The World Coming to Us

As you know, one of things we most loved about ministry in Italy was the communal nature of the culture. We loved seeing the same people walking on the street every day and running into school friends almost everywhere in our neighborhood.

American culture is just totally different.  You walk from your door to your car to the door of the store you're going into.  There aren't common areas people gather.

Sharing the gospel in these relationships was so natural.  These people saw our lives.  We talked with them regularly.  We couldn't hide the impact Jesus has on our lives.

As we moved back, Cody and I have both prayed we would have very intentional eyes as to how to maintain a similar ministry mind frame.  How can we become more involved in the lives of our neighbors? How can we break culture to stop and visit with people we see regularly?

Our apartment complex has been a great first place to start.  It's full of kids!  And because it's completely gated, there is an increased sense of safety is letting kids go outside and play together  A lot of the kids are other families doing the same STINT program we are doing.  But there are many who are not.

One of the boys who Gavin has started playing with is a boy he called "Colin."  He is about Gavin's age, and every afternoon he is looking for a way to kill time outside of his apartment.  Sometimes their relationship has not been easy for Gavin.  Colin can tend to put on a certain amount of machismo.  The day he came to our house to play just he and Gavin though, we saw a kinder boy full of need to fill his time productively.

This weekend Colin's little brother and mother knocked on our door looking for "Haleem."  All along Gavin thought his name was Colin, when it was Haleem. :)  As it turns out, Haleem's family moved from Saudi Arabia only a year ago.  When his mom and brother knocked on our door, I could only see his mom's eyes.  She is a completely veiled Muslim woman.  I was shocked to see her because we were told Haleem's parents never leave their apartment.  He and his brother always come and go to the bus stop by themselves in the morning.  It is usually only his brother who comes looking for him.

Not only that, she asked my name and where I had gotten the skirt I was wearing (wouldn't you know, I was wearing my brand new Maxi-length skirt that day!).  We chatted for a bit before Cody came to the door, which promptly ended our conversation.  A really good introduction though!

I know this interaction seems like such a small thing.  But it was a really sweet answer to prayer for us.  We are committed to taking the gospel to the world.  In that regard, it was hard for us to leave a foreign assignment--even though we know our effectiveness will probably be tenfold doing what we're doing here.  It was the personal relationships we were most going to miss.  But as God is doing all over this country, He is bring the world to us.  He is bringing non-believers from literally all over the world to live alongside Americans, to drive by churches, to be given the opportunity to know someone who walks passionately with Jesus.

My new friend's name is Terah.  Would you pray for their family?  Pray our whole family would be a part of showing Haleem what it means to follow Jesus, as he is in our home.  Pray for more opportunities for me to get to know Terah.  Pray for the other believers in our apartment complex to have the same opportunities.

And since I'm feeling bold and impassioned today, can I challenge you to look for how God has brought the world to you?  Chances are, it's just around the corner.

The Hardest Post Yet

Our June prayerletter should be arriving in mailboxes any day.  If you're a blog reader, you're getting some breaking news. . . In one of the hardest decisions we've ever made, we feel confident the Lord is leading us to return to the States permanently.  Though we are thankful for God's clarity, it has not made the decision or the process one bit easier.

I thought the easiest way to explain how we came to this decision was simply to post the text of our prayerletter:

     I think this is the hardest prayerletter I’ve ever had to write.  Two weeks ago, we decided to move back to the States, this August.  It is not something we were anticipating, nor was it something we would have chosen under any circumstances other than God’s clear leading.  Our whole family is grieving deeply.

      To make a long story short, when we arrived back in Bologna this January, we really began to wrestle with our role in the Agape Italia ministry.  What God has most burdened our hearts with, the ways He has gifted us to most effectively send the gospel out, the areas in which we thrive, were becoming increasingly smaller aspects of our day-to-day job.

      After many conversations over the past months with our local and national leadership, it became clear two weeks ago that what we need to be doing to be effective stewards of our lives and gifts would not be possible in our current setting.  We wrestled significantly over how we could remain in Italy to continue in the personal relationships God has given us and yet still find a role in Agape Italia in which to serve.

      Simultaneously, an opportunity opened up for us to participate in a unique internship Campus Crusade offers for senior staff at our headquarters in Orlando.  While we are being intensively developed personally and professionally, we will be exposed to Campus Crusade’s leadership and be able to explore ways we can most powerfully be a part of seeing college students become lifetime laborers for the Gospel.  

