The Big Twinkie

 

It might just look like a fancy piece of plastic with a cool picture on it, but that little card is like gold to us! Today, May 20, almost nine months after arriving in country and applying, we finally received our Permesso di Sorggiornos. In terms of our long-term status as immigrants to the country, this is the most important day we'll ever have.

A Permesso is good for a year after the date of approval (for us, January 15--eight months remaining!) and is our proof for virtually every important step we need to take to be fully established that we are here legally. Aquiring a Permesso is a great introduction to life in Italy. Even though we have Visas that are good for a full year, we are required to apply for our Permessos within eight days of entering the country. So we applied on September 3--our first full day in Italy. We got a letter in October telling us that our "appointment" at the Questura (basically the immigration office) was set for December 20. Even though you have to give them every imaginable piece of paperwork when you apply (copies of passport and visas, letter of employment and insurance, copies of translated birth certificates for all the kids, proof that your body will be expatriated should you die. . . ), you show up at the Questura with even more papers, more photos, your kids (they want to see that who you're claiming actually belong to you) and a prayer. We'll save our Questura appointment story for another day, but needless to say it was Patzo (CRAZY!).

After that appointment, where we're fingerprinted, we then have another appointment, at a different location, to get more fingerprints done and a palm-print made. Then you wait. And wait. And wait. You're suppose to receive a letter when your Permesso has been processed and is ready to be picked up. We have staff in Rome who have been here for 2 1/2 years who have still not received their Permessos. In fact, one family just had to move back to the States, after serving in Rome for 3 years. The wife received her Permesso two days before they left the country. It's also not uncommon to receive your Permesso AFTER it's expired. So for us to have eight months left--it's a big deal.

We had been told we'd receive a letter telling us they were ready sometime in March. It never came. Finally today, Cody went down to the Questura at 6am to wait in line to get a number, to hopefully ask about what the hold-up was (they open at 8:30). He was number 28. While he was waiting, he went to the bathroom, and he happened to run into the guy who had initially processed our Permessos at our December 20 appointment. Cody remembered him because he is the BIGGEST Italian we've ever seen. Tall and built. The guy had asked Cody if he played American football because he was a part of a league here in Bologna. They were always looking for players. Cody was really excited about the opportunity but never heard from the guy.

So in the bathroom, the guy recognized Cody and said he had lost his number (OK because the team had had a terribe season). When he found out why Cody was there, he said, "I'll take care of it." Walked into an office and came out with all our permessos--they'd been sitting there for a while. Who knows when we might have received a letter telling us to pick them up. . . All of that aside, it was a MIRACLE! Hallejuah! We can now officially become residents, we can start the process of getting an Italian Driver's License, we can buy a car. . . the list goes on and on.

And Cody and this guy traded numbers so that Cody can join the off-season practice for the football team--a treat for him.

A huge, huge day for us! All over a little piece of plastic. Seven full months before we have to start the process all over again. :)

Cody's Birthday--Italian Americana

 
 
 

Believe it or not, this really is in Italy! It's the Roadhouse Grill, right here in Bologna. We've only been a couple of times (definitely caters to Americans--pretty pricey), but it is the only place we know of to get a real, American steak experience. For Cody's birthday, there was no question as to where he wanted to go to celebrate!

Most of you probably know Cody well enough to know that the lack of red meat we consume here has been a major sacrifice for him. It was a very special treat to go get a steak for his birthday. We went with Jesse and Tricia Marcos, another CCC staff couple we work with. (They actually have the car that gets us there!)

Walking into the Roadhouse is seriously like walking into a restaurant in Texas. It's awesome! In fact, it's sometimes a little jarring when we remember we have to keep speaking in Italian. :) The kids love it because of the cows and the buckets of peanuts. And the complimentary chips and salsa (thought NOT all you can eat!), which is definitely a treat.

Cody celebrates 32 years today (May 17). What a great testimony of God's goodness. After our trip to the Roadhouse, he went to his very first professional soccer match. Bologna isn't exactly known as a powerhouse, but it was a perfect birthday present!

Italian Gardening

We made our first attempt at Italian gardening this weekend! We went to the Home Depot-type store here in Bologna and picked out a little flower box to hang from our balcony and two geranium plants to start our "garden" with (the first picture). Apparently geraniums are suppose to help keep away flies and mosquitoes. I'm not sure how well our two tiny plants are going to contribute to bug prevention, but we'll see. All in all, I feel like it was a good start. I'll try to give an update in a couple of weeks as to how well we kept them alive!

