sono grata (i am thankful)

I know it's not November. But I am giving thanks. Like, really, intentionally. I'm thankful for this lesson God is teaching me. A few days ago I arrived home exhausted, frustrated, feeling manipulated and half-Christian...I was thinking about all of the bad things from that day. Then the Holy Spirit stopped me. I began to recount the GOOD things. Because--believe it or not--there were quite a few: Remember Mario your coffee barista who gave you a muffin he made at his house? Then you arrived at school and the twins gave you 'flowers' they made out of napkins? Then Azzurra's mom gave you SUCH a nice compliment. And Raffa is such a great colleague to work with.... I started to write these things down on little post-it notes. I put them up in the kitchen; a section for me, and one for Tania. It is fostering a new spirit of thankfulness in our hearts...and I am thankful. The Lord is gracious.

Three big praises:

TANIA. Only a few hours after writing my last newsletter last Sunday, Tania and I had a good talk and I see some great fruit of 'transformation.' This is a work only the Lord can do. Thanks for your prayers. Continue to pray for love and wisdom on my part. May we love and follow Jesus always.

BOOK. Haven't written about this in some time, but my book, 'The Wall,' will be out by the end of the month. This is really exciting and a long time in coming. You will be able to purchase it (before I get a copy, no doubt, with the Italian postal system) on Amazon. Details to come ladies.

TRACTS. Thanks to my amazing German friends Dorit and Stephan Spielau in Gorlitz, I was able to get translated (from German to English to Italian--what a process!) some really awesome gospel tracts with our church information. Stephan designed them and they are really relevant and engaging. We are so thankful and excited to get some printed. Praying for funding (around €300).

Other requests still stand...friends (Fation, Roberto, Alberto, Erica), church family (Monica, Lorenza, Concetta-new), colleagues (Raffa, Iram, Peter, Annamaria, Maison, Ruhma), etc. We are still hoping to sign our Association contract to become an official NGO this week (the church). We are also hoping to hear this week about a location for our church to meet (praying the county gives us one--they are deciding). Praying for Matteo (new convert) to get plugged into church. Praying that my boss does not require me to work in July.

Thanks! Remember to be saving some time for visits the first week of August for those in LA! Looking so forward to it. xo

Me and baby Giulia before church. I love this girl so much it hurts.

MAYhem

'No one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.' From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 'You do not want to leave too, do you?' Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.' John 6

This morning I am thinking about the Lord's faithfulness. Every time I meet new people, the first question is, 'WHY DID YOU LEAVE AMERICA!?' Italians have a very idyllic view of the States. And much of it is true. On a human level, I can't explain it. Who in there right mind would leave the best family, friends, church, home, job, comforts anyone could ask for?! But I echo Peter: where else could I go? It doesn't matter where I am as much as WHO I am with, and that I live for Him. There is another thing that Jesus said that is also hard. The enabling. I need Him to open the eyes and hearts of people around me. I need to see miracles. The hardness of hearts is such a dark reality. Please pray with me that God opens eyes and reveals Himself to my friends here. Pray that they would follow Him for His glory to be exalted in this region!!

UPDATES:

Fation & Roberto: Yesterday I spent time with them at Fation's birthday. It was a crazy group of drinking people. Alllll kinds of people. I felt so THANKFUL that God kept me safe and gave me some great conversations with people (personally because I'm shy and limited in Italian) and that I am able to know and love them. It is hard though. They need Jesus so very badly. Please pray for them and Andrea, Alessandro, Lele, Federica, Niccolò that I got to know particularly last night.

Erica. Haven't seen her again but hoping to reconnect with her, and maybe get back to the house to see Monica (mom) as well....

Livia. Is starting a full time restaurant job this week so we are still working out our schedules to get together. Please pray that we can work things out though because she is so smart and precious and different than many people I know here. I want her and her family to love Jesus!!

Lorenza. She is going through ups and downs always as a single mom and because of choices she's made. I don't know how to help, but I am hoping to take her kids a bit when I am done with work in June!!

Tania. Continue to pray that she listens to the Lord and that I can be used in her life for boldness and truth.

