Our newsletter written for September 2006:
(backdated to September)
Author Archive for Matt Page 2 of 2
Ok, the last theme was not my favorite, as it only showed one post, and didn’t show the author’s name. This one seems to be spiffy.
Lauren and I are in Albania working at a youth camp for 3 weeks. We’re almost done with the first week (the current group of kids goes home tomorrow). It’s been pretty fun, but trying to wrangle in 30 kids that you can’t communicate with very well can make for an interesting experience. :) I was sick for a day after being referree for Wednesday afternoon’s group activities. We’ll write more about the camp when we get back! Take care, and keep these kids in your prayers. For most of them this has been the first time they have been significantly exposed to God.
Last weekend, the the whole group bundled into the Scuola Biblica van and drove off to Vicenza, a city a bit north of Bologna (some might know it as host to an American military base). We went to visit the church there as part of our goal to visit–for the sake of visiting and fellowship–at least one other congregation every 2-3 months.
We spent Saturday afternoon and Sunday there, staying with members of the church for the night between. It took about 4 hours to get there, but the drive on the way through the mountains was beautiful.
Our time spent with the church as a whole was very good. We spent most of the evening with church members, visiting and discussing how we might be able to work together in the future. We then spent a few hours that night with some of the youth of the church exploring the city. (By youth, I mean anyone between the ages of 15-35 or so :) ) Sunday, we had worship and stayed for their agape (or potluck. most of the churches in italy have one about once a month).
One defining thing about the Vicenza church is how international they’ve become. Like most of the Italian churches in urban areas, they are host to at least a few Americans–north and south–and other Europeans, but Vicenza also has a thriving Ghanean membership. Many immigrants from Ghana have come to Vicenza to look for work, and the church has been an inviting home for them. They usually have a separate english-language service for the Ghaneans, but when while we were there, they had combined service. Gary preached in both Italian and English.
Our newsletter written for March 2006:
Click here to open the PDF.
This should be handy. I added a new feature: subscribing! No more randomly checking our progress, get an email update whenever we add something new.
OK, well. so much for blogs. This one is having a restart, cause I did something stupid. Sorry if you missed the last few entries. Well, we’re busy here. Grammar classes are about to start, which I think will end up being very rewarding for us english teachers and our students. I know it will let us affect more people at once, as will as give us more time to spend with students we can talk to!
We love it here, especially now since the weather has given us a temporary taste of Spring.
We have something big to share, and which is this: We have decided as a team to pray that God would bring at least 30 people to him during the remainder of our time. We know that it is not a matter of boldness on our part, but a matter of willing to let go and let God work however he wants to. Cool thing: A few days we decided this, we were informed that there was to be a baptism at the Florence Church, and so have had a new brother with us for the last few weeks.
Our newsletter written for December 2005:
Click here for the PDF.
Here’s our newsletter written for October 2005:
Click here for the PDF.
Here’s our newsletter for July 2005:
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