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.

While in Assisi. . .

When I was in high school, I spent three weeks one summer traveling around Europe, singing in various churches with a choir.  One of the songs we sang was "The Prayer of St. Francis."

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury,pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

As a young believer, I was captured by the words.  Soon after joining the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ, I was re-introduced to St. Francis and became fascinated with his radical commitment to love as Christ.  Yes, there are some "interesting" aspects to his calling and ministry, but it is clear that his life was changed by the risen Christ.

St. Francis was from Assisi, Italy.  It is about an hour and half east/northeast of Rome.  Assisi is in the hills, and I've heard it's just beautiful.  Thousands and thousands flock to the small little village every year to visit the land where the Catholic Church's most popular saint was born and ministered.  I've wanted to visit since we arrived in Italy, but I've also known it probably wasn't a place my kids would enjoy much, so I hadn't had the chance.

Assisi

A couple of weeks ago, however, we had a conference just for missionary moms.  It was held about 15 minutes from Assisi.  So one afternoon I had the opportunity to spend a few hours exploring the town.  It was just as beautiful and quaint as I had been told.  My heart broke, however, when we visited the cathedral and monastery that stand in honor of St. Francis.

St. Francis Church and Monastery--it is set on the edge of a hill, overlooking a valley.  Beautiful.

As are most churches, it was filled with beautiful frescos.  These did not depict the life of Christ, however.  The central figure in each was St. Francis.  The architecture of the church is very unique, having two entirely separate places of worship under the floor of the main sanctuary.  Under those is yet another small chapel where over the altar is a sarcophagus thought to hold the bones of St. Francis.  Over the altar.  It is a sacred place for many--there was a plaque commemorating the pilgrimage Pope John Paul made during his papacy.  People have left photos of loved ones all over the stones that hold up the sarcophagus.  Obviously many come to this place expecting a spiritual experience of some kind--even a miracle.

I was shocked by the--dare I say this word--idolatry made of this man.  His bones set on an altar!  The frescos illuminate St. Francis, not Christ.  My heart was so burdened for all the people who come to this place looking for spiritual enlightenment and look to a man instead of the Maker of man.  What a huge distraction to seeing the One whom Francis wanted his life to point to in all ways.  I felt like God's glory had been stolen.

Assisi is a hilly town.  Lovely to look at, hard to navigate. :) On the highest hill remains a castle.

Please don't misunderstand my heart.  I was not filled with condescension.  Or judgment.  I was filled with all out compassion--the gut-wrenching, head-spinning, I-want-to-stand-up-and-shout kind of compassion.  I wanted everyone who had pilgrimaged to this little village in nowhere Italy to know that the spiritual experience they were after is available to them at any time, in any place.  The God of the Universe wants to interact with them in the most precious, personal, life-changing, miraculous ways.

God has changed my heart in countless ways in the past two and half years.  The love and compassion I feel for those I pass by every day can knock me off my feet.  My trip to Assisi changed me, and not in the way I was expecting.

And just so you know, I still think St. Francis was an incredible man of God.  He is still one of my heros of the faith.  He was willing to be absolutely radical because of the call God placed on his heart.  I want to be as willing.

*If you want to learn more about the life of St. Francis, G.K Chesterton wrote my favorite biography.  It's aptly titled Saint Francis of Assisi.

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.