Of course, our attempt is quite meager compared to the Italians around us. Our next door neighbors (a precious older couple who also can fill our whole apartment building with the most incredible aromas when cooking!) have learned how to maximize our 3 x 6 balconies (see picture number 2).

A few lucky apartments actually have terraces. Then you get to pretend you have a real yard and plant bushes and trees. . . We have really enjoyed the first floor apartments in our building who do a great job maintaining their urban gardens (that's the last one).

Such a different life we live now! We're learning more about how to steal little pieces of suburban life

A May Resolution

I feel like I've really let some people down with my lack of blog updating. . . so I'm making a May resolution to try to post an update at least once a week. Look for them on Mondays. :)

We just returned from a weekend conference with all of the other American CCC staff working in Italy. It was an encouragement in countless ways. Our kids will be talking about it until we get to be together again in November! They had such a great time playing with other kids who speak English. They are beginning to make genuine friendships with the other staff kids, and it ministers to them incredibly. Which, in turn, ministers to Mom and Dad. What a joy watching them play and enjoying themselves so freely!

There was a lot God spoke to us during the weekend, but one of the most beautiful was the big, glorious picture of how He is working so personally, so specifically in so many people's lives to bring them here to Italy to send the gospel out. As we hear more and more stories of all that God is doing to bring people here, we are more and more humbled by the privilege of being a part of what He is going to do in this country. We look at our own story, and we are blown away by God's leading, His incredible provisions, and the prayers that have been so abundantly answered. It seems so HUGE. But we are only one of many stories. Each is just as big. We hung out this weekend with a couple who will be joining us in about a year. He was a lawyer, she a nurse practitioner. They felt the call to work with college students overseas, did some research, and discovered the incredible need in Bologna. They pursued every venue possible to come be a part of what God's doing. There is story after story.

So now May is here, and things are getting busy. We are looking forward to a visit from my Aunt and Uncle next week, and then the Summer Project arrives from the States in about three weeks. We're entering a great time.

Settling into Opportunities

This past week was a really good week for us. It was made so mostly because of the opportunities God gave us to begin building deeper relationships with non-believing Italians. It was one of the first weeks we felt like we were beginning to do what we came here to do. It takes time to build natural relationships, especially when you're crossing a language barrier, but we finally feel like God is really opening the door to several of those relationships.

A couple of weeks ago Hannah was invited over to a friend's house to play. This was a great first step into the lives of the other parents at school. Since kids are with the same classmates until they graduate from Elementary school, parents become a pretty close-knit group. Most have known each other for years. It can be a challenge to break into the group. A playdate was such an encouragement to us that we're beginning to make progress. Of course, a lot has to be credited to Hannah, who is excelling at the language even far beyond Italians' expectations. The initial playdate went well, as did the reciprocal playdate at our house.

Then last week another friend invited her over. When her parents called to set it up, they actually invited our whole family over for dinner. To have dinner in an Italian's home is a big deal. Of course we said yes. Dinner started at 8pm (an hour after our kids are usually in bed). The wife is from a region in Italy that specializes in seafood, so it was a night of all kinds of fish (including a cold octopus salad!). Six courses--the food was amazing. Even more exciting, however, was how much fun we had! The husband speaks a little English, but the wife doesn't speak any. We did our best to speak mostly in Italian, which was great language practice for us. We were actually really, really encouraged by how much we were able to communicate. We didn't leave until almost 11. The kids were BEARS the next day. :)

And on Friday, Gavin had a play date with a friend from school at the park (a girl, nonetheless). I went with all the kids, and again, the mom spoke very little English. I wouldn't say we had especially deep conversation, but it was incredibly encouraging to be able to maintain conversation for an hour and half. She even invited us over to their home the next day. Gavin is having a much harder time with the language than Hannah. He says maybe 10 words. Somehow he and this little girl were able to play and have a great time though.

As we had dinner with our new friends, a heaviness entered my heart in a way I have not known. It struck me that unless WE tell them how much God loves them and how He longs to have a personal relationship with them, they will probably NEVER hear. I thought of all the precious kids Hannah goes to school with and how there is probably no one in their lives who would ever tell them the truth of the Bible. No one except Hannah. What an incredible opportunity and responsibility we have! I felt such an urgency.

