Relaxing and Productive

I talked about how we got here but I haven't had the chance to talk about what's it's been like here. Though my team mates have been doing a wonderful job of explaining to you what we've been up to, I'm excited to have a chance to get in on the fun. Now it's my turn again!

Jesse, who has been our main leader here in Italy, left on Friday so we've been under the leadership of Samuel (another missionary here who works with the school and is a leader in the church), and though we miss Jesse a lot. Sam has been a lot of fun to get to know.

Church here is in the evenings, And Sam decided we would have the morning off. His wife, who is 6 months pregnant with their second child, had a scare this past weekend with the baby and so she very much needed him with her to help, as she is still feeling weak. Please be praying for Amber, Samuel and their small family. Especially the new little one, that he or she will be healthy and well and not give Amber to much trouble.

We didn't do much in the morning. We finished Batman Begins (A first for me.. in my opinion, so much better than Dark Knight), played some card games (a very popular pass time with our team), and slept.

Church went well though. It's so very interesting to me to not know the language being spoken around me. The whole church service was in Italians with no translator so I only understood a few words (baptism, Jesus, God, water, baby), but it was a lot of fun. They baptized one of the missionary's daughters, Abby, which was very exciting! Please be praying for that missionary family as well. The Wells are their names and they are getting ready to go back to the states for a year to educate some of their younger children on American culture. Even though they know they need to go for a bit they are all very sad to leave. If anyone has a passion and love for the Italian people it's that family! Their oldest daughter at home translated for us quite a bit. The whole family is very talented with language it's amazing!

Anyway, the church had a potluck after which gave us time to fellowship and encourage the Italian believers. Seth. Brianna and I got the chance to talk to two very nice Italians who spoke English, for a good 45 minutes to an hour. They asked about what we were studying and how our government works (that was a fun thing to try and explain to someone who hasn't grown up with the ideas of freedom we have. An interesting experience).

After that we went down to the piaza to do our last day of mimes. There wasn't a lot of people out but God did bless us with a girl from the church (Genesis) to translate for us. The awesome thing was she also knows Spanish and so does our lovely Lacy! So Lacy got to explain a mime in Spanish and Genesis translated into Italian. It didn't make any sense to me as I can only speak English (and not even that very well some times) but it really got the attention of the Italians. It was awesome to see how God took both those ladies gifts of languages, and put them to good use. I felt so honored that I got to see it unfold.
We only got to do a couple of mimes but right near the end a group of actors studying at an acting school here in North Italy found us and were very interested. Dario got into a good conversation with one of the ladies and Joey got to get to know the other three. I don't remember all of their names but one was Alexandro and another was Arrana (I'm not quite sure how you spell her name but maybe something like that). Please be praying for them and their friends that the seeds that were planted would be watered and grow.

After that it was pretty late and we headed back to the Center to fall into bed. Even though we didn't do a lot it was a productive day. Thank you for all your support and prayers. As we near the close of our trip we need it more than ever.

With Blessings,
Rose Miller

The Smallest Thing Can Do Major Things to Your Heart

One of my other teammates already wrote about the day that I'll treasure in my heart always. Thursday was another day of routine that we were used to. We did tract distribution in the morning, had lunch and riposo, devotions, and then went to Pordenone for Kids' Ministry and miming. We do Kids' Ministry in parks, but on our way to do mimes, there were a lot of kids in a piaza, so we decided to do Kids' Ministry there too. I held the cloth for the puppet show, so I wasn't out with the kids at the beginning. After the puppets were put away, I sat down on the edge of the group of kids. After a little while, an adorable little black boy wandered over. He was probably two years old, and he just randomly patted my arm. So I put my hand up and he patted my hand. He moved to other boys that were listening to the story and hit them, and I tried to show him not to do that. Then he wandered back to his mom for a bit. He came back to me, and I know he said "Mama." I don't know if he thought I was his mom, or what. Anyway, he wrapped his arms around my neck for a little hug. Then he let go, but still stayed by me and just touched and patted my face. It was so cute and I really wish I had a picture of him, but I'll have a picture of him in my heart always. Kids' Ministry is so refreshing anyway, but God gave me this little jewel to remember from the trip. I know that I will remember the people who we had conversations with after mimes, but this little boy stole my heart and he is probably what I will always think of when I think about Italy.

