We serve the one true King.

Ciao tutti.

Helloooooo all!

“better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; id rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God” psalm 84:10

the Spirit has really put this on my heart lately.

Walking by the spirit, living a Christ centered life in this world is difficult at times . . .  joyous at others . . . At all times, it is a CHOICE. This position is molding Eric and I and teaching us many many many things --- in days past ive felt His hand upon me, but I couldn’t really grasp what he was saying to me. In more recent days, I believe He’s convicting me to daily, hourly to make the choice and follow Him! Follow Him at all times with my whole heart. In Luke 9:62, Jesus has this to say to us, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Serving Jesus can sometimes feel uncomfortable. It’s a daily battle dying to self and consciously choosing to follow the Spirit, not because you are unsure if its truth, but instead because you know how narrow the road will sometimes be.

“Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders/ Let me walk upon the waters/ Wherever You would call me/ Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander/ And my faith will be made stronger/ In the presence of my Savior” HILLSONG. have you heard this song? Im sure you have, and if you haven’t, google it! What if we collectively prayed this way? And what if we as the body lived this way? Im convinced we must. And im just as convinced of His promise to provide, sustain, affirm,  r e f i n e , and to save us. I know this because He’s doing it for me daily! Not because my “trust is without borders” although, im striving for it to be! But because no matter what, HE IS FAITHFUL. Hallelujah! Praise God for He is faithful!  Every day, His mercies are new. No matter what kind of mess we are in, or what lies ahead, as Believers, as His children, we have His rest. So many times in the past few months, He has personally affirmed me. Over and over amidst my doubt (im sorry to confess it) and insecurities, He never lets go of me, not once has He left my side. How amazing is our King?! So its like the psalm. . .  “better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere”. amidst everything we may face, we are thankful and privileged to serve the one true King!

2 more months have flown by since our last update . . .  lots to report!

D A Y  by  D A Y

In the summer time here at the Bible School, our schedules change drastically in comparison to the rest of the year. In the fall and springtime, we are juggling 130 students, group classes, preparing lessons, church activities, retreats, school parties and get togethers, time outside the school with our students, visiting different church communities.... i could go on! ;P once June rolls around the pace changes alot. From June-August we do not have our regular lessons with our students. The italians like to take summers off. I know this sounds strange to us Americans who are used to everyday, organized, schedules, but its just their way. In tuscany, i will add that most of them continue to work until August, but on the weekends they are traveling, mainly to the near by beaches. When it hits August, everyone is gone. Entire companies close until September. Just the other day we were furniture shopping to replace the schools broken buffet and we asked about ordering a buffet that was on sale. The sales clerk advised us not to due to the fact we wouldnt even get the buffet until late september! yes you read that right - late september. crazy. anyways, this calls for a change in our schedule at the school. We stopped classes at the end of May right before the family retreat in Velletri (close to Rome). 

S O   W H A T   D O   W E   D O   I N   T H E   S U M M E R S   ?

1.  W E   H O S T.

we host groups and individuals who want to either visit Italy, study in italy with a university but need a host, or even understand a little bit more about Avanti. This is all around good for us at the Bible School. Sometimes we get guests who are truly willing to help us serve in any way, this is always so wonderful.... and sometimes they are just passing through- which is equally nice in a different way. But whatever the reason they are here, we are always pleased to make new connections. It also is a HUGE help to us financially at the school. We earn extra funding that we can use for retreats or on the upkeep of the building (walls that need plastered, bathrooms, broken furniture...etc). In conclusion, guests are always welcome!

Andrew, Janee, Matt, and Melissa

reaching all the way back to mid May, we had the pleasure of hosting Andrew and Janee. They only stayed with us for a little over a week, but during that time, we were blessed by their loving and serving hearts. After their time with us, they traveled on to the Czech republic were Janee's sister and husband are missionaries. We hope they wil be back to visit us soon! we very much appreciate all of their help! Matt is a current Harding student that came to stay and work with us this summer. He arrived the day before Janee and Andrew and will be leaving in early August. He has been involved with Harding University here in scandicci and also went with us to church camp.

WELCOME BAT.

Our first summer and our first BAT group. BAT- a group of athletes from Harding University. They come and stay about a month at the school with us. They study and train while in italy. our responsibility? cooking. lots and lots of cooking because remember they are athletes!... and cleaning :) if im completely honest, i imagined that taking care of this group would be so difficult. in reality, it was a joy. it was a lot of work, but it was a joy to be around these kids and a pleasure to host them. 

BIG AMERICAN BREAKFASTS

Before arriving, BAT sends us their complete itinerary, along with their desired meal plan. the group stayed with us for one month. almost every day we ate lunch together. the other days, they communicated which days they would need a BIG breakfast, which days a simple one, as well as a few dinners that they would need to have prepared as well. hats off to my amazing husband. he is so organized sometimes that it makes my head spin trying to figure out how he does it! eric made a master schedule of duties for our team we normally worked in pairs preparing and cleaning up the different meals, as well as a long day of changing,washing, and drying sheets for all 26 of them! 