      In the midst of wrestling through what the Lord would have us do, still praying He would provide an opportunity for us to remain in this crazy country that has gripped our hearts, the pastor of our church asked us to consider remaining in Bologna to serve at the church full-time.  We were incredibly honored and our hearts were captured by his continued vision.  We prayed.  We asked the Lord.  But He said no.  He was and has continued to be clear that He has plans for us within the context of Campus Crusade’s leadership at our headquarters.

      As I said, we are grieving deeply.  For as much as we know this is the right decision, it is still really hard.  Our Italian friends, our church, have become so dear to us.  We have been trusting God for our friends’ very salvation.  It is the biggest step of faith we have ever taken is to leave the daily interactions of those friendships and trust that God will bring them to faith in some other way.  We are beseeching the Lord for them with all our hearts.  We will always ask God for Italy.

      In the midst of our grief, we are trusting God’s perfect will for our lives.  We are trusting that He knows where He can best use us for the spreading of the gospel.  So we are in the midst of the chaos of figuring out how to get our family moved to Orlando in the next 8 weeks.  There are so many decisions and details we are completely overwhelmed by.  One of which is the cost involved in moving back to the States (around $12,000).  If the Lord so leads, would you consider giving a special gift toward this significant need?  As always, gifts should be made to Campus Crusade for Christ and are completely tax-deductible.  You can give electronically by clicking on the "Be A Part of What's Happening" link at the top of the page.

      As we’ve talked with several of you in the past weeks, we have again been overwhelmed by your support and commitment to the gospel.  We truly praise the Lord for each of you.  Thank you for being in this journey with us.  If you have questions about this new direction the Lord is taking our ministry, please contact us!  We would love to share more of what this process has been.  And as always, we are deeply grateful for your prayers.

All our love,

Cody and Jen

Friends, we'll be honest and say this is one of the most difficult things the Lord has ever asked us to do.  Leaving is even harder than it was to come.  Please check out our "Pray for Us" page.  We need to be covered in prayer!


I will share more of this process in the weeks to come.  There are lots and lots of tears.  Thanks for coming along for the journey.

An Italian Childhood

Our kids had a great time in America last Fall.  But if you ask Hannah, she will say, "I don't want to go back to America for a long time."  Though she likes the US, Italy is her home.  A totally normal thing for a missionary kid.  But still a little weird for Mom and Dad.

Our family has experienced all the same events during our time in Italy, but our kids are being shaped in an entirely different way than we are.  Their childhood memories will be completely different than ours ever were.  Riding trains are a normal part of life.  They go to school in classrooms where the lights aren't turned on unless it's raining outside.  Just different.

Of course, a big part of an Italian childhood are birthday parties.  We have said it before, but they are just a huge part of childhood for the kids.  We went to yet another party this weekend, and it was a fully typical Italian party.

The family of the birthday girl rented a social community center and invited every kid from class, plus all the extended family.  Birthday parties are such a big deal that there are business who provide the entertainment and activities.  This family hired such a company.  Above, the kids are playing old-fashioned tug of war, facilitated by the entertainment guy.

Sack races, using trash bags

Of course, a group of boys gathered to play soccer.  Gavin played for the entire evening.

In between planned activities, there was lots of dancing.  Here is Hannah with her friends, doing a choreographed dance they often do during recess at school.

Mostly Ben sampled the food and made sure the swing got a workout.

Food is an integral part of every birthday party.  And you usually have to feed a lot of people!  At this party, they served fresh crescentini.  Crescentini are something specific to Emiglia-Romagna (the region of Italy Bologna is in).  In fact, our friends who live in other parts of Italy have never even heard of them.  Very representative of what Italian cuisine is like--vastly different dependent on region.  

Anyway, we LOVE crescentini.  They are one of our very favorite things.  Basically, they are sopapillas that you use as sandwich bread.  You spread something similar to cream cheese on it and then top it with sliced meats.  This meat is cured prosciutto.  Then you fold it in half and enjoy!  On the sweeter side, you can also spread nutella or jams on top.  Yummy, yummy, yummy.

Italian etiquette is that you don't leave until the birthday cake has been cut--usually about two hours into the party.  This cake was tiramisu.  And it was good. :)

After the cake, but before the presents were opened, the entertainment crew did a magic show.  That was a first for us.  