So that was my little experience, but yesterday was also an experience. It started out relaxed (breakfast was at 9:30 instead of 8). Then we started to finish Batman Begins, but moved on to play Phase 10. It wasn't finished before it was time for lunch. We left around 1:30 for the town of Acqualeia to see the oldest legally built church. We looked at some mosaics and the baptism and headed to look in the church, but it was closed because a wedding was going to take place there. And the clock tower wasn't open until 3:30. So we decided to wait a bit and got, of course, gelato. Then it was time for the clock tower to open, so we walked over and paid to climb the 127 winding, claustrophobic steps to see the view from the top. By the time we reached the top, my thighs were shaky, and I was slightly winded and dizzy. The view was amazing though. Then we walked around the graveyard as we waited for the church to open. We sat for a bit, and saw the bride and groom exit the church. It was interesting to see Italian fashion in a wedding. Finally we were able to enter the church. It was soooo beautiful. I loved the columns and arches.

When we were done there we traveled to Grado to relax more and see the ocean. The water was beautiful. It was kind of brownish close to the walkway, but was an amazing teal out further. I was pretty hungry, so Teleah, Caleb, and I went to find a snack. We found a cafe and bought pasteries. They were delicious. A little sweet and chocolatey, but they held us over until we got to Udine and had wonderful cheesy pizza :)

We waited until later to go out and do mimes because it was the weekend, so the people came out later and stayed out later. There were so many more people out at bars and walking around all dressed up. We drew large crowds for mimes, but the people left before we could approach them. It was interesting to see how a large crowd affected our acting. I wish the people would've stayed so we had a chance to talk about the Gospel with them. Teleah had a good conversation with two Italian girls who spoke really good English. Pray for them, and the other conversations that took place last night. We stayed out until around 11:30 and came back to the center. Even though there were some interesting things that happened last night, I really liked having more people around. We only have two days left and I pray that things continue to go as God plans and we all stay flexible.

With a blessed heart,
Katrina Garrard

Gods Will!?!

Through Gods Amazing Grace we have had incredible weather! It has been sunny and hot up until yesterday. The AM looked promising, the sun was out and the day was cool, God is good! We passed out tracks in San Vito, Italy. As we go around putting tracks into mailboxes we see names, these names represent people, and the people represent souls. We pray for these souls and ask God to do His will, and bring them to the light.

Because the town we were in is small it did not take long for the 11 people here to cover the area. We were able to go to weekly the market, and experience the lives of the people we were sent to evangelize. After about an hour of walking through the market we headed back to Saints Bible Institute for lunch and Riposo. By the way the food here is AMAZING! After riposo we had a devotional with Dario about hearts and the states of man's heart before and after Christ ( going from hardened and dull, to softened and empathetic).

Afterward we set out again, for another afternoon of miming and reaching the lost people of Italy. The clouds became dark and we were starting to wonder if miming would be possible? The Italians hate rain and wind by themselves but when you put them together, you will not see an Italian outside let alone standing in it to watch a mime about a man they know little to nothing about. Needless to say rain and wind were definitely in God's plans, because the winds were blowin and the water was comin down! So we stopped at a mall near Pordenona, to wait for the weather to clear up. It Didn't. After about an hour we decided to go back to the center (Saints Bible Institute).

At the center our ministry took the shape of mopping and sweeping the grounds, and just doing some chores that desperately needed to be done. After doing these chores God rewarded us with Spaghetti! YUM!! 