LUNCH WITH ROSA

Rosa was in charge of the lunches. watching her in action was like being in the presence of a master! She was in all her glory! it was fun to cook with her and learn from her. she really loves what she does....and shes brilliant at it! we were amazed everyday how she would time everything down to the minute and we would serve the kids right on time. we were equally amazed at how fast they finished eating- after getting used to long lunches and dinners, it really was a little shocking watching them gobble it down in 20 minutes or less! haha 

EXTREME GROCERY SHOPPING

grocery shopping was interesting . . .  i felt like i was an extreme couponer on 19 kids and counting- if that makes any sense. its surreal to buy these massive amounts of food knowing that within a few days you'll be back to do it all again! we did discover the best time to go shopping was at lunch time. one day i had already been elbowed, ran into, and almost knocked over by an elderly woman, when i decided to get out my cell phone to take a video for all of you in order to accurately communicate the madness. as soon as i raised up the cellphone, the masses had all of the sudden disappeared. i was at a loss until i looked at my watch and realized it was time for lunch. ill say it again and again, food and meal times are sacred for these people! 

OUR SPARE ROOM

Anaiz and her friend, me and Marie. 

We met these sweet girls at the ladies retreat months back. they are from Mexico, but are studying in Peruggia. They were visiting Florence one weekend and dropped by to see us! * PS THIS SUNDAY ANAIZ WAS BAPTIZED IN ROME!!! PRAISE HIM!! 

While we re on the subject, not only did we host several visitors in the school, we also got to use our spare room ( in our personal apartment )  for the first time! it was funny because we had 4 visitors literally back to back- Mino (from Puglia), our two mexican sisters, and Marina (from Milan).  Since they all came while the BAT group was here, we had zero available beds in the school other than our spare room. So thank goodness for the spare room! :) it also was good social practice for our doggies. haha * side note- to all of you that know the girls (doggies) they are so much more social! youd have to see it to believe it!

Jodi, Natasha, and Morgan

We also had the pleasure of hosting Jodi's friend Natasha who came to visit us for about a week! 

Jay and Alicia Walls and company ;)

While we didnt actually get to host Jay and Alicia and their team, we did get to spend a little time with them while they were visiting! They brought their children with them as well as a small group of college students. 

here we were welcoming Jay and Alicia at the Florence church building. It was nice to be all together!

2.   WE   V I S I T .

Andrea Masini.

Andrea and his brother Paul are two of the oldest members of the Florence COC. Andrea's wife is not a christian. he also lives about 45 min from the church building out in the country. We are trying to make regular visits to spend time with Andrea and hopefully be an encouragement to him. 

Luigi and Julie/ Eric, the leaning tower of Pisa, and me

The Saturday before the BAT group arrived, Julie was having one of her follow up surgeries to create  her new eyelid. She had a horrible accident last fall and luckily came out ok besides almost loosing her left eye. all this to say she has had a few surgeries already and will continue to have them until her eyelid is restored. Anyways, we wanted to show her some love and support from us at the Bible School, so we all went to visit her the morning before her surgery. The hospital is very highly esteemed and is located literally across from the leaning tower of Pisa. who knew?! the surgery went extremely well and she was even able to go home the very next day! Praise God! 

Bingo at the Nursing Home.

Right up the hill from the Bible School is a very very nice nursing home. in the past the Bible School has been well affiliated with this place and the people working here (taking the youth there to sing hymns, doing actives together, making visits), and we want to keep that going! one wednesday, we went and played Bingo with the old folks there. I hope we can continue to make frequent visits !

visiting Pistoia.

One night in June, the church in Pistoia organized an evening together that included watching the movie Fireproof together. it's always a pleasure to visit our brothers and sisters- especially the churches that are close to us in tuscany. its important for eric and i that our team have plenty of opportunities to be with our christian family here. we believe in working together with the italians, and the first step in accomplishing this is getting to know one another! please pray for our team in these efforts. sometimes the culture differences/intimidations can be a struggle- pray for us to be confident in the Spirits ability to lead us, teach us, and  U S E  us!

After watching the film and discussing it together, we watched the european cup together! it apparently a really good match . . .  except that Italy lost :(

Vecchiano.

Since we've been at the school, we have made several trips back and forth to Vecchiano. ( ive blogged about these visits ) Last month, Esmerelda, Maria, and I made another visit to see our sister Sandra. 