The weather was beautiful, and we enjoyed every minute of being outside.  Gavin was quite upset when we finally left at 7:30 to get the kids to bed.  "But Mom, we only got to stay for three hours!"  And truly, we were the first people to leave. 

This is where we seem to have the best ministry opportunities.  Three hours of partying leaves a lot of time to chat with the other parents.  It's what the kids will remember as their "normal childhood," and it's what we'll remember as the environment God used to teach us a lot about Italian family and culture.

Reporting From Bologna

We have talked a lot about Summer Projects during our time here.  Every summer, students from the States come for five works to work with us in connecting with students and sharing the gospel.  Last year, we had 21 students come, and the impact they had was great.  They are such an encouragement to us and God has used them in the most unexpected and significant ways.  We are currently preparing for this summer's Project.  Twenty-seven students will be arriving at the end of May, and we are asking God for big things.

I wanted to share with you a video one of the students made last summer.  Even in being here for only five weeks, these students got a great picture of ministry in Italy.  The video is two minutes and has lots of great footage around Bologna and with students.

It is such a privilege to be here. Please pray for our ministry. Pray for students' hearts to be pricked. Pray for us and for the students coming this summer. Pray God would use us mightily in the lives of Italians.

A Day in the Life

What does the day of a missionary look like?  It's definitely doesn't look like 9 to 5 at the office! No day ever looks the same.  Some times we love that, and sometimes it drives us crazy. :)

Today, for instance, Cody and the kids left the apartment around 8am to walk to school.  After dropping them off (he has to take them to two different schools), he took the bus over to Jesse and Tricia's apartment for our weekly prayer time.  Every Monday morning, our team gathers to pray for personal and ministry needs.  On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, we spend time working on further developing our language skills.  That could look like everything from sitting in a classroom, to studying verb conjugations, to purposefully engaging in Italian conversation for the purpose of language development.  Friday mornings we have a staff meeting.  And on Wednesday mornings, Cody heads downtown to work on administrative things (which is why you're more likely to get an e-mail from him on a Wednesday than any other day!).

But today, after prayer, he will meet Jesse for lunch and personal development.  Then they will ride the bus downtown to hang some posters around the university area.  These are posters that advertise a program we offer as English-language conversation partners.  On the poster is an e-mail where students can contact us, if they're interested.  Today they'll head to the part of campus where the Languages Faculty is located.

On other afternoons, Cody will meet students he knows for lunch or language exchange.  In the afternoon, he will usually go to the area of a specific faculty and try to engage students in conversation that allows him to gage their spiritual interest.  If they show interest, he will try to meet them again for cafe or invite them to an apertivi (pre-dinner appetizer time) we host on Thursday evenings.

Another place he goes to connect with students is a coffee shop that opened about a year ago.  It's called Itit (pronounced eateat), but we call it the Italian Starbucks, since it is the only thing we've ever seen that comes close to Starbucks here.  It's right in the middle of campus, and in addition to serving some more elaborate coffee drinks, it also has lots of places for students to just hang out and study (or talk).

Cody will head back to our part of town by 4:30, to pick up the kids after school.  On Mondays and Wednesdays, as soon as they get back from school, Cody and Gavin leave for taekwondo.  We'll eat dinner afterward, usually around 7:15.  On Thursdays, he will come home for a bit, but then head back downtown for the apertivi.  The kids know Thursday nights are Breakfast for Dinner, since Daddy will be gone. :)  If conversation is good, he won't be home until after ten.  And on Sunday evenings, he goes to a Bible study at 8pm that the pastor of our church does specifically for college students.  His heart is to provide a place where non-believing students can genuinely examine the claims of Christ in the Scripture.  Again, it is 10:30 or later before he gets home.

Interspersed amongst it all are also the ongoing relationships we have with non-students.  Last week that was a late night Chinese dinner with Fabio and Alessia.  I also try to meet Alessia at the grocery store once a week for language development and to continue learning about Italian food and culture.  There are birthday parties that sprinkle the week and the conversations with have with the parents of Hannah's friends when we pick her up from playing at their homes after school, or vice versa.

Office or not, our weeks are packed.  Praise God! As exhausting as it feels sometimes, we are really in a great rhythm of showing up in places where God is already at work.  We're just trying to keep up and continue to be sensitive to the role He wants us to play.  Thanks for joining with us and praying for it all!