God is so AMAZING he knows what he is doing, and sometimes it stumps us and we don't understand, we just need to know we don't need to understand and just let God do His thing! You are hearing about the darkness for this country, but there are lights scattered throughout the country. We are reminded of this nearly every day when a believer walks up to us and tells us how encouraging it is to see people committing their time and efforts to tell the Fruilano people about God's Gift! Gesú! 

Thank you all so much for your support and please continue in your prayers. Please pray that the few believers here continue to stay strong in their faith and let their light shine for the Father!


In Christ,
Seth James

Another beautiful day serving Him...

Buona Sera Amici! 
      God keeps on blessing us with beautiful, sunny days here in Italy! The sweat drips off our foreheads but we keep on smiling--we are sweating for Jesus! I actually have six blisters total on my feet--and it's awesome! Every blister is like a small reminder for me that I'm actually doing something for God; to suffer for Him in any way, no matter how small, is a blessing and a privilege. It is such a privilege to be here.
     Today we returned to Udine to distribute some more tracts in another part of the citta (town). I, for one, find the two or so hours of tract distribution very rewarding. Not only am I giving people the opportunity to read a little bit about God that might hopefully spark some interest in their hearts, but I also get to spend some quality time with a fellow brother/sister in Christ and have some incredible deep conversations. Every day I'm growing more in my walk with Christ and part of that process of growth involves relationships with other believers--it's so important to have others share their testimony and their journey with the Lord.
    After tract distribution, Jesse and Dario took us to a cute little park where we had lunch (our sandwiches we had packed earlier) and then went on a little walk to a mall--an Italian mall! It wasn't a whole lot different than the ordinary American mall--lots of people, lots of stores, extremely pricey--but just the experience of being in an Italian mall was pretty neat. Oh and the gelato I had--fiore di latte with fragola (milk flower with strawberry)--was amazing! Possibly my favorite gelato combination so far.
     We went back to the little park after the gelato and spent the rest of riposo in the little park. After riposo, Jesse led in some worship there on the grass and then did a short devotional about unity with us. He talked about the importance of unity within a team and within all believers. He told our team that there was good unity between us--that was great to hear. :)
      After the devo, we packed our stuff and headed to the piaza to perform some mimes. Although there weren't many people there to watch, we were still able to have some good conversations with a few who did stop and showed interest. Even though it can be frustrating to not be able to say more than a few words in Italian and not be able to communicate on our own beyond that, we are still planting seeds and we are still able to start the conversation and spark their interest in knowing more about what we are doing and what it all means. One thing that really intrigues the people is the fact that we came all the way from the U.S. to spread the word. Not to vacation or sightsee--but to tell others about the TRUTH that is Jesus Christ.
      Please continue to pray for those little seeds we are planting and for those people who will go home at night and see that little pink or yellow tract in their mailbox. Pray that they read it and that their hearts nudge them to want to know more.
In Him,
Lacy

A Glimpse Into Gods Work In Italy!

