Monday - A Step in the Right Direction

Ciao again! (I promise, by the end of this trip, I'm positive you will all remember this word...It's a good one)

So, Sunday was the worst. Or at least it pretty much was. But Monday was still rough. When I went to bed on Sunday, I felt really encouraged because I had finally broken the fever. I was like, "yes! I'm not sick anymore!" But...I woke up in the middle of the night still feeling really bad stomach pains. I was able to get up and go through my day, but my time with the Lord in the morning before our first meeting suffered. Mainly because I just DIDN'T FEEL LIKE GETTING UP. I guess it was still from the jet lag or something. Or from my stomach attacking me. 

Either way...it stunk. But it was better than the previous day.

Every day of the week we as a group (following alone time with the Lord and breakfast), our group got together for a time of worship and teaching from one of the staff members here in Turin. This morning we spent some time talking about the idea of fear, and how love for others and for the Lord drives it out (1 John 4:18). Anthony spoke on his experiences living among a people group that is particularly known for being really passionate. He asked us this question:

"What does it mean to be a PASSIONATE person?"

Coming from a partly Italian yet very blunt and forward New Yorker family, I have seen many sides to passion, in both good and bad ways. Passion to me has always been the idea of things that remind me of the color red: the idea of drive, focus, and even a bit of anger from time to time (I mean...I'm only human after all). Throughout our talk, Anthony summed up passion well: single-mindedness, with focus on a vision that one wants to cast. And for me, I never really thought of it that way. But it makes perfect sense.

After a while, I started to see why this was the first topic of our week in Torino. Throughout the talk, we tried to make some parallels between not only those attributes, but also how they translate into our walks with the Lord. So, if passion is single-mindedness on a vision, then that's our mission. We have a calling to move and shake on behalf of the Lord and His will in our lives, and only from Him can we receive such passionate drive. 

We are passionate because he passionately seeks us. And through his passionate love and sacrifice for our sake on the cross, we have no reason not to pursue people in the same way, no matter where we are or who we may be. We're all children of God bearing His image.

Needless to say, that was an excellent opening to the week. And going into our first day of planning for English clubs, what could be better to focus on than passionate pursuit of people? So, that's what we did.

So, a little more of detail about how this week looked. Each day after morning worship, sharing, and teaching, our English club groups would break up to plan what we would do each evening. I worked with the intermediate English level, so students that can sustain a conversation but may not be completely fluent in wording. So, I felt like there could be some opportunity for us.

And there was. In fact, God made it clear that that was the case.

When teaching English, our groups focused on four things: vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, topical activity, and bible discussion. And each day our five members would lead out different things. Each day we had a topic to focus on, and this time it was family. So the hope is that we could talk about who our students are by getting to get to know their families, etc. I led the idioms section, and that was a blast. Being able to explain familial phrases, such as a chip off the old block and "taking after" someone was fun. And the students like that section a lot.

But the real work comes from the last part of each night. After we have a half hour break for snacks and simply to talk with our students, which is nice because they like making conversation and hearing about our lives (and speaking contextual English of course). And what blows my mind is people there really take knowing English seriously. So, for a language educator in the states, this excited me. If only people in the United States could see that...

This is what our classes typically looked like: we worked with topical vocabulary, idioms, and practiced them with various activities. Discussion about a story in the Bible related to the topic of the day followed a snack break.

But after the break ends, the groups come back together for a discussion about a particular story of the bible related to the topic being focused on that day. So, for example, the topic this evening was over family. And so to match that we talked about the birth of Jesus. We talked about what christmas means to us as Christians, how they celebrate that holiday here in Italy, and simply breaking the ice with them. Less people usually stay for the bible stuff, but we always have a good group. And the ball was officially got rolling!

We ended the night by trying out a local place our leader Paul suggested to us. We went as a group of Americans, because since our relationships had barely begun with our students we didn't really get the chance to meet up with them, but we knew that would happen. So, we dined as tourists. But what was really encouraging, and I will end with this, was the interactions we had with the waiters while there. When we got there, we all thought we would be labeled as "those annoying Americans" (because, let's face it, we sometimes are), but from the time we sat down to the time we got up, the employees there were nothing but pleasant. They made us laugh and we made them laugh, they always asked how we were doing, and the most surprising part was this: they spoke really good English! And the reason I say that is because English is not common in Italy.

"People that speak three languages are trilingual. People that speak two are bilingual. And people that speak one? Italian."

And this positive interaction carried on throughout the week. So, for me, I found that to be a major blessing and even a great reinforcement for what Anthony told us from the very beginning. We're people. They're people. If we act in love and enthusiasm, they are going to respond the same way. And that's where mission starts to take form.

Until the next post, ciao for now!

Uneasy Beginnings...

Ciao di nuovo, ragazzi! (Hello once again folks!)

So, I definitely want to apologize for the lapse in time since the last post. A lot has happened since last time, but the transition has been rougher than expected. So much, in fact, that the first day was not really that easy to muscle down. And I'm sorry if this post is a bit long, but I promise: afterwards you will understand why.

So, based on the title of this post, you would think that I meant something along the lines of "the jet lag was really hard to get over" (which it was), or "the culture was really shocking to me" (which, it kind of was [I have Spain to thank for that one really...], or "I don't know what I'm doing" (which, that is also true). But, my motive behind the title was really none of those. It was actually for a very different reason...