Development and a Train Ride

Last week, I (Cody) spent seven days in Florence attending a course on church history.  It was taught by a professor (Dr. Hyatt) who has lived in Budapest, Hungary for the past 14 years, and Germany and Russia before that.  The course is part of Campus Crusade's on-going education program to help staff better minister in the field.  While this was a survey course that covered the end of the 1st century through the 20th, we spent a considerable amount of time looking at the Roman Catholic Church and how it has shaped the culture here over the past two millennia.  While I appreciated seeing how the development and growth of the church occurred, I enjoyed even more seeing the sovereignty of God as His mercy compels Him to save humanity.

On Saturday, Jen and the kids came to visit, which was a great delight...especially for Ben.  For the past few years, Ben's fascination with trains has grown into near fanaticism.  It has reached the point where he now recognizes the power wires above unseen tracks around town that provide the electricity for trains.  He has also memorized all the places in town where tracks run.  He knows the best places to stop and watch for them and is constantly on the lookout for them.  Ticket prices have risen dramatically over the past year, so we don't ride them very often anymore.  This weekend was the first time Ben had ridden one since we returned from furlough.  He was beside himself for the entire trip and actually cried when they had to get off.

Now that my class is over and students are finally returning to a normal schedule at the University (they had been studying for exams prior to now), we anxious to get back to day-to-day ministry.  Check out our updated prayer requests page to see how you can join us in praying for some specific ways we'd like to see God move in the coming months.

Some Reality

Today I'm posting a link for an article Time Magazine ran on the reality Italian college graduates are facing.  It communicates one of the reasons for the overall hopelessness we are hearing from the Italians we talk with--not only college students, but our peer-aged friends too.


Please take a few minutes to read it.  It communicate well an aspect of life in Italy that is hard for Americans to understand.  It's also an aspect of life we are trying to use to point Italians toward Christ, the only reason for hope.


http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2024136-1,00.html

Being Cared For

* OK, I really did get the comment option fixed this week!  If you have to use the "anonymous" option, leave us your name anyway. :)

Back in August when we shared about our decision to stay in the States for a full six-month furlough, we shared that part of that time would be spent processing through our first two years in Italy with our Campus Crusade leadership, talking with counselors and attending a debriefing with Campus Crusade staff who were back from their first term overseas.

Last week we traveled to Austin for our official debriefing.  It was so deeply good.  There is a gal who works for Campus Crusade whose sole job is to make sure all the staff serving overseas from our region are doing well and have the resources they need to thrive in the location they're serving.  When we come home on furlough, she is the one who looks out for us, provides counselors for us and leads a time of debrief.  Having spent a significant amount of time overseas as a missionary herself, she is well acquainted with all the highs and lows of living overseas.

There were six of us who attended this debrief--us, another couple serving in Italy, and two guys who have been in East Asia.  The majority of our time together was spent sharing the stories of what our lives have looked like for the past two years--the good, the bad, and the ugly.  It was so therapeutic to know that those listening understood completely what we've experienced and have similar stories to share.  It's so easy to believe the lie that we are the only ones "going through" the ups and downs we face.  Being in an environment that promotes authenticity and safety really dispels those lies.  And it greatly encourages us to return again to the work.

In addition to the time we spent sharing about our battle wounds (and the glorious ways God has met us in those wounds), we heard from a counselor who works specifically with pastors and missionaries and has extensive experience helping missionaries deal with the very unique challenges of re-entry and living between two cultures.  She did an incredible job helping us to understand all the nuances of living in transition.  It was eye-opening to see just how much stress one incurs when living in two very different worlds.

Add to this time some good ol' fashioned Tex-Mex, beautiful weather, and good friends, and we had a great couple of days.  It's hard to put into words just how encouraging this time was for us.  As the gal who directs this time says, "You don't know what you don't know."  So true! We had no idea how much we needed to hear some of the things that were shared.  Again, we are so thankful to be working for an organization that cares so deeply about our spiritual and emotional health.

Expose Us!

As you can tell, we've been doing some work on The Phipps Five!  As the internet continues to grow as the world's most significant method of communication, we wanted to create a place where current ministry partners could keep read weekly of how God is moving in our midst, where we could post up-to-date prayer requests (check out the Ways to Pray page), and where people we have just met--or haven't even met at all--could check out our ministry.