Just recently we learned that Sandra has left the church in Vecchiano ( 5 people ) due to the fact that the preacher does not believe Jesus Christ to be God. This preacher was once a Jehovah's witness. Sandra brought her concerns to the us at the Florence church and one of our members named Alfredo agreed to lead regular studies on why we believe ( based on the Scriptures ) that Jesus is in fact God. 

Sadly, even after all of this, the preacher still refused to accept the truth. I am communicating all of this for a couple of reasons. 1) obviously to help us pray for this man and his teaching 2) pray for Sandra. Sandra's husband is not a believer yet. She has 2 beautiful young girls and as of now no church to attend. We will be going to visit her more frequently and having church in her home. Please pray for these efforts  . . .  this could be a blessing in disguise. 

3.   R E T R E A T S

Family Retreat in Velletri.

During the summers, we also have a few retreats. One annual retreat is the Velletri family retreat. Normally there is a very good turn out, however this year, i felt that wasnt exactly the case . i say this bc normally we have around 80-100 in attendance, this year we were around 50. 

the church in italy is struggling. it seems like this new generation ( 30 and younger) are absolutely MIA. the churches are very small in number. there are few leaders and the leaders that they do have are tired- not too tired to carry on- but noticeably tired. its hard to know how to jump in . . . doing too much (aka past missionaries with the best of intentions, who have jumped in and taken over for lack of better words ) doesnt allow the people to take ownership of their faith and inhibits them from learning to lead . . . (we unfortunately see this a lot)

 At the Bible School we are in a unique position. we arent necessarily the missionaries to the Florence COC. we arent tied to a single congregation, but we also cant take the entire country on our shoulders either. We have our students that we meet with regularly who really are searching for Christ. We are pulled in many different directions because of the NEEDS of this country and at times it can feel confusing. returning to the message of "choosing Jesus" what we re finding is the need for consistency. This country has seen a lot of missionaries come and go. even lot of avanti workers! i think the most effective and important responsibility we have to offer these people is a consistent servant's heart. strengthening our brotherly relationships as the Lord blesses us with the opportunities to do so, and serving them in truth any way we can. because they are so few, its hard for them to stay encouraged at times. we believe focusing on the daily task of service over time will bring about fruit. as the prophet Isaiah so bravely said ," here i am Lord, send me." pray for our hearts to be willing and trusting. God can use even the smallest of seeds.

Singing and studying the word together. 

The next upcoming retreat will be here at the Bible School! Florence annual youth retreat :) please pray for us in this effort!!! 

4.  S T U D I E S   A N D   S T U D E N T S

left - Andrea and Maria

right - Alfredo, Eric, and Maurizio

Our Monday night English Bible study is going so great! We are studying the book of Mark and always have such wonderful discussions. For the summer, we have invited the Florence church members to come and join us---they are obviously always invited! ;) but in the summer, Giovanni takes a break from his thursday night lesson that he leads at the Florence church building. so we offered to make our english Bible study into an english and italian study for the summer months. This was sort of rocky in the beginning due to the back and forth of translating. you can loose some significance as well as the overall flow of the conversation. the past few mondays that we have met when an italian only speaker is present, i have been translating simultaneously while the study is being led. this approach has been a lot more successful! 

Please keep this Bible study in your prayers!

Eric giving a devo at HU.

Every semester, we try to get together with the HUF kids at least once or twice. We like to welcome them as well as tell them a little about Avanti Italia!

This june i turned 28! 

Some of my students organized a night out to dinner all together to celebrate :)

I hope this break down gives you an idea of the flexible summers we have here at the school! its certainly different from our fall/winter/spring semesters, but we believe it to be fruitful. 

A M E R I C A ??

Eric, me, Hannah, mom, and dad

Back in March my parents offered to fly Eric and I to meet them and my sister in NC for a period of 12 days . . . and we accepted!! After a big year of transitions, it was so  U P L I F T I N G  to be around family! the love and support they showered us with was such a tremendous encouragement. 

we are so thankful for you guys!

12 days obviously flew by. spending time with your loved ones is always special, but even more so when your time is limited together. not being able to be together makes me even more certain of our call. following Jesus costs us something. its different for each of us but overall its the same. it costs us our   l i v e s    ---  but we live for not what is seen but what is unseen, and we carry on, believing the promise of eternity with Him. again, what a privilege it is to be in His service!  

the AI group plus Emily ;)

Lastly, we have to report that Morgan has decided to return to the USA. After serving with us one year, she is now engaged and will be begining a new chapter in her life very soon. We miss her already, but know that God is with her and will use her wherever she lands! thank you for your time with us Morgan! Ti vogliamo bene!!

Today i was also encouraged by this verse and i hope you will be as well :)

"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13

 Please pray for us to have boldness in our work, that our neighbors will notice that we are His when they interact with us, and that we may joyfully remember that we are in His service! Thank you for all of your support. its always uplifting to know that we are working together for His glory! We love you!

xoxo

E and J