Home Sweet Home

I'm back in Merced, CA. It's a little bit of an adjustment after being gone for a year. I'm trying to figure what I'm supposed to be doing here in Merced while I'm preparing to return to Italy as a career missionary. I thought it would be a good idea to stay home with my family until I go back. That way I will be able to spend time with them before a leave for an extended period of time (a minimum of four years before I'd be able to come home).

I am trying to decided where I should get involved. I want to be involved in ministries that will equip me for the work that I'll be doing in Italy. I've decided to help with High School youth group at my church as a start. The churches in Italy are in dire need of trained, energetic young people to work with their youth. Because the churches are so small the youth groups are tiny and usually consists of people from the ages of 13 to 35! I would like to be able to be able to help out with the youth group at the Ostia church, but I don't have really any experience in youth ministry. Except for being the oldest of eleven kids, of course! I guess I never felt like I was cool enough to work with High School and Junior Highers. I've always felt like such a dork!

Besides looking for ministry opportunities, I am looking for a job. I have a couple of possibilities but I'm not sure which would be the best option for me. I will be dling a lot of traveling back and forth to different churches as I try raising support and sharing with churches about what my year in Italy was like. I am trying to find a job that would be flexible with all of my trips and schedule conflicts. I know that God will provide for me as He always has!

The difficult part of me is always knowing when and where to act. I think God often gives us opportunities and then leaves us alone to make our own decisions, which I hate! Usually when I have two good options I wait until one of them goes away so that I won't have to choose between them. Anyone have some good suggestions about decision making? A book you could recommend to help me in this area of something?

WorldVenture Renewal Conference

This last week I had the chance to go to the WorldVenture Renewal conference in Denver Colorado. The Renewal conference is an opportunity for missionaries who serve with WorldVenture to come together for prayer, worship, seminars and fellowship. It is also an opportunity for people who are considering partnering with WorldVenture as missionaries to check out the organization to see if it's a good fit or not.


Because I am in the process of being appointed to return to Italy as a career missionary, this was a good chance for me to learn about the organization and meet many of the staff members who assist the missionaries while they are on the field.





The conference started with two full days of prayer!!!! When I looked at the conference schedule before arriving I couldn't imagine spending two full days just praying. My first thought was, "I am going to need a lot of Starbucks!" Of course it turned out to be a life-changing experience.




The "prayer summit" was not just random people praying for whatever for two days. They had a woman leading it. We prayed using "The Lord's Prayer" as a guide. In the first session we spent time glorifying God for his attributes. It was a beauitful time of worship. People led out with songs, verses from scripture and personal prayers. It was a great time to focus on God, remembering who He is and thanking him for it. It reminded me of Psalm 95 which says,

Come, let us sing to the Lord!

Let us give a joyous shout to the rock of our salvation!

Let us come before Him with thanksgiving.

Let us sing him psalms of praise.

For the Lord is a great God,

the great King above all gods. (verses 1-3)

Come, let us worship and bow down.

Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker,

for He is our God.

We are the people he watches over,

the sheep under his care. (verses 6,7)

Another good scripture that teaches about worship is Psalm 92:

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,

to sing praises to the Most High.

It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning,

your faithfulness in the evening,

accompanied by the harp and the lute and the harmony of the lyre.

You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me!

I sing joy because of what you have done. (verses 1-4)

Focusing on God's attributes gives me such a better perspective on life. I know that I often focus on the negative things going on in my life: the people who annoy me, the things that aren't going my way, the things I want that i can't have...instead of focusing on who God is and how that should transform my life. The act of worshiping God changes how I view the world. When I really believe, in my inner life, that God is good and knows what He's doing, it helps me handle my life. When I take to remember all the amazing things that has already done for me it puts things into perspective. It's amazing how much more I still have to learn about the truly beautiful character of God.

funny link

Italians are desperate to find parking in Rome.

Christmas Concerts

My Vocal Recital

In December I performed a recital in my church. I sang hymns, praise choruses, contemporary Christian songs and even a few opera arias. The theme was "You Are My Refuge" so most of the songs had to do with God's love and provision for those who trust in Him.