There's a first time for everything

So, I am blogging from a perspective of a missionary who has never actually evangelized. Before any of our followers become too confused allow me to explain. Every mission trip I had ever been on in the past has never actually been based on preaching the gospel. In fact, there have been very few times I have verbally told the message of Jesus Christ. So, approaching people in the streets and attempting to mimic the strategy of the Italian full time missionary, Jesse, by saying, "Let me tell you about Jesus!" to a complete stranger has been somewhat of a struggle to embrace. Nonetheless, yesterday was a day of firsts.
It was our teams first time passing out tracts in Udine, Italy. Before we passed out tracts Jesse told us a little bit about the people group. Udine is in the most Northeastern part of Italy. It has been overtaken and pillaged by more people groups that currently exist within it's small "borders" therefore making the people cold to anyone who implicates change, and, especially, foreigners. Another factor adding to their unwillingness to accept or hear the gospel is the influence of the Catholic Church. Yes, the people know who God is, but the hypocrisy of the church has kept the people of Italy and its' regions at an arms length away from the love of Christ; because the message of Christ has been so contorted by the Catholic Church people would rather have no relationship with God.
We walked through town northeast from the ABC (Assemblea Biblia Cristiano) Church. Many Italians were reluctant to allow us to put the tract in their mail boxes; we were blown off with a sharp, "NO!" through their buzz buttons outside of apartment buildings. It was just another reflection of the characteristics of the people. They don't trust the government, anyone they really don't know, and do not want to trust them. Based off of my experiences in the mission field it's one of the hardest people groups to reach.
After tracts and lunch, we finally had an opportunity for Children's Ministry. This was exciting, especially for me, because I love children and their willingness to believe in God highly surpasses the faith of their parents or teachers. We started with puppets to draw the children in. After, Seth read a story about Speedy, the car who got dirty and needed someone to clean him up (the gospel message). It was refreshing to see a group of Italians who embraced us instead of mocking us or blowing us off completely. It was a pick-me up the group needed.
After children's ministry we started out towards to plaza to do street ministry. During out mime King of Hearts a team member and I had the opportunity to talk to a woman from Croatia named Sanda. Her husband was from Italy and she seemed more than interested in the mime. Through conversation we found she was a Catholic who wanted guidance for her kids but was too busy to go to church every week, she rarely read her bible, and her husband was interested in being protestant/evangelical. It was a great opportunity to explain to her that I am not a religious person, but a person who focuses on a relationship with Christ. I embrace his love and my works don't save me. We agreed on a lot of doctrinal elements, gave her a tract and the gospel of John.
Please pray for her and her family to make the decision to come to the church and to see the way a relationship with Christ could look in her life. This experience with the Italian people has been interesting and revealing everyday. God loves them more than any missionary could even though they don't realize it. I feel honored to plant seeds, even if it is for the first time.
With Love
Teleah Moss

A Better Understanding of the Mision Field

Yesterday afternoon I had a truly eye opening experience. Our team had just  performed one of our mimes on the street and we were getting ready to hand out tracts.  As Lacey finished her explanation of the mime I spotted a couple starting to leave. I chased after them holding up a tract shouting all the words I knew in Italian (which is like 5 words). They turned around and allowed me to speak. "No parlo italiano... Sono americano... Ah (grunt)... Parli inglese?" I was extremely excited when the men looked at me and said "go ahead." Yes! they spoke English.

As we began to talk back and forth the man (named Alby) became interested in why I was in Italy. I told him that I was part mission trip from Oregon spreading the gospel through mime. He thought the idea was cool. It was at this time that Jesse came over (one of the areas long term missionaries). He jumped right into the conversation. The the girl (Julia) also became more active in the conversation. For awhile we carried on a with a little small talk and friendly joking. Then Jesse asked about the tract. He also asked about Jesus and and his message. This is when I stopped talking and just listened. Of the few short days I have been in Italy I can honestly say I learned more in that 15 minute conversation then all the rest of the time here put together, and that is saying a lot. 

First the Alby and Julia talked about how they liked Jesus "He is a cool guy ... I am a fan of Jesus and his message" said Alby. But when it came to talking about church and religion both Alby and Julia scowled a little bit. Julia began to talk about all the hypocrisy in the Catholic church and how they have caused so much damage over the years and hurt so many people. This bothered Julia so much that she finally said "I hate God and do not believe in Him." To Julia and Alby there was no other church beyond the Catholic church, sure they knew others existed, but the Catholic Church was the only one they knew.

The conversation moved on to the message of Jesus, Alby said "the message of Jesus is love." He repeated this thought many times. He went on to talk about how Christians today block out that message and focus only on themselves. They do not help the  beggar on the street right outside the church.  "church should be a celebration" he said. He then talked about how whenever he went to church it was always sad and harmful the the message of Jesus' love. "In church Christians put up barriers" said Alby. But Jesse was persistent and talked about what his church was doing. Alby liked this idea and the two exchanged numbers. Julia also opened up. The whole experience is one I will never forget.  There was so much more to the conversation I wish I could write out, but alas I am running out of time. I hope this blesses you as much as it does me. There is such a need in this country that until now I have not been able to fully recognize. Pray us that we may be able to fulfill the task that Christ has laid out for us.