WORK: Basically tons of drama and manipulation. Please pray I can be a person who doesn't gossip, who does my job well and respects my boss. Pray for integrity and respect among staff. My boss is highly unorganized and uses certain staff members in manipulative ways. Please pray for a peaceful, professional working environment. I am still renewing my contract one more year. I am praying to move up a level with my current students. Pray for God's will in my role at this school.

I often breeze through a week thinking, 'How did I get through THAT?' And can only say the Lord is very very gracious and your prayers are heard!! Thank you so much for your love and prayers.

xo

My class on a fieldtrip at a farm about to make bread from fresh wheat! Loved this Italian lady who taught them :)

'ma invece hai riso'

Well, report cards are done. I'm looking forward to a random day off tomorrow (Italian holiday) and then the big push to the end of the school year (3rd week June)! It's already boiling here...summer is arriving.

Looking forward to visits from Nonna, Stephanie, Brittany&Marc, Betsy&Debbie in May/June!

Also, thanks to the Lord providing a work-free July/August, and the financial support of many of you, I am headed to the USA so mark your calendars!! *Just a note of warning I will be eating only Thai and Mexican food so please don't try to feed me anything Italian haha :)

• Will be in Los Angeles July 26-August 5... and again August 16-18.
• Will be in Seattle (still not official dates) August 10-15.

SOME FUEL FOR PRAYERS:

MONICA & ERICA. Monica is a long time member of our church in her 40s. I really love her and am inspired by her sincere, childlike heart. She suffers from bipolar disease and her heart and life are quite chaotic. On Sunday I spent the day at her home for lunch. She had been wanting me to meet her 20 yr old daughter ERICA. Erica's father (American) left them when she was small. She is amazing. The family is full of trouble and pain--Monica deciding whether to kick her boyfriend of 9 yrs (also a church member) out of the house. Or marry him. Oh goodness it's a long and winding story. Anyway, pray I can spend more time with them. And that I have the love and wisdom to do so. Cool thing: Erica works just down the street from my house(unfortunately at a gelateria--I'll have to break my loyalty to my fave gelato guy Marco at Blanca's every now and then to go see her!!).

RAFFA. I just love her so much! She seems better but we haven't really talked about how she's doing emotionally since I last wrote. We are spending time together on our holiday tomorrow, and then having tea with Tania Friday after work. Pray I can share more of Jesus with her. Just love her as He loves me. Pray she opens her heart to wonder and ask and want to know Him!

FATION. I saw him today as I usually do on Tuesdays. He is quite mysterious and I know he suffers a lot with his family, depression, loneliness, godlessness.... please pray for him. Pray that I know how to be his friend in a way that cares for him and points him to Jesus.

LIVIA. Cool thing. My Roman friend Livia just messaged me and she is back in Rome (was living in the north for cooking school) a few weeks in May and then most of the summer. She wants to get together. I love her parents/little sister as well. And Livia is just SUCH a lovely, strong young woman. Pray we can get together and have a good time and that she grows hungry for Jesus. Pray God's Spirit is with me so I know how to share exactly what she needs.

SUNDAY SCHOOL. A bit of a mess. Hard with young ones and old ones in one bedroom with my weak abilities. I need help!

PRAISE... I do feel that my Italian is getting a bit better. It takes a lot for me to say that, but I think it's true. I am looking forward to getting some tutoring this summer to focus on some grammar points.

PRAISE... last night Marco, Miky, Tania and I had our monthly dinner/prayer thing we're doing. It was really sweet. These guys are going through a lot it breaks my heart. They are the only Christians among their peers and it's just a big battle of beliefs, ideas, practices, philosophies, relationships.... Pray that they are strengthened in the Lord! Pray that together we can foster a new kind of community among young people here! If you are at all interested in sponsoring any of them at university (may have to drop out for financial reasons), let me know. By that I mean like $1000 per person, it's not a lot here.

