our work in taranto is in so many ways, not what we would have expected, however, "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 We have been in many ways weighing our priorities from working inside the church (meaning with the church members directly) and striving to reach those outside the church (the city of TA) . we have wrestled with some very ugly things here in taranto. we have seen things and we witness things that shock us on a regular basis, but through it all God has allowed our hearts to stay soft. Thank you Lord for Your strength! how thankful we are for a God who hears our prayers,who knows our every need, and can supply a perfect peace and joy in the place of confusion and frustration!
in this period we have been in prayer so much more regularly, and we are seeing His guidance so strongly every day that we continue in His service here. He is directing our attention to the people of taranto.. . .
While we were sick last month, we became pretty chummy with the ladies at the pharmacy around the corner from our apartment. One in particular, whose name is Cicilia, was curious (as are most) as to what we were doing in taranto. We got to talking. . . both of her children take private English lessons and she wanted to know if we could get together and meet with her kids. We exchanged numbers but didn't get to meet for coffee until after we arrived back from Florence. Her kids were too sweet, and both spoke excellent English. (the daughter even had a British accent!! ) long story short, we made plans to meet the next week so we could come for a visit to her house.
We met at the hospital and then walked the next few blocks together, she kept saying she was taking us the easy way so we would remember how to come back :) (I'll admit, when i first arrived in taranto, it always scared me a little bit how people we barely knew, wanted to immediately have us over to their house, or wanted to know if they could take us somewhere in their car... I was always afraid of being "taken" haha. now, I realize that its just their way.) anyways, her home was lovely. She fixed us some cafe while we met the grandmother and and just had an all together great visit. We are hoping to see them again soon. Cicilia wants to make us her home made pizza ! I told her it was a deal- she can make the pizza, I'll bring desert! we cant wait!
Mino, Dalila, me, and Eric
Remember Mino who we met from Latiano? two Saturdays ago, we took a train into Latiano to meet with him and the other youth of Latiano! We arrived a little late in the afternoon -I think it was around 5, and the other teens from latiano were still at work, so Mino had made plans for us to visit the small town called Ceglie to meet his girlfriend Dalila. Ceglie is a very picturesque southern Italian town. The entire town is painted white- in fact, Dalila told us that its against the law to paint any house or building in the city anything but white! ha. i have to confess however, that I like the white.
Dalila and Mino are really really great. Mino shares so much about his desire to be closer with the Lord and to live for Him, that its contagious. We feel so blessed by their friendship and we pray that the Lord will use us in their lives to strengthen and encourage them as well. We hope to meet again with them the middle of next month. The problem is always that of lack of transportation. i realize it must sound like a broken record, but before this experience in Italy, Ive never known what it was like to be without transportation, and let me tell you, it does complicate things.
For example, that Saturday we wanted to stay at the church in Latiano that evening to visit with the teens there, but the latest bus that left from latiano to return to taranto was at 9pm...so basically we only got visit for about 45 min :( We are searching, trying to figure something out in order to be in better contact with these teens around the Puglia region. Even though it was a short visit, it was a VERY good visit. it was encouraging to see all their smiling faces and to catch up for a little before we had to leave. Please pray for these teens who are truly searching and who are thirsty fro the Lord.
Balloon anyone?
The next day was the "arts and hand-made crafts" Sunday market in the center of Taranto. Eric and I planned a date :) After church, we already had our lunches packed and we took off for a nice walk into town. We enjoyed watching the kids run and play in a park close to the main piazza while we ate our sandwiches.
A pretty nice park for taranto. . .
...even at the market, we made some new friends. One couple we had met last month at the market. She is a jewelry artist from Bari and she and her husband come to the taranto markets to sell her hand made jewelry. Again, they immediately gave us their business card and told us to look them up whenever we are in Bari! I will always be amazed by the hospitality of Italians!After chatting with the couple from Bari, we moved onto another booth where we met another jewelry lady who is actually based here in Taranto-basically a block from our apartment complex! She was so sweet and told us to come and find her. We plan to pass by her shop sometime this week just to say hello.