We were able to interject a few comments about our faith throughout the night, but the next time we get together (for an American meal when Cody returns from the States next week), we hope to be able to have a more in-depth, intentional conversation. We hope that the Lord would allow us to have a great friendship with this couple and that it could be centered on the only Hope that we have.

God is so good! Really, my heart is absolutely overwhelmed at this calling the Lord has spoken on our lives. It has been amazing to see how the Lord has provided for every single one of the logistical details of our move to Bologna. Now we are seeing Him provide relationally. We are really beginning to feel like Bologna is "home" now. We're settling at a much deeper level. It is deeply, deeply good.

I've included a few new pictures. A couple of weeks ago we took a day trip to Venice and had a great time. It was beautiful--just like all the pictures and postcards we'd ever seen. Ben also turned one two weeks ago. Shocking, I know! He continues to be such a source of joy for our whole family.

If the Lord moves you, please pray for these new relationships we've made. Pray God would use us significantly in their lives to draw them to Himself. Pray He would allow us more and more of these opportunities.

 
 
 
 

Prayer for Our Pastor

The reason Campus Crusade has staff in Bologna is because of a missionary pastor here named Andy Brucato. Andy and his family (his wife and four sons) moved to Bologna 20 years ago to plant a church. It is one of very few healthy, solid evangelical churches in Italy and Andy is a cornerstone of the evangelical world here. Several years ago he contacted Campus Crusade with the vision of working together to reach the college students of Bologna. The vision he cast and the idea of partnering with a church was all our leadership needed to start moving in the direction of placing full-time staff here. This church (and Andy) has prayed for laborers to be sent to Bologna for years. We are the answer to many of their prayers. Andy and his wife, Linda, are incredible examples of believers walking closely with the Lord and seeing amazing things happen.

Last June Andy and Linda, went back to the States for a furlough. When we first arrived in Bologna, it was their apartment that we stayed in until we found our own place and our belongings arrived. They got back to Bologna two weeks ago. Andy is 59 years old and is in great shape. Last Wednesday, however, he suffered a massive stroke. Linda was out of town when it happened, and he lay for 9 hours before firemen broke in his apartment to find him. It is a miracle he is alive.

Would you please join us in praying for this dear brother? God has used him mightily for His glory in Bologna and Italy. We believe He still has plans for Andy to accomplish! Pray for God to be glorified in every way through these hard-to-understand circumstances. Below is a portion of an e-mail Linda sent out that communicates incredibly the beauty of their faith.

"We have not experienced moments of overwhelming fear or sorrow. We feel completely at peace; truly that supernatural peace that "passes all understanding". This morning Andy told me how he passed those hours on the floor of the bathroom- reciting scripture, in particular Isaiah 41:10 "Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Andy said he was never afraid.

This morning in my devotions I was in Luke 5- the story about the paralytic whose friends carried him up on the roof to get him to Jesus. When Jesus saw the faith of the friends He said, "Your sins are forgiven". I've read that passage a thousand times but today I saw it in a new way- from Jesus' eyes. These friends would stop at nothing to get their friend healed. No obstacle was going to stand in their way. Whatever it took. Jesus, seeing that kind of determination, gives them something greater than what they wanted. They would have been satisfied with physical healing, but their friend would have eventually died someday anyway. Jesus gave him what he really needed- spiritual healing so that he would live forever, and then he gave them the lesser gift as well, physical healing.

As Andy lies paralyzed in bed we would be tempted to settle for a lesser blessing- physical healing- but what we both want is a greater blessing- we want others, in particular Andy's brother and family members to have their sins forgiven. The beauty is that our God is able to give both, the greater and the lesser!! Would you pray with us that the Father would use this event in the life of Andy's family for their salvation, and for the salvation of Italians?"

Doctors have determined the stroke was caused by a blockage of an artery that will have to be operated on when his condition improves a little. They are hoping to do that within the next couple of weeks. Until that time, there is still a chance of another stroke occurring. You can pray specifically for that, as well.

The Body of Christ is a beautiful thing. Thanks for praying for this incredible man of Faith. He has been integral in what God has done in Bologna in the past 20 years, and what we believe He is going to do in the future. We will keep you updated

A Taste of Spring

After sharing last week about the challenges of January, we felt like we had to share what a great week we had this past week. It really was a great answer to prayer. First, the weather warmed up just a bit (from the low 30's to the low 40's). For some reason, that made a huge difference. And there were a couple of days when the sun was shining too! It gave us a little taste of spring that we have to say was intoxicating. Bologna is such a great city to walk that when the weather is nice it's hard to imagine a better place to be.