God Bless,

Caleb Ringhand

I give it all up...

Yesterday was the busiest day thus far of our trip --It was our first day passing out tracts and  it was our first day out in the streets of Italy performing a mime that depicted the Gospel of Christ. Passing out tracts was fun. We went from apartment to apartment putting tracts with the Gospel message in their mailboxes. The tracts probed the curiosity of the Italians by asking interesting questions about their lives  because the Italians live day to day with no real purpose in life. Without God there is no real purpose.
Later, we had to skip children's ministry for the day because we forgot the puppets which acts as a lure to draw the kids in, so we headed straight to the downtown area, piazza. As I saw the crowds of beautiful yet closed off people I became increasingly nervous with each step. The piazza was filled with a few hundred people, most wearing extravagant clothing, all intimidating. I had never performed a mime in front of anyone that wasn't a Christian before. I nervously wondered if the people would receive it, if they would stop and look, if they would ignore us completely, or if they would, worst of all, mock us. All of our hard work, all of our practicing and fund-raising was finally coming to fruition... We were here.
The first mimers took their place to the mime called, "In the Light." As the music started the remainder of our team not performing the mime acted as part of the crowd. I look onward toward my team as they showed how the devil can use temptation to trap us; to put us in a box and make us feel as we have no other option but to end our lives. But, of course, Christ is the only one strong enough to break that box and to give us fellowship with Him. I thought this mime and the message of it was great... The Italians thought a little differently. Only a few people stopped and watched for a few minutes, and the group of teenagers behind the audience were not afraid to mockingly show their opinion. At first I was discouraged.
Never had I ever been on a missions trip where we were actually evangelizing to the people, talking and networking amongst the crowds.. Simply telling people about the gospel; and people weren't listening, almost no one cared. Except for one.. His name is Shawn. He's an Albanian teen that speaks Italian, Spanish, and English. He stayed and watched the whole mime and later talked with Jesse, the main missionary here in Italy. I was delighted to hear they exchanged numbers and will start reading the bible together regularly. Pray for Shawn as he tries to start the flame of his faith in a country that so quickly wants to put it out.
I was also reminded of Paul. He went from city to city, even places in Italy to preach the gospel of Christ. He wasn't just mocked, but spit on, beaten, stoned twice, imprisoned, and even stripped naked. Yet, he never stopped talking, never stopped traveling, never stopped sharing and showing the love of Christ with those who need it-- which is everyone. If he can do all that in the name of Christ, I know our team can as well. I give it all up. All the timidity I have when I encounter someone who speaks a different language, all the second thoughts I have when I find myself out of my comfort zone, and all my nervousness when doing a mime. I find pride when I am mocked in the name of Jesus Christ, because Christ was persecuted and I strive to be like Him.
The need is so big here, I never realized we were needed this much. But we are and we are here for a reason. Pray for endurance, pray for God's love to show through us, and pray for open hearts and ears.
With Love,
Teleah Moss

Italy, here we are!

The flight to Italy itself was good. Our team got to all sit together and we even met a Italian girl who lives in the area we will be doing most of our ministry. Sleeping is a little odd on a plane but you get use to it I suppose. I (Rose) didn't mind it at least. Caleb had an interesting run in with a German man who told him to stop shaking his leg. Somewhere in the middle of the night Seth and Brianna decided to trade spots, but as Seth went to get up he grabbed the back of the Italian's seat which woke her quite suddenly in a terrible fright. I wasn't awake but I heard later she was pretty upset. She thought the plane was going down or something. As we were getting ready to get off the plane she apologized. Overall I thought the trip was quite enjoyable for my first over seas trip.

My first thought getting off the plane was, "Man, it's hot!" The plane wasn't cold but it wasn't warm either and walking into the airport was like walking into a room where the heat has been left on to long. The sun was shining, and it was beautiful. We all got our bags, which is a blessing. You never know if your bags will get put on your next plane when you have a switch like we did.