PRAISE... our church member Hilde has returned from 4 months in the US. Her son ANDREAS has become a friend of mine, but since he spent Christmas with my family, despite attempts by Tania and I, we haven't seen him. Tonight I saw him again as Hilde hosted Bible study in her home. He arrived after since he had another obligation, but I am SO PLEASED to be in contact with him again. He is such a great guy and I just know God loves him and wants to fill him with purpose. Pray for ANDREAS and ELEONORA (girlfriend) that we can hang out and that they walk with Jesus.

PRAISE... as I mentioned last time, our church has become an official 'Association' or nonprofit in the county. La Speranza can function as a church but also coffee shop, bookstore, tutoring centre, and lots of other things we dream to be for the community. We are praying now for a location to move out of our house-church phase. This also requires maturity and unity of our members. Pray with us!

Love to you all!
A


    
Above: my home--may it be used for kingdom purposes!  
Below: me @top of Castel Sant'Elmo, Napoli last weekend :)

and something for today

Hi I just want to add that this morning on the playground with our classes, I had a sad conversation with Raffa. Your typical playground convo, I'm sure. In short, we were supposed to hang out Saturday but she didn't call and was telling me why. She said she 'cried' all weekend. It was really dark. She even had suicidal thoughts. She's 41, left a recent of many relationships, has the ache and longing for children and good things that never seem to find her. Maybe she 'deserves' this she wonders. Please pray that I can speak boldly about the hope I have and be a good friend to her.

I also had a chat with my colleague Daniela today. She explained a bit of her story how both she and her current partner were married before and left their spouses for this complicated international relationship. A lot of chaos in her life.

Sometimes it is difficult to share truth and not judge. Also I literally don't know what to say many times. Pray that God uses me nonetheless in my workplace. Thanks!

pray for the pigeons

Hi.

I am going to start with this because it is becoming a source of great frustration. The pigeons are against me. I walk through the streets of Frascati pass a pigeon, and am filled with offense and personal loathe against the bird. Can't look it in the eye. It could be one that makes its home behind my house. So violating. If you've ever had pigeon problems, you know what I'm talking about. I like to laugh about it but I am now so thoroughly disgusted, I am taking it personally.

We've tried to set up mirrors, owls, pour bleach, clean, everything and they will not leave this area behind my apartment. They make an awful noise and are unsanitary. I don't know if they are at all connected to the reason why I am sick EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND or not, but it's odd. Last week I had a virus taking me to the toilet every 30 mins. This week I woke up with itchy skin and oddly swollen allergic eyes. Some weekends I have fever. It's insane. I know it could be spiritual warfare as well...but why I am rambling on this awkward story??? Because I am going to ask you to do a very silly thing: please pray for the pigeons. Pray that they go away and never come back.

Haha but seriously. Pray that we can find a solution and that I have wisdom on how to deal with my health. Thanks.

ALSO:

The youth sleepover went well!! We had our usual 3 faithfuls Moira, Eli and Giulia, but it was still sweet. Pray for more depth and growth in their walks with Christ.

Church location: this week we are becoming an official organization/church in the county. This is the first step into getting a real location and will allow us eventually to open a bookstore, etc. I am named 'secretary' haha. Pray for all of the details and that God continues to provide for us and lead us to a good building location.

Unity and maturity, reconciliation and vibrant faith are continued requests for our members.

We always have a lot of health issues: Giulia and her battle with leukemia, Paola (not officially 'dying') from Colleferro study who has 2 young daughters, Michelangelo recovering from knee surgery, Chantal with cateract problems....

Continued pray for my Italian language acquisition.

Praise for progress and growth in situation with Tania. More grace. More wisdom please, Lord.

Tania's gotten back in touch with a college friend Luca and he really needs the hope of Jesus! We had him over this weekend. Continue to pray for him.

Work: so thankful for my precious precious students. Can't believe I've come to love them this much!!! Pray God gives me joy and strength this week. SO THANKFUL to be working 3 out of 6 days due to Italian holiday. Thank you Jesus!

BIG FAT PRAISE: our friend Matteo has accepted Jesus!! Pray that he gets plugged in to a church and grows in a profound, transformative way. So blessed by this miracle and pray he holds fast.

