine

More than a language lesson

Our language tutor, Alessandro, enjoys cooking, like most Italians. Fortunately for us, Alessandro offered to combine one of our language lessons with a cooking lesson.

On the menu that day: meatballs.

Before we cooked them.

My teammate Chris went to the grocery store to buy all of the ingredients, and then Alessandro directed us, in Italian of course, in the kitchen.

Here, Sam can be seen thoroughly enjoying mixing the meat with the other ingredients.

The meatballs have simmered for a while, so I'm taste-testing. They needed a pinch of salt.

The final product. Delicious!

Everyone enjoying the meatballs: (L-R) Alessandro, Sam, Chris, Jenny and Jimmy.

In Italy, food is this wonderful bonding adhesive, and it’s improved every relationship I’ve formed. I walk away from language lessons with Alessandro and know that he’s more than just our tutor because we’re all able to experience life together, even if it’s only a tiny slice of life.

 Alessandro has us practice speaking in Italian all the time. We’re not just running through drills, but we’re answering questions about how we spend our time, what our favorite memories are, what impacted us greatly and what our jobs are like. We’re able to share freely, so Alessandro has heard portions of all of our testimonies and the gospel. What’s so encouraging to me is that Alessandro could easily steer the conversation in a different direction, but he never does. And we have had spiritual conversations on several occasions, often prompted by his questions. What a privilege and blessing!

Food, glorious food!

An apron and a standing mixer. These are some of the more recent Christmas and birthday gifts I’ve received from friends. I love food, and almost equally, I love preparing food.

So, when we had the opportunity to take a cooking “class” in a restaurant here in Rome, I was exstatic! The women who I am privileged to have fellowship with through Crusade (Agape) got together for a private cooking lesson on 11/14 at a local (more local for some of us than others) restaurant called Le Fate.

We're making zucchini parmesan! L-R: Amy, Alyssa, me and Tina.

Andrea, the head chef and co-owner of Le Fate, greeted us – in English! – and told us that he wasn’t a good teacher, so this wouldn’t be a class. He wanted us to learn, eat and enjoy ourselves.

Man, was I ever beaming after these 5 hours of bliss! We made several courses and then ate them:

Appetizer: deep-fried bread with a mushroom pate - I really like funghi.

First Course: Leek, Potato and Pumpkin Soup - AMAZING! That dark speck is a juniper berry.

Second Course: Zucchini Parmigiana - WOW!

Side 1: Ratatouille - Most amazing vegetables of my life!

Side 2: Sauteed Chicory - I'm not a huge fan of weeds, but some people like them.

Dessert: Tiramisu - The best I've ever had.

 We just got our oven installed a week ago, and the first thing I made was ratatouille.

If you are drooling uncontrollably, come and visit me, and we can cook together.

A Pilgrimage!

On Saturday November 8th, closer to the time when this post should have been written, I went to Assisi for a pilgrimage.

Four of us do ministry at an engineering faculty near Colosseo, and this faculty has a small Catholic chapel on its campus. This chapel advertised a trip to Assisi, so my friend and colleague Beth Ann suggested that we go. “This will be a great way to meet students, and it will give us cultural insight,” we thought.

So, around 7 on the morning of the 8th, we found ourselves waiting to board a huge, Greyhound-esque bus. And then this strange feeling, one I don’t think I’ve felt since 4th grade, came over me, and I thought, “Gasp, who will we talk to on the bus?! We need to make friends, and quickly.”

Fortunately for us, Italians are very friendly. Especially the ones who are going on a religious pilgrimage.

Beth Ann and me with Alessandra, our first friend from the bus ride! That beautiful church behind us is St. Francis.

 Our first stop, once our bus unloaded us in Assisi, was…you guessed it: a church. We went to Santa Maria degli Angeli for mass. This was quite the trip down memory lane for me: holy water by the entrance so you can bless yourself as you make the sign of the cross; the aroma of incense filling your nostrils immediately; all the responses that I instinctively chanted because of years of repetition (only I was responding in English, but everyone else was responding in Italian ).

If you Google search "santa maria degli angeli" this is the first picture you'll see. This is where we went for mass.

After mass, we joined with the thousands of Catholic pilgrims to climb – don’t be fooled, we weren’t hiking up mountains – to the church of Saint Francis. We took a break to eat lunch, and then we walked through the church. Thus began the tour of churches in Assisi. It was lovely.

We've started walking up amidst a sea of people praying the rosary in Italian.

Stopping to take in the view on our way up to St. Francis. Yay!

It's pretty, but I don't remember what it is.

One thing I learned is that you get lots of stuff on a pilgrimage. These hats were our favorite.

Sunset! Same place as the two pictures above.

St. Francis at night. We're on our way back to the bus.

 So the pilgrimage is over, and I’m getting on a bus for a 2.5 hour drive. What am I taking away from this experience besides some pretty pictures? My mind begins to churn.

A great discovery: there are students in Italy that don’t hate the church or God! There are students who are willing to wake up at 6 a.m. and spend all day and night traveling around for God. This is good, indeed.