After waiting for a while in the airport our team leader got there. Because our plane was late it messed everything up so we ended up having to take a bus and than a train to get back to the Center. The train stations are very nice here. You go under ground to get to the other side of the tracks which I loved and hated at the same time. I loved it because it was something new for this western girl, I hated it because I had a bag that would not do what it was supposed to do. I dropped it on an Italian lady's foot. That was embarrassing.
The train was wonderful though! I loved watching Italy pass by, and I'm glad in a lot of ways they didn't have a van for us. We had more space this way and it was enjoyable to listen to the Italians talk.

We got to the Center about 2pm or so. The rest of the day was filled with meeting our two added members, Wes and Joey, unpacking, eating and just trying to stay awake until bed time.

We were all glad to see the clock hit 9pm though. I think that's the earliest I've gone to bed in the last year!

Are we there yet?

Well we made it! All the way to Italy! Our trip here was a bit longer than exspected but God got us through. Now we are just trying to stay awake until bed time.

We arrived early into Portland to catch our flight to Phili, which took off right on time. I (Rose) had the most wonderful opportunity to sit by two elderly ladies who were taking a tour around Italy starting in Rome. As I started talking to them I discovered they were Christians and I had the chance to tell them about what I was doing and how God has been working in my life this last year at Corban. We had to be a bit longer on the flight than planned due to traffic back up in Philadelphia, so it was nice to be sitting next to them.
Since our plane was late into Phili we literally had to run to our connection that would take us to Italy. Running through a airport you've never been in before is quite interesting, let me tell you.
After getting on the plan that would take us to Venice, we ended up having to sit in the plane at the gate, because there was a door that needed to be fixed. That took about three hours. Then we were 15th in line to take off...

The Countdown Begins!!!

We have 6 days before we fly out to start our ministry. But as I write that, I am reminded that our ministry started long before that. God placed us on this team to be lights for Him. Not just in Italy, but here, in our Corban community, in our homes, and to our friends even while we are preparing to go. It has definitely been an adventure getting to where we are now, but we have seen God work in marvelous ways, and I am blessed beyond imagination to be a part of what He is doing.

With a little less than a week left, our whole team is just so excited. Part of me feels as though this next week will seem like forever. But then again, I know it will just fly by us. Before we know it, we'll be landing in Venice and enduring the long car ride to San Lorenzo, meeting the missionaries, miming in the piazzas, and sharing the love of Christ to all who will listen. I can't wait!

Although we are still short some funds, the organization (Saints Equipped to Evangelize) is willing to work with us and have assured us they will not cancel the trip which is a huge relief. We are still needing about $2,000 to pay to SEE, but we will cut costs wherever we can.

Please continue to keep our team in your prayers as well as the missionaries over in Italy. To put names to the missionaries, they are Ken and Ruthanne, and Tom and Mourine. The man who taught us our pantomimes and who is meeting us in Italy is Daryl. He will be flying out Monday, May 16th. So be in prayer for safe travel for him as well.

Thanks again for all the support you have given to us. God Bless!

~ Brianna

Little Encouragement amidts Discouragement

As of now, our team is still short about $3,000. We are trying to work with the organization to see if there is anywhere we can cut costs for the trip to make it cheaper (i.e taking trains rather than paying for gas in a vehicle). We are currently awaiting their reply, but unfortunately haven't heard back from them in a couple weeks.

Please pray for cooperation as well as safety as we aren't sure what is holding up communication. Pray there is understanding and peace for both our team as well as the missions organization. Sorry this isn't the best of news for this post but God will work things out.

I talked with a lady today about the trip and what she said has lifted my spirits a bit: "No matter where you are, whether you're preparing to go or already there, you will encounter struggles. But in those times, ask God how He wants to use you and you'll be blessed." Pray with us as we watch God work through this trip.