It is bittersweet that our time is coming to a close. One of the "bitter" parts is that we. can. finally. communicate! We've always been pretty open people. We are the type of people to make conversation wherever we go, because we enjoy meeting people! for our first year ( yes, year) I felt mute. one simple is example is that we couldn't make small talk with people. Now that we understand the language and can communicate, we've gained that "small talk" possibility back, the ability to really be ourselves, and we are so thankful! And I think its obvious that God is using this ability always for His glory :) :)
Later that evening after the market, we invited our 2nd floor neighbors up for a visit. They are a great family and are very interesting.. we had a great visit. their two girls were really cute. I had made nutella cupcakes and set them out while we were visiting. At one point the older daughter looked at me and then at her sister, and then again at me and held up her hand like the number 5- she was telling me that her sister had already eaten 5 cupcakes! ahaha. cute. anyways, we also offered them American coffee, and to our surprise the mom took a cup and actually really liked it! (normally this is one of the things Italians love to brag about, their cafe. they always want to tell us that our coffee is just water. I still try and explain how one can control the strength, but they normally will have none of it! haha. I wonder what our "thing" is in America that we are fixated on???. . . grilling out maybe? BBQ?) then we got to talking about Chinese food (which most Italians don't like either) and they love it! We have never found a good place to go, so we made plans for this coming Friday to go together to a place that they really like. I am excited! We talked only a little about the Bible on this visit. I know that they are very religious and take a lot of the Catholic doctrine very seriously, (I believe this to be why they were a little apprehensive at first meeting us) but the longer we visited, the more and more they opened up. Anyways, we believe God is placing people in our path and we pray that we can shine His light in everything that we do and in every relationship we make.
Monday we visited with Anna maria. She is finally feeling better physically, but mentally/spiritually, I can tell she is a little low. . . Please pray for God to bless her. She is a strong woman of God, who for the most part is alone (a part from us and Fabrizio and Luca) in this big city.
Tuesday, we had an American breakfast diner party at our apartment! and i. forgot. to. take. a. picture. :( Our students came and it was so much fun! I cooked pancakes and bacon for the first plate. then, I made home made biscuits (bc they don't exist here) with sausage gravy, and an egg omelet casserole. They all loved the pancakes and bacon, but they were literally scared to death of the syrup and gravy! it was cute...hilarious and cute. The ended up really liking the syrup (they had never seen it or heard of it- and they couldn't understand the maple flavoring) , but the gravy was just too weird for them. haha. Im so thankful for the gift of their friendship. Its fun to have some friends our own age. We are really going to miss them.
Luana, Laura, and Samanta
I found "Despicable Me" in Italian for the girls to watch while we (the women) were studying.... . . this lasted maybe a full 20 min! ;).
Wednesday we had the ladies Bible study. GREAT GREAT GREAT and just keeps getting better. Those of you who specifically pray for our efforts, please pray specifically for the ladies here. In particular Zia Tina and Madelana, who are both discovering God's love and promises for the first time! :)Thursday we did a little of a switch- instead of us meeting with Federica for our Italian lesson, she and I had our first English lesson. She already speaks so well, that its really only a matter of tweaking some pronunciation issues. Because she is so advanced, I decided to start the life of Christ study that Clizia and I did over skype last year. our first lesson went really well. Im excted to see where God is leading this relationship!
Saturday night carmela, enzo, laura, and eric and I took a spin to Martina Franca.
Laura and Carmela admiring the Easter decor!
I love the color of this pistachio gelato.
Eric and Enzo drinking their cafe!
Lots of people out enjoying the beautiful night!
Entering into the "old part" of the city
The basilica of the town.
me and Laura :)
Laura took this one!
Inside the Basilica. . . . notice that the pope is the center. . .
mary is to the immediate left. . . .
. . and behind mary is this sculpture of Christ. . .
outside the bascilica. . .
"Dolci" means "sweet"....obviously I had to tell Laura to stand in front of it :) (although technically it should say "dolce" in the feminine form... oh well! I still like it!)
A little park we passed on our way to eat pizza!
Enzo being Enzo!
Me + Laura = always a fun night together!
Federica's parents, Federica, me, Eric, Loredana, and Francesco
After church yesterday, we invited Federica and her parents, and our friends Loredana and her husband Francesco, over for lunch! After cleaning during the day yesterday and basically preparing everything in advance, after church, all I had to do was switch the oven on and light the fire for the pasta water= reflief. We had a great time visiting and getting to know each other a little better.
This week we have another packed full schedule. Pray for us as we are reaching and branching out more and more into this city. We love you! xoxoxoxoxoxox
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