...Part 2

Along with starting our classes back, we also have started our ladies’ and men's Monday Bible night study, as well as our Thursday night English conversation classes and Bible Study at the church. On Monday night the ladies are studying Paul's personal letters: 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. And at the church we are studying Romans.

Another new activity for Andrea and me is helping Emily teach English at a preschool here in Scandicci! Last Tuesday was our first time helping and it was so much fun! We are there from 10:30 am until around noon, and the time flies by! First we teach a 3 yr old class and after a 5 yr old class. The three year olds are learning colors and a of couple animals. They are so sweet and so smart! I was very impressed as well with the five year olds. They knew all of the colors, emotions, and animals that we reviewed with them! Emily is great with the kids. She has made up some really cute little songs (accompanied with movements- for example stomp our feet! turn around!) that the kids absolutely love! I can’t wait until the next time we go! This also has given me alot of ideas for our work in Taranto. I have been busy making photocopies, coloring, and lamenating animals, colors, and emotion faces to take to use in the schools down south. 

Their little "smocks" were so cute! I loved this little girl's gesture- Lei e Italiana!  hehe.

Emily starting off the lesson....

Here are the kids getting ready to sing their favorite song, Red Fish!

After our songs, we began their coloring activity.

Emily said that the 3 yr olds know the colors red and yellow the best. So We traced their hands and they colored one red and the other one yellow.

These are all pictures of the 3 yr olds. Once we began the 5 yr olds class, there was no chance to take a picture! ha. They were so excited for us to be there, that at almost every second we were getting a hug or a kiss! They were so sweet! 

Here are the pictures that I have been printing, coloring, and lamenating to take to Taranto soon! 

Also, remember Danielle and Luli who stayed with us over the Christmas holiday while the Woodroofs were gone?? Well they are expecting their first baby (its a boy!) in June! Andrea and I are in charge of planning and organizing her Baby Shower at the Florence church! I didn’t know this, but everything Baby here in Italy is extremely expensive. For example most strollers cost around 400 Euro. This is almost $550 USD. Yesterday Andrea, Danielle, and I went in search of a couple of used baby stores that we had been told about. After a couple of hours we finally found the jackpot. Danielle picked out 5 items- including a very nice stroller that came with a car seat and bassinette for less than half of the normal priced strollers. The man was very helpful and even set up a gift registry for Danielle's friends to come and buy something or even put money towards the stroller ( this is not something they do in Italy). We are so excited! We plan to have the shower in two weeks- so we have a lot to get done before then!

Here is Danielle (on the left) with Ermenita.

In the midst of all of this, Lindsay Walle came for a short visit. Lindsay is another AI worker who is about to complete her 2 years of service in Italy next month! She has been living and working in Vincenza and has done an amazing job. She wanted to come and say goodbye to her students and to us before she departs for the states. I know the church and people in Vicenza will really miss her. She also was so sweet to bring us some things that will help us as we start living in Taranto- pots and pans, Pyrex dishes, etc.  You can check out all of the work she has been doing on her blog at: http://lindsaywalle.blogspot.com/ .


Also, get ready for upcoming events in February! We have decided to commit every Friday night to an activity at the Bible School. Here is the schedule: Movie Night in English, Cooking School, Game Night, and Book Club. Also in February, is the Women's retreat that I mentioned earlier. It is Christian women from all over Italy- just like in the states. We are all very excited!

Please continue to pray for all of us here at the Bible School as we strive to follow His call.
We love and miss you!

20 days later....Part 1

CIAO!

Since we've last met, everyone has returned to the Bible School!

It’s hard to believe that we have already finished one semester and have started a new one! It was wonderful to get to see our students after the Christmas break. My students had so much news to tell. One traveled to NY over the holidays and shortly after got to meet her new nephew, two of my other students went to Berlin with their family, and another has the opportunity to travel soon to London! It was great to catch up and to see their smiling faces again =) 

Last semester, Eric and I finished "The Andy Miller Bible Study." While we were in training in Arkansas before we left for Italy, a man named Andy Miller and his wife came to speak to us about the Bible study they had organized. Andy was previously an atheist and after he came to be a Christian, he was motivated to share the good news with others. The study is a great one because it is broken down into 1 hr lessons (perfect for us here at the Bible School). The first lesson is about Jesus and His complete authority. The second is about Sin, the third is about What it Means to Be a Disciple of Jesus, and the fourth lesson is a two-part lesson about Gods grace and Baptism. We have really enjoyed this study and have found it to be very helpful in teaching the Bible. Each lesson is broken down into the categories, and the lesson is comprised solely of Bible verses that further explain the main topic of that week's lesson. The reason it is such an effective study is that it allows the people studying to read and understand for themselves what the Bible is saying. It points directly to the Bible and the person studying is forced to connect the dots of the scriptures. Anyways we found it extremely useful and would be more than happy to send anyone the files over email. If you are interested, please let me know!

This semester we are starting new lessons. Eric is studying a few different topics with his students: Fruits of the Spirit, Books/Characters of the Bible, and Don England’s book  Faith and Evidences. After last semester, we also found that although we taught alot about different main points of Christianity, a couple of my students were left wanting to know more about Jesus, specifically his life. So I researched online for an organized study and came across a 13 week approach that studies the Life of Chirst. We are now into our 4th week of the semester and I’m finding this study a great one as well. Like the Andy Miller study, it is exclusively stories of the Bible that are categorized into the different weekly studies that make up the life of Jesus as written in the New Testament. This study fills in the details of the Bible stories that are sometimes over looked because we are directly reading the text-not summarizing.