I was sick like a dog.

And it was more than just a slight cough and the sniffles. From the time I woke up Sunday morning till the time I went to bed, everything just got worse and worse. The only time I actually felt fine was before I went down to breakfast. We stayed at a hotel in Milan after getting into the country. It was a Holiday Inn, and I was definitely looking forward to having a good meal before we started off to Turin. I gorged, but because I was running late I ate a bit fast.

The bus ride to Turin was okay, and we had some really good conversation with our driver (he spoke Spanish as well as Italian, so we could communicate pretty well). 

Things seem fine right?

The highlight of the day was definitely when we got to Turin. We had the opportunity to go to church with the people that we would be working with teaching English for the week. And, at that time, it was an incredible blessing just to see the incredible enthusiasm and heart for the Lord these people have. They may be a small church (protestant Christianity is not common here in Italy, and most of Europe really), but they really care about the Lord and the rest of the world around them. And on top of that, we had two languages bouncing around during the entire message. See, our pastor Carl spoke on what it means to be passive, showing us where it came from and how it affects our personal walk with the Lord. He also challenged us with this question:

What is a step of faith God is asking you to take this week?

This got me thinking. My first thought was obviously, "Coming to Italy was my leap of faith!". But, after a while, I realized that that wasn't really what was on my mind. See...for most people, Italy is all new. The culture and the language are both really shocking, and truthfully quite different from the United States. And I definitely don't speak Italian, but the truth is...I feel comfortable here. Knowing Spanish helps a lot with not only understanding, but also sometimes communicating. So, I believe God was pushing me to something more. And at the time I wasn't really seeing it. 

We worshipped in Italian AND English. So cool!

This is the church that we are working with. They are called "Il Rifugio", or the Refuge.

We had lunch at the church, but this is where the tables started to turn. I started getting a stomachache during the service, and it only got worse when food was present. I started to have thoughts about what it could have been, but because we been through so much traveling I couldn't pinpoint it. So, I just dealt with it. We ended the service at 12:30 or so, and the lunch went until about 2.

Things got worse.

After eating (or, in my case, not), one of the staff at the church here in Turin, Anthony (no, he's not Italian...he's actually from Colorado) took us on a brief tour of the city center. At first it seemed like a lot of fun, because I love exploring new places! However...as the trip went on, I just got more and more uncomfortable and borderline angry.

My body was rebelling, and I was trying not to listen. Every time we would stop to talk about the next place on the list, I would crouch down and hold my stomach, breathing slowly. I lost focus on almost every detail of the tour, didn't try the famous gelato everyone had told me about, and was glad to hear when we were returning to check into our hotel. Needless to say, none of those things are normal for me.

But it didn't stop there. In fact, this is the best part.

Before checking into the hotel, Paul wanted to have an orientation meeting for the English club stuff. And at this point, this was the LAST thing I wanted to do. But I knew it was necessary, so I endured. Or at least tried to.

But I was unsuccessful.

Of the hour and a half total we had the meeting, I was present for maybe a third of it. The rest of the time I spent in the bathroom. And for the first time since I turned 15, I threw up. And I threw up hard. And it didn't stop there. After I ended that mess, I instantly started feeling really cold.

And then when we left for the hotel, I started getting really hot. When we got to the hotel, I couldn't even handle going up the stairs. I had to take the elevator, because if I tried to push myself I was sure I would once again hurl. The only time I felt okay was when I laid on my back and was completely covered up. And I stayed that way THE REST OF THE DAY. I didn't move. And I slept. And I sweat. And I slept some more. While everyone else took their first shots at exploring the city and trying out the local delicacies and hotspots. Then I realized what my true leap of faith was that Carl had been asking about.

"TRUST in the Lord with ALL your heart, and lean not on your OWN understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight." - Proverbs 3:5-6

See, it's been about trust the whole time. It always has been. Clearly, I haven't understood what was going on with my body. In fact, it's been three days since that experience and I still don't. But, that's just it. God calls us to lean not on our own understanding AND acknowledge him in everything. And since I left Chicago, I had been acting and walking with so much confidence that I forgot to do both of those things. And not that God made me feel this way (I flat out didn't take care of myself, drinking little water and indulging in all kinds of gluttony on different foods), God revealed his truths amidst my brokenness and distress.

"For my grace is sufficient for you, and my power is made PERFECT in weakness." - 2 Corinthians 12:9

At the end of the night, my fever did end up breaking. I still had stomach pains, but at least I wasn't on fire with a virus. The next morning Carl told me that it might have been a brief stomach flu bug. Because I was the only one that experienced this. Eating is still a challenge, but at least I can take in a little more than nothing. And I also learned that because of me not drinking water and also throwing some of my fluids up, I was also dehydrated for the first time ever in my life. Great timing eh?

Surprisingly, after the fact, I actually think so.

This is the view from my room balcony. I couldn't have asked for a better sight after a hard day. :)

Alright, now you all know as to why my posts are late. Next post I will update you on what went down monday and hopefully tuesday as well. I feel bad that I fell behind, but my stomach issues and freak storms of sickness took my mind off of everything. But I'm back in action, and the Lord is still good! Praise him for this amazing day! After all, today and yesterday and the day before (despite being really hard) were STILL days the Lord has made (Psalm 118:24).

Until next time, ciao ragazzi!