I think one of the biggest things I walked away with was a desire for unity and, if necessary, reconciliation among the Body of Christ. Why are we so quick to focus on faults or differences instead of strengths and similarities? In Rome, sometimes I can feel the tension, and it’s discouraging. I just want people to focus on Jesus and run hard after Him. I think the Bible makes it clear that as we fix our eyes on Jesus, we should be conscious that we are part of one Body. We are many different parts, but we’re one Body, and we need each other because of our differences. This is something I wrestled with for years as I transitioned from one spiritual culture to another, so I’m glad God has brought me here. I have much to ponder and learn, and hopefully I can leave behind something edifying.

A few stops in Italy

Water, water…everywhere. Such is the city of Venice.

High water causes bridges to replace sidewalks in Venice.

Three weekends ago, our STINT team drove a rental van to Venice and spent that Saturday exploring the city. We wanted to take time to connect with each other and recharge. Even though we’re called a STINT team, we don’t usually look like a typical team because we’re split up amongst the other staff teams that are here in Rome. So, it was important for us to carve out time in our schedules to connect with one another.

We saw the touristy hot-spots, gazed at the romantic gondole and talked over cappuccino by the Canal. And of course, we waded through the high water.

Looking down a Venetian waterway at two gondole.

 

This is the Grand Canal at night.

I would love to elaborate because this was highly significant for me. If you spend time around me, you’ll quickly learn that I get cold easily, and once I get cold, it’s very difficult for me to warm up. Since the water in the Venetian streets was cold, I thought it would be wise to buy a pair of these temporary golashes.

 

So these are what I bought except mine were yellow.

As I started to put on the golashes, a funny thought popped into my head: What if these leak? The Lord quickly comforted my anxiety. I thought, “If these leak, it will be ok. You’re right, Lord.” So I finished strapping on the glorified trash bags and stepped into the flooded streets with my teammates. And then it happened.

As a shocking, cold, wet wave overtook my feet, I realized that yes, these things DO leak. Here’s the amazing part: I was completely calm. God provided the peace and self-control that I needed in that moment.

my teammate Ella is comforting me just after my galoshes leaked. I ended up just wearing my shoes in the water since they were already wet.

God also provided later. Shortly after we ate lunch, I couldn’t tolerate being cold any more. My feet had been numb for hours, and the rest of my body was starting to freeze. My loving roommate April offered to let me wear her dry socks and shoes, and she volunteered to wear my wet shoes for the rest of the day.

God continues to teach me about the Holy Spirit, and this experience in Venice was no exception. I praise God for the ability in Him to embrace joy instead of anger. I HATE being cold, so rationally I should have been a burning inferno of rage for the entire day. But thanks be to God that He is beyond rationale and can bring joy to the bleakest of circumstances. I know that He is refining me because of instances like this one in Venice.

What a refreshed, jolly team! CW from back L: Brian, Chris, Jimmy, Sam, Ella, April, me, Kanda and Jenny.

All in all, this was an incredibly refreshing trip. I got to see a beautiful city; I got to connect with my teammates during strolls through Venice and during long car rides; I got to see God work on my character. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s really important for me to escape from the chaos of Rome every so often.

Location, location, location.

“Huh, this is funny, I feel alive. I feel like I’m breathing again.”  Those were my thoughts last weekend, the 18^th and 19^th. 

 

What happened last weekend?  I got out of the city.  The hustle and bustle that is Rome really wears on me.  I love rolling hills, fields, trees, bodies of water and the quiet sounds of nature doing its thing.  I connect with God and recharge by being in nature.  I didn’t realize how drained I was until this overwhelming, foreign feeling of life enveloped me last weekend.

 

This is the beauty that surrounded us for 36 hours!

 

“Arco” is the Italian word for “bow,” as in “bow and arrow.”  I share this because my community group is called an Arco.  All the staff members (and their children) in Rome are split into 2 Archi, and these groups help to guide us in spiritual community so that we can step into our role as missionaries supported by a great family of believers.

 

the view from our lunch table on the way back to Rome

 

So, last weekend both Archi went on separate retreats.  Our Arco went to Castel Gandolfo (about a 30-minute train ride south of Rome) with the sole intention of getting to know one another better.  And we did just that.  We shared about our lives and highlighted some challenging and uplifting experiences.

 

I love repetition!

 

God has used this Arco to remind me of how much I love the Body of Christ.  I appreciate the rich diversity in our Arco, which ranges in age from 3 to nearly 50 years.  I feel so fortunate to be able to learn from people who have lived life and walked with God for so much longer than I.  It’s so refreshing to interact with their little kids too! 

 

There was a festival with vendors and customers lining the streets

 

One negative expectation I had coming into this year was that I wouldn’t experience church as in the States.  I anticipated not being able to connect with other believers because I’d be living in a place populated by Italian-speakers.

 

A pretty building on the way back to Rome

 

I did experience that disconnect a little in the first few weeks, but God has been so faithful to provide the community experience that I’ve been seeking.  What a fun reminder that God is Provider.  He delights in meeting our vast spectrum of needs.  It is His character to take care of us.