Besides starting our classes, we were busy cleaning and preparing the Bible School for the arrival of 20 new HUF students to stay with us this semester! Due to the repairs of the HUF villa, (Last semester was a hard one for the previous students. I’m not sure if I mentioned it or not, but they endured a couple of hardships. The first was the fire that engulfed the upstairs right side (the girls wing) of the Vila. Thankfully, no one was hurt because everyone was out that evening. ) half of the students will be staying at the Bible school for the semester.

What does this mean for the Bible school? There are more boys than girls, so they would not all fit in the front dorm room that reserved for guests. They also needed the space of mine and Eric's room, as well as Laura and Ryan's room (the other married couple). The solution? Ryan and Laura have decided to stay and work in Florence with the church here. They have an apartment ready that they will be moving into by the end of this week. So for the past couple of weeks they have been staying with Kyle  (Kyle is Robbie's (the director of the HUF program) assistant and he lives in his own apt. inside the Bible School.). As for Eric and me? Because we are not leaving for Taranto until after the weekend of Feb 18th (the Women’s Retreat), they decided to move us into an apt around the corner from the Bible School. There is a woman who owns the apartment and who is a friend of Kyle. She only comes a few times a year, but in the mean time it is often sub rented out to others. I'm not sure about all of the details, but it has been a blessing for us!

I guess you would call this the kitchen/living room area. Its funny, when we first moved in and even now still, the apartment seems so huge to us. I guess we got used to living in our one room, so to have two rooms and a bathroom just feels like so much space! Again, a wonderful blessing. The window opens to the main street that goes straight through Scandicci. I enjoy the light it lets in=)

This is the same room, but from the opposite side. Like I mentioned above, there also is a bedroom and a bathroom. 

By the way, this is a view off the side of the main street in Scandicci. Eric and I have taken up running in the mornings. Along this river is one of our favorite places to go! 

We're all excited to get to know the new group of HUF students better. We have already had a get together at the Vila as well as our first Sunday night devo. They seem like a great bunch of kids. My student Clizia and I spent Sunday together practicing yoga and making earrings, and ended the night with the devo at the villa. She really enjoyed meeting all the HUF kids and seeing a little more into the Harding program as well.

Here are some of the earrings Clizia and I made, just in case you were wondering =)

Ciao Dicembre e Boun Anno Tutti!

2011??  Its hard to believe that December is gone and already we have started a new year.
Christmas time around Firenze is beautiful! The streets are strung with lights and there are Christmas trees everywhere =)

Downtown Firenze.

Sant Croce Christmas Market!

Really cool wreaths!

Fur anyone?

Love these hats!

Downtown Christmas Tree!

Lights!

Me and Eric at the top of Giotto's Bell Tower!

This is Simona and her husband. Simone was one of our teacher's at Lorenzo Di Medici. One Friday night she had us all over for dinner and Italian Pictionary!  =)

The month of December here at the Bible School was different in many ways from the first three. We graduated from Lorenzo Di Medici and finished our three month course of Italiano. It was a feeling of accomplishment but also a realization that we are now on own! ha! However, now that school is finished,  it is nice to have some extra time to reflect and to get focused for the upcoming year and the upcoming changes.

One such change, Eric and I have made the final decision to move and work down south in Taranto! The church there is very happy to have us come and work with them- and we can't wait to begin! The main out reach is still teaching English using the Bible. However, they specifically asked us to focus on the youth. They even mentioned the goal of some how getting our program integrated into the school system there. We are very excited about all of this. I feel like living in the Bible School has been good practice and prepartion for this work. The only thing we're not excited about- is leaving our students =(. When we first signed up for Avanti, our plan has always been to leave Firenze in order to aid another city. What we didnt consider, was the relationships we would build while in Firenze with our students. Before we left the States, so many people told us what wonderful friendships we would soon be making- ones that would change us and ones we would never forget- and they were right.

The thing that I am learning is this: we are all people an each of us in search of something greater. The people here speak a different language, but their concerns, for the most part, are the same. God is moving steadily in our life here together, and being in the presence of God is always moving. It is so neat to watch God work in the lives of our students. They really want to know and understand what the Word says and this is so encouraging to me. God is everywhere. Anyways, please always keep our students in your prayers!

So our plan is to head south in February. The sooner the better because the longer we can commit to a place, the more help we can give them. Also, another blessing, the church has found us a nice furnished apt that is within walking distance to the church! Please keep our move in your prayers. Taranto is very different from Firenze, so we have alot to learn!

What else?

After the first couple of weeks in December, we finished classes with our students for the semester and began a two week vaction period. All of us were coming and going at different times. Angela and Andrea went back to the states for Christmas and stayed about a month. Also, David, Debbie, Emily, and Erminita went back to the states for Christmas and stayed 3-4 weeks. While they were gone Danielle and Luli came to house sit and watch Zoe in David and Debbie's apt. It was so wonderful to have them here with us! They are so great! Danielle is a past Avanti worker, who now lives in Italy with her husband Luli. They attend and help with the work at the church in Florence. David returned from his travels just last week, and the others will be back by the end of this week. As for the rest of us. Eric and I, as well as the other married couple, traveled around (separately) for the last two weeks of December. Peter stayed in Florence and for New Years, visited the church in Milan.

While Peter was in Milan, Rosa invited the rest of us over to her house for New Year's lunch! Obviously everything she made was perfect. We stayed all afternoon and visited with her and her husband Felice (which by the way in Italian means "happy" ).

Rosa's Apetizers. YUM.

Rosa's husband and their pet bird!

....yes this was funny. ha!

Me, Rosa, and Eric.

This coming week, everyone will be coming home and things will start to go back to "normal".  Eric and I are starting our classes early (this week!)  due to our upcoming departure to Taranto, and we cant wait to see our students! Hope all is well with you! We miss all of you and are so grateful for all of your love and support! I promise not to wait too long before the next post=)