The weather was really icing on the cake to a really good week though. Cody started back to Italian class and spent time, as well, just walking through campus praying for God to be forging ahead of us. One evening he went out with a friend from church and learned about the Italian practice of Aperitivi. That night Hannah asked where he was going, and I said, "Well, it's kind of like going out to dinner before dinner." Most bars (which are totally different than a bar in the States--mostly they are coffee bars) will offer an aperitivi around 5pm. It's a little buffet of finger foods and a glass of wine. Then you eat dinner around 8. Anyway, hanging out with students over aperitivi will be just like hanging out at Starbucks with students in the States. It will be a huge ministry venue. So this friend from church took it upon himself to take Cody and explain the whole cultural experience to him. It was very good.

The next night, Cody met with a student named Andrea, whom he has gotten together with several times since meeting him at a Thanksgiving outreach he did. They have had good conversation every time they've gotten together, but this week Cody was able to share his testimony with him and tell him more specifically why we're here. Needless to say, this was a huge encouragement. Though we absolutely understand and feel the need for the language-learning emphasis we have this year, it was a great reminder of why we're putting in all this work. Please, please pray for God to begin working in Andrea's heart. Pray he would pursue more gospel conversations and be open to reading the Bible with Cody.

And oddly, God also spoke encouragement this week when we found out that it does not look like Gavin is going to get into preschool at all this year. I was really disheartened by the news (as was Gavin--he's been praying every night for God to open a spot for him). But Cody had great perspective. He said he was convinced that God hadn't provided a spot for Gavin because He was protecting him from something. Schools are different here in Italy. They are taught from a shame-based philosophy. And discipline is not a big priority either, so boys especially can be really rough. All along we felt so confident that getting Gavin into school would help him to adjust to the culture and make some friends. We now trust that God knew that would not be the best thing for him. We have a great peace about it now.

The best part about our time in Italy has been how dependent we've remained on the Lord. He has continued to meet us and reveal Himself to us in the most concrete and amazing ways. I feel like I live in light of His character so much more than I ever have. His glory brings me so much comfort. The little taste of spring we got this week went much farther than just the weather. It was an encouragement we really needed.

Surviving January

The whirlwind and excitement of Christmas could not have come at a better time for us. Just before Christmas we had hit a real low. The busy-ness of getting settled had slowed down, and we were beginning to deal with the realities of life in Bologna long-term. We needed a little distraction. Christmas break flew by, but it definitely refilled our sails a bit.

God is really good on the days that we're struggling to speak encouragement at just the right time. Hannah's class at school put on a little Christmas show the week before Christmas, and she blew us away! She has picked up so much language this fall! She sang right along with everybody else, having a great time, we might add. We have begun to make a few relationships with some of the other parents, and the night of the Christmas concert was a sweet reminder of God's incredible provisions for us. We prayed so much for Hannah to have a positive school experience, and we could not have asked for anything more. In a lot of ways, we're more pleased with her school experience here than in the States even. More than that, we were encouraged by the reminder of the relationships God has begun for us. When we think about the Italians we are getting to know, we are quickly reminded of why we moved here. God HAS come before us. He HAS prepared great things for us. We are so excited to see what He has in store.

We were thrilled that my parents decided to visit for Christmas this year! We were so anxious for company and the opportunity to share a little bit of our life with family. The weather was cold while they were here, so we hung out inside as much as possible, but it ministered to all of us to have them here. The kids soaked up time with Grandma and Papa. Much wrestling was had and even a trip to a Gelateria in sub-freezing temperatures. We made some great memories to always think about when remembering our first Christmas in Italy.

Now it is January, and we are trying to press through the post-Christmas let down. We had anticipated this being a challenging time, and it started out about as we anticipated. Since it's remained cold (lower 30's--which is really cold for former Houstonians!), we have felt a lot more cooped up. We really have to push ourselves to continue engaging the culture. We remain more worn-out emotionally than we'd like. But we're pressing on. We are looking forward to several things coming up, including a group of students from TCU who will be coming at Spring Break. It's good to have some milestones to look forward to. Small goals feel really important right now.

Thanks for continuing to pray for us. We are continuing to pray there would be an opening for Gavin to start preschool. We're praying we would hear even this week. We know we're in the midst of probably our most challenging time here. We value you standing with us so very much.