My Program

Concerto di Monet Beardsley
Domenica 18 Novembre 2007 alle 20.00

Nel cor più non mi sento Giovanni Paisiello
Quella fiamma Francesco Conti
Pur dicesti, o bocca bella Antonio Lotti

Salmo 150

Praise to the Lord the Almighty

Salmo 139

The Real Me Natalie Grant
I Know that My Redeemer Liveth Handel
I Need Thee Every Hour Robert Lowry
Padre Vengo a Te G.Bullock/R.Battista

Matteo 6:25, 26
His Eye is on the Sparrow Charles H. Gabriel

Salmo 27
Tu Sei il Rifugio Mio Michael Ledner

Salmo 118:1-9
I Will Be Free Cindy Morgan

Salmo 34:1-10
Rejoice Handel
O luce di quest’ anima Donizetti

Maria accompanied me on the piano.

Rose Bruno, one of the other missionaries here in Rome, was my other accompanist.

I had a lot of members of my church help me by reading scripture verses in between the songs.

I had them practice their reading skills before the concert.

Emmanuele

Beatrice

Giulio

It was a wonderful evening to share my heart for the Lord and for the message of the gospel in the way that I communicate best-through music. We also invited the other evangelical churches in Ostia to come. Events like musical concerts are a great way to bring the body of Christ from various communities together. Many guests also brought their un-churched friends and family. I believe so strongly that music unifies people in a mysterious and beautiful way. Many people are willing to go to a concert in a church building who would never consider attending a Sunday morning church service. We use these outreach events to introduce ourselves to our community and give them a chance to learn who these strange "evangelicals" are all about.

For me, above all, this concert was a chance to give a parting gift to my church family. These last few months have been very hard for many in our church body. There are many family members sick and in the hospital, many discouraing and seemingly hopeless situations. Music is not only great for unifiying the body of Christ and proclaiming the truth of the gospel. It is also a great vehicle of healing. I have seen and experienced the Holy Spirit move in the hearts of indiviuals through music. I have seen how music can break down our defenses and make us more aware of what the Holy Spirit would like to say to us.

I have been studying the Psalms a lot this year. What I have noticed is how often the Psalmist talks about raising his voice in song to the Lord. Here are just a couple of examples:

"Sing to the Lord a new song,

his praise in the assembly of the saints."

(Psalm 149:1)

"Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;

Make music to our God on the harp."

(Psalm 147:7)

After the Concert with Anna and Michele


Me with Dan and Alice Simmons

Sola Scriptura in Italy.

From October 9-12 I had the chance to go to a conference for pastors and missionaries here in Italy. It was a life-changing experience! This annual conference, FOCUS, is an opportunity for Christian workers in Italy to be fed by the word of God; an chance for those who have committed their lives to giving to others to receive something in return.

The head speaker was John MacArthur, a well-known preacher, writer and speaker from Southern California. The Italians were all given headsets so that they could hear the messages that he and the other American pastors presented in English translated simultaneously in Italian. I got to listen to them all in English, of course. What a relief!

All four of the speakers (see the FOCUS link above) preached on the same theme:

Sola Scriptura! Scripture Alone!

We had five messages every day of the conference. I thought it would be exhausting and difficult to sit through so many lectures, but it wasn't. I wanted to write down every word that came out of their mouths. They talked about the beauty, depth and authority of the Word of God. It was great to be reminded that the Bible is God's authoritative word to us. If we want to know what God thinks and what He wants from us we don't need to scratch our heads and wait for a sign. We need to READ HIS WORD!

For a culture saturated in Catholic tradition this was a very important conference! Last night I had the opportunity to listen to the testimony of two ex-nuns; one of whom is a former Mother Superior. They shared that it was their study of the Bible that moved them to leave their order and the Catholic religion. The more they read the Bible the more they saw that many of the core principles of their religion did not line up with the word of God. One of the nuns shared that during all of her education and preparation for becoming a nun she had never studied the bible. It was only when she began to teach Catechism and realized that she had nothing of substance to teacher her students that she began to study the bible. When she began her study she didn't even know that the bible was divided into books, chapters and verses!