We will continue to post weekly about what life looks like for us, from family-life to ministry opportunities to our cultural learning experiences.  It is our greatest desire that those who partner with us feel like they have a vivid picture of what they are investing in.  We can't say enough how strongly we feel about our ministry being so much bigger than us on the ground in Italy.  Our ministry consists of every person who gives financially to allow us to cover our living and ministry expenses and every person who goes before the Father to ask for His Spirit to move on our behalf.  No part is greater or less important than the others.

We also want this to be a place where you can point people who might be encouraged to read about what God is up to in the country of Italy.  Expose us!  Tell everyone you know how to find our site (we do!).  The next time you're on Facebook, would you post a link the blog?  We would be so grateful.  We hope anybody who stumbles upon this site is blessed by the stories of God's faithfulness to our family, as we take His gospel to a people who once led the charge for Christ and yet now are so far away from understanding the simplicity of His grace.

We are overwhelmed by the privilege it is to be Italy right now.  Truly, we feel the Spirit of God is beginning to move in this country in a way He hasn't in generations.  We want as many people as possible to hear about what God is doing and join with us!

A few other new pages to point out (the links are found just the right of the most current post).  The Italian Reality paints of picture of the current spiritual reality of Italy.  It answers the question of "Why do we go to Italy?"  It's a great place for folks new to our ministry to read about the spiritual climate we're facing.  La Dolce Vita provides some fascinating snip-its about Italy-- its history and its present.  And finally, HowYou Can Be a Part of What's Happening provides information about how you can give financially to our ministry.  Oh, and we've also made it easier to leave comments. . . give it a try!

Enjoy!  Thanks for stopping by.  Thanks for telling others about us.  Thanks for caring about Italians understanding how they can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

An Italian Perspective

November will mark a huge milestone for the Agape Italia ministry.  An Italian national will be taking over leadership of our National Ministry.  Ultimately, this is our desire for every country we send American staff too--that eventually it will be a Nationally-run ministry.

Franco Bosio is one of only four Italians currently on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ in Italy.  He has been directing the Family Life ministry up to this poine and seeing God move in some incredible ways.  He will now be providing leadership to our ministry as a whole, and we are so excited to see how God is going to use him to help make Agape Italia even more effective.

Below is a video clip of Franco sharing a little of his vision.  Again, we rejoice in the incredible ways God is at work in Italy.  Truly, it is a privilege to be ministering there during this time.

Refreshment. . .

We just returned from our Spring Staff Conference, and we are feeling more significantly refreshed than we have in months. It was medicine for the soul! We have written before how key these conferences are for our morale, and this one was no different.

Twice a year, all of the Agape Italia staff (Italians and Americans) gather to hear from our leadership, talk with each other about what's working and not working across the country, and hear teaching from the Word to encourage us in the battle. We also get to just hang out with each other. This is especially encouraging for our kids, who for a few days twice a year, get to be with other kids who speak their native language and understand exactly how crazy their lives are. Hannah and Gavin literally played until they dropped for three days straight.

Our Spring Conference is held at a conference center on the Mediterranean side of Italy in a little town just south of Livorno. It was about three hours from Bologna. Every afternoon we had free time to play and catch up with staff friends who live in other parts of the country. After such a LONG winter, we savored every minute of sunshine.

This was Ben's first time to play in a pool, and though it took a little time to warm up to, he had a blast! It was so great to be able to splash all he wanted without Mom telling him not to make a mess. . .

We also savored great uniterrupted time with friends. It was so living-giving! Throughout the year, we miss the opportunity to sit for hours with friends who are in a similar season (i.e. a large, young family) and talk about living life in a foreign country. It was such a place of rest for us. We also had great conversations with other staff about things they are doing to help Italians grasp the gospel and the incredible grace God is offering them. As we enter into the busiest two months of the year, we are newly energized with some great reminders and new ideas.

More than anything else (and there was a lot!), we are so thankful to be returning to Bologna with a new spring in our step. We needed this kind of refreshment. We needed to get a boost of emotional and spritual energy before the wrapping up the school year with the Summer Project coming and then facing several months of ambiguity, as we work on developing the support we need to cover our new tax needs. We are so, so thankful.

And the kids are already asking when we're going to back to "the beach." They don't mean just any beach. . . they mean the beach where they get to be with their American friends. What a sweet gift that is.