Thanks everyone. Love to all!

Below: Almost ready for dinner at our sleepover! Eli (headed to cooking highschool next year) made a vegetarian feast!

Luca and Ivano trying our Wii Just Dance!

Practicing some worship songs before church :) We've given Michelangelo a break since he's on crutches!

a righteous [wo]man

Been meditating on this since it leaped out at me yesterday in my One Year Bible:

'A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray' -Prov. 12:26

What is it that is so penetrating? I think it is this idea of being led astray. I am seeing too much of it around me. God is faithful to protect and guide. If we follow.

I don't want to pretend that I am different from any other human. Easily influenced. Vulnerable. May God give me and my Christian community caution, care and intention for the people around us. Righteousness. Peace. To be found and not lost.


CHURCH UPDATES

*We have our 2nd (quarterly) youth sleepover event this weekend! It comes at the end of a really busy week for me, so please pray I can have energy to love these kids for 24 hours. Pray that we have an edifying, bonding time and that ultimately hearts are opened up more intimately to Jesus. Pray for Moira, Elijah, Giulia, Beatrice, Matteo, Filippo, Leo, Michela.

*Tuesday nights. We have kind of stopped the Biblestudy that was Tuesdays and used it for prayer since it was just us leaders. However, we want to be open to using it to meet certain needs such as doing events for non-believers or ?? If you have any creative outreach ideas let me know!

*We are still praying that the county grants us a public building to use or the Lord grants us money to rent or buy our own place. Last Sunday was packed in Robert's house. We'd like to be more established in the community.

*Children's ministry. I need continued wisdom on how to nurture, teach and prepare for this group from 7-16 yrs. each week!

PERSONAL UPDATES

*I love my colleagues so much. Pray that I can be diligent, excellent, and faithful in my chaotic workplace--a refreshment to my colleagues. Pray for Ruhma, Raffa, Gino, Daniela especially I feel like I want to reach out to them at this time.

*More wisdom in how to invest in my current friends and to make new ones.

*More wisdom, boldness in my relationship with Tania. Transformation for her.

*Praise God I get 'summer' off!! I plan on using July to be with people here and invest in ways I can't when I work. Then a trip to CA/WA somewhere end of July-beg of August. I will keep you posted!

Thanks. Lots of love to all!!
Allie

easter updates

EASTER/PASQUA

Thanks for praying for our service! Things ran pretty smoothly thanks to our small little team of leaders and though we didn't have many new people/outsiders, it was sweet to have members from all of our outlying community groups in the Castelli region together for worship. Paolo, our new believer, came with his elderly mother. Matteo (remember he's on my 'prayer hitlist'? haha) came which was awesome! My Muslim-background boss said she might come as did my landlady (genuinely open) but they didn't. In the end, it was encouraging to know that they were at least open to the invitation. God helped me with my rough Italian presentation of the Gospel with the 10 kids that came to Sunday School. Again, good to have everyone together as it doesn't often happen on Sundays.

Michelangelo leading worship on Easter :)

DAY AFTER/PASQUETTA

The Monday after Easter is like a national picnic-bbq holiday here. I spent it in the country with a big group from our sister church in Rome. It was sweet.

THE REST

I've been enjoying a few days off... going by TOO fast! Back to work tomorrow. Anyway, it's been much needed and I've actually been able to connect with 2 American girlfriends doing ministry in surrounding areas, which has been a huge encouragement/refreshment to me! Of course I'm not here to hang out with Americans, but it is so stimulating and supporting get to know other people of my language and work. Please pray for me as I need to confront my boss asap about SUMMER. We've already verbally agreed about renewing my contract for next fall, but I am afraid she is going to pressure me to work the summer school (renew my contract--that expires June--in June instead of end of August). I really want to use my summer to invest in the church and a visit to America. Pray that she is understanding.

Sorry I am vague about this--but keep praying for my room-mate Tania, for the Lord's transforming power in her life and guidance of His Spirit for me as she lives in my home and is my dear friend.

(Above: pasquetta lunch and games!)

Thanks lots of love to all!!
Allie