Before listening to the testimony of these two women I had no idea that the error in the Catholic church was so grave. How can these religious leaders claim to have complete authority from God when they don't even know how the book, which is made up of God's very words, is arranged?! At the meeting last night someone asked the nuns if they thought it was possible for a person be "born again" but remain in the Catholic church. The nuns said no! This was also a shock for me because I had always believed that Catholics believe basically the same things that Protestants do. It was sobering to learn that this is not the case.

What it comes down to is a matter of authority. Catholicism ascribe to the authority of the Bible but also Church tradition and the "God-given" authority of the Pope. The problem is that often these three types of authority contradict each other! Please pray for the state of the church in Italy. Pray that Italians will have a true hunger for the truth. Pray that they will begin asking questions and studying the bible for themselves.

At the FOCUS conference there were 500 Christian pastors, missionaries and laymen who have committed themselves to the study of the Word of God. It is through men like this that God will move in the hearts of Italians. Praise God for that!

More friends from Ostia.

Here is our church family hanging out after the church service. We meet in the basement of an apartment building. The room that you see in the picture is our "sanctuary". Off to the side we have a nursery, sunday school, pastors office and dining room.

Church family again. The only person who would look at me was Massimo.

Maria, one of our sunday school teachers, with her daughter, Aurora, and Simone.

Maria has been collaborating with me in music this year. We are teaching a music class and will be preparing a vocal and piano recital.


Leanne is a really neat girl that I have enjoyed getting to know this year. We have some similiar personalities, enjoy making music together on Sunday mornings, speaking in English and hanging out with her parents, Dan and Alice. I really admire her because she speaks four languages (English, Italian, French and Spanish), has a heart for under-priviledged people and has a passion for new, exciting experiences.

Chris is another really neat person. He is a native Californian, singer\song-writer\missionary. Last year he got married to an Italian girl named Erma. They will be starting a national tour here in Italy of his first c.d., which is solo piano and vocals. Erma contributes original monologues as well. It's a very beautiful album. Check him out on myspace. Chris Burnett.



Massimo is a brand new Christian! It has been really exciting to watch him grow in the faith during my time here. His son Filipo is a bundle of energy who keeps me very busy in the nursery on Sunday mornings.
Beatrice (on the left) is truly a joy to be around. Her lovely smile and sweet personality are a blessing to me. She loves to sing and participate in youth events. I am hoping to encourage her to get involved in the music ministry this year.

Chiara is a dear friend of mine. We have been spending a lot of time together this year. We went to Italian summer camp together, started jogging on a pretty irregular basis, attend Bible Study Fellowship together in Rome and play together for worship on Sunday mornings. Giovanni, one of Chiara's four brothers, has been my little brother this year. He makes sure that I don't miss my brothers' teasing too much or get too soft. He acts all big and tough but I'm confident he'll miss me when I'm gone. He'll have to go back to harrassing Chiara, which must get old after awhile.

Chiara and her mother, Maria Grazia. Maria Grazia is a school teacher and mother of five. I really admire her strength and wisdom. She is always ready to talk, give me advice and make sure that I'm healthy. She is one of my many substitute mothers here.



Anita and her precious baby, Ines. Ines likes it when I sing her songs in English and dance with her. She even knows my name!
Anita and I have started one-on-one disicipleship. It's really funny because neither of us speaks perfect Italian. We go back and forth between her Spanish bible, my English one and our joint Italian one. When we can't figure out what a word means we call Anna Gandolfo at home and ask her.

Anita, Maria, Isaiah and Anatolio. Some of our Peruvian members. It's really exciting to have them with us because they are all new Christians who are growing and learning together.

Capri.

Diane lives with the Bellico family in Naples. Enzo, Fabrizzio, Maria and Marica (not pictured)

Their grandparents rented a house on the island of Capri for the summer, so they invited us to come for a day and visit. It was truly a little paradise.

Look at the pictures below!