Convegno Delle Donne

Ok Post # 2 of 4.....

Last Monday we cleaned and made preparations for the arrival of the new HUF students. That night at our Monday Night Bible Study at the Bible school, we had another new guest - One of Angela's new students! She specifically told us that not only does she want to learn more of the English Language, but also she is very excited to begin studying the Bible! We are so happy to have her with us. Please pray for her as she beings to learn about the good news and for Angela as they study together.

Tuesday was the dreaded day at the Questura. The Questura is a place where all of the foreigners in Italy go to do the necessary paper work to become a legal resident of Italy. I use the word dreaded because this is an all day event. Last time we went in December we waited for about 6 hours. This time, we packed plenty of things to do to keep us occupied while we waited. We arrived at the Questura a little after 9 am. By half past 1 pm, Eric and the rest of the gang were already finished! However, I was left waiting. It was the strangest thing. When you first arrive, you receive a ticket with a number and letter. This obviously is to organize different people with different needs into separate lines of waiting. The weird thing was, although Eric and I went up together to get our tickets, he was handed a ticket for line H and I was handed one for line B. When we compared with the others, they all had the letter H line as well. Eric waited with me until there were only about 10 other people in the whole place, and finally my number was called. It was 5 pm. Ha! It was quite an experience. Just another piece of culture, and a little more patience to take with us! Anyways, we will be back again to the Questura in March to pick up our ID cards- I'll take a picture next time.

Last Thursday during the day, the boys went and visited a friend named Alessio. His father Alfredo attends the church in Florence. They had a whole day together and enjoyed a traditional 5 course Italian meal at Alfredo's brother's Bed and Breakfast in the country. Later that evening Eric and I had dinner plans with Clizia and her family. They are so much fun! Its strange to think that before coming here only 6 short months ago, we didnt even know each other. I can’t imagine not having the gift of their friendship. We stayed for a long time enjoying dinner and talking and laughing together afterwards. I can’t explain what a blessing this family has been to us- and how much we will miss them. Clizia and I decided to keep our regular class time- Monday at 5pm, but because I will be in Taranto- we will meet on Skype! 

Clizia, Me, Olga, Valentino, and Monica.

All smiles here!

I cant remember what Valentino said here, but it looks like it was something funny.

=)

The next morning, the women set off to a small town right outside of Rome called, Velletri. We were lucky to be able to borrow one of the HUF vans. A little after 11 am, the 8 of us- Debbie, Emily, Angela, Laura, Andrea, Ermenita, Me, and Heather (she and her husband work in Pistoia for the church there) set off for the retreat. It took us a little over 3 hrs to get there. I personally had never heard of this town. It was very far out into the country and up a twisty, steep mountainside. 

This was the "resort" where we stayed. It wasn’t a hotel, but it wasn’t a campsite either... I guess somewhere in between in the two. 

Andrea and I stayed in the first room around the corner on the left side of this building.

Andrea with our sheets and towels=)

This is the bar where we would get our Cafe. 

Here is the main meeting room for all our activities.

Time to decorate!

Can you see all of the decorations (keys) on the walls?? 

This is only a quarter of how big the desert table was. I guess the equation of women + sweets is international. Ha! 

Bellissimo.

Game time on Friday night! Ermenita was in charge of the games for the weekend, and she did a fabulous job! The instructions of this game was to draw your portrait on a balloon, to throw them into the center of the room- mix them all up, and lastly to pick someone else's balloon, and try to find and meet them based on their "portrait." ha! It was a blast.

Can you guess who we are??

I think Debbie's was my favorite!

Mixing up the balloons!

Can you find Josie?

Ok. As you know, the theme for the weekend was "The Beatitudes".  After The first night of getting to know each other and playing a few games, Saturday morning started off with our lessons/group meetings. This is how is worked:  each woman received a set of keys (like the one above). Each key is coordinated with a specific number and a color. The numbers are the order of each group to visit, and the color represents the different groups. Each colored group represents a different Beatitude and is led by 2 women. The leaders stayed in their location (one at the coffee bar, another in the main meeting room, one in the dining room, etc) while all the rest of the women rotate to visit them according to their set of keys. For example: my first key was light blue and had the verse "blessed are the merciful". So I would find where the "Light Blue" group was and it would be my first group study.  When the 30 min is up, I would flip to my second key and find the next group. This sounds really confusing, but it actually worked quite well and smoothly. It was really good because each time I switched groups I met a new group of women. 

Besides being a part of the group discussions, each of us AI girls were responsible for taking a tray of sweets, hot water, and tea to a certain group each time. By the way if you like tea, you should try this Twinings brand. Before I came here I never drank tea, but these are great.

Here is Tonya and Edin's group: Blessed are the Peacemakers.

Tonya and her husband are from Rome, and he is the main "preacher" there. Edin is in the maroon sweater sitting to the left of Tonya. She is American and has been living in Italy for 40 something years. She and her husband work in an area that is close to Assisi (still in the Tuscany region). She was very interesting to get to know, and a strong encouragement. 

This is Heather and Elendrina's group. Elendrina's is in the black next to Heather in the Red. Elendrina is from the Philippines. She speaks Italian and English very well- another interesting new acquaintance. Remember Heather is the woman who drove with us from the Bible School. She, her husband, and two kids have been living and working in Pistoia with the church there.

"Blessed are the Meek".... in the Dining Room.

Time for a coffee break!

Andrea, Josie, Shae, and Elianne.

"Blessed are the Poor in Spirit."

Josie, Osiris, and Shae.

On a side note- look at this bush of Rosemary I found outside of the dining hall! 

The dining hall.

An overlook of the city below.

Another beautiful sunset.

Erme and Me. . . I miss you already.

Osiris, Heather, Andrea, Josie, and Shae.

Andrea and Me.

All of the group leaders! Great job ladies!

Noi Siamo Beati.

What a wonderful time. It was such a blessing to meet and get to know all of the ladies.  Its comforting and amazing to see that no matter where we are in the world, God is there. Every day that we are here, we learn more and more about God's complete authority and power, and His perfect love. So many of the ladies expressed their challenges as women and Christians in His service. However, it is encouraging to me to know that, even though we speak a different language, we still can understand each other, love each other, and have this perfect bond as sisters in Christ.