New York State of Mind

Well it's official: our summer in Italy is over. Sad but true. We arrived in New York last Thursday evening after a very long day of International travel. Don't get me wrong, we were ready to get back to the U.S., but we were also sad to be leaving the place that was our home for more than 2 months. We definitely enjoyed our last few days in Italy, and have also enjoyed our time here in NYC. I wish I could write about everything that has happened, but unfortunately we'll have to settle for some highlights. Here are just a few:

We knew that we would have a few days to do some fun stuff our last week in Italy, so we took a couple of days and enjoyed them. On the Saturday before we left, Josie, Brian, and I all went back to Cinque Terre and enjoyed a day at the beach. We really had a blast swimming in the Mediterranean and getting a little bit of a tan. The next day was our last Sunday, and last worship service, with the church in Prato. I was able to say a few words (with Mike translating of course!!) to the church about how grateful we were to them, and how much we would miss them. After church we all planned to get together again before we left, so we didn't have to say all of our goodbyes then. Later that night, there was a little fair going on in Prato, so we got to check that out and see what a fair looks like in Italy. It's a little different than what we were used to, but not much really. On Monday, Josie and I decided to stay in and pack our things and clean up before we left on Wednesday morning for Rome. Tuesday was our last full day in Tuscany, so we decided to go back into Florence and see some of the things we had still not experienced. We stopped off at the market to snag a few souvineers, then we caught a open-top sightseeing tour bus. We had done this same thing in London a couple of years ago, so we knew that we would really enjoy it. We weren't disappointed. We got to see so much of Florence that we would never have gotten to see. Plus, the tour tells you all the history behind what you are seeing, which makes it so much more interesting. After spending the day in Florence, we headed back to Prato for a little get-together that the church members had planned. We all ate pizza and talked and laughed, enjoying our last night of fellowship together. We said our emotional goodbyes, then headed back to our apartment for the last time. Early Wednesday morning we grabbed our bags and headed to the train station for Rome. Since the train ride is about 3 hours, and we needed to be at the airport by 11am, we decided that it would be better to just stay the night in Rome to avoid any potential problems. We booked a night at the Hotel Riviera in Fiumicino, just outside of Rome and only 10 minutes from the airport. This place was special for us since it is the same hotel that we all stayed in 4 years ago when we first arrived in Italy. This place was also great because it is only a couple of blocks away from the beach! So, instead of going into Rome, we spent the rest of the day in Fiumicino at the beach. It was a perfect ending to a great 2 months in Italy. We really couldn't have asked for anything better. The next morning we started our long day in the air by flying out to Amsterdam first, then on to NY.

The first thing we wanted to do when we got to New York was sleep!! After a long flight like that, I'm usually pretty worn out. Josie's dad picked us up at the airport, and took us back to his house in the Bronx were we got a good nights sleep. We've been here since then, mostly relaxing and trying not to melt in this heat!! On Sunday, Josie and I jumped on the subway for a short trip to see her grandmother and sister who live here as well. Josie got to show me around her old neighborhood a little and take some pictures of her old school and playground. It was also good to spend the day with her family, especially since it was her grandmother's birthday. It was a little confusing for me, however, since they all speak Spanish and my mind is still stuck in Italian! I can see that it's going to take a little time to get used to speaking Spanish again. :) We had a good time visiting with everyone there, and then headed back to her father's house for the night. Then next day I had a meeting with Jared Looney, a church-planter here in the Bronx. I have been in contact with him for the last several months about their work here, so this was a great opportunity to meet with him in person and discuss the work here. They are doing a great work, and I enjoyed hearing about their successes and failures here in this very difficult field. Josie and I are planning on meeting with the church that meets in their home on Friday night, so we are looking forward to getting a first-hand look at church planting here in the Bronx. On Tuesday, we decided to head into the city for a little sightseeing. New York City is one of our favorite places in the world, so we definitely wanted to see it at least once while we were here. We decided to take Bobby, one of Josie's brothers, along with us since he hasn't been to the city very often. He wanted to see the Statue of Liberty, so we started there. After seeing Lady Liberty, we headed back up town, taking in the city and all its sights. After walking around for a few hours and seeing a lot of cool stuff, we decided to head back home to avoid being caught in the rain. We hope to get back into the city again before we leave, but I'm not sure if that will happen or not. Rain is in the forcast for the rest of the week, so we'll just have to see what happens.

I had really wanted to add some overall reflections from our time in Italy to this post, but since it is so long already, I think I'll save that for later. In the mean time, just know that we are doing very well, and enjoying the blessings that God fills our lives with every day. I hope the same is true for you all as well. Please continue to pray for us as we seek to do His will, and that we might be shining lights in the darkness. Also remember our brothers and sisters in Italy, and those here in the Bronx. God bless you all.

Aaron

Weddings, trips, and joy!

Hey there everybody!!!
We have exactly one week left till it's time for us to head home. We have so much to share with you guys about all that we have learned and all that God has taught us during our time here, but I'm gunna leave that to Aaron. Instead, I'm gunna share with you about the really cool things that we've been able to do these past couple of weeks. We have been able to participate in all kinds of neat activities and I simply can not wait to fill you guys in.


First off, we were asked by a member of the church to sing at his wedding. Luigi, the groom, really wanted a few of us to sing some pretty acappella songs for the ceremony. Talk about a honor!! and PRESSURE! I mean Italian weddings are a HUGE deal. They spend alot of time planning them and spend tons of money to make them just perfect, the last thing I wanted was for us to go "off" and ruin their whole ceremony=) Thankfully, we practiced and we did pretty well. The wedding was a smaller one( 35 people) and it was at a garden on the top of a mountain. It was gorgeous, hands down the prettiest location I've seen in a long time! The ceremony was quite similar to the ones we have in the States, there were prayers, songs, the reading of the vows...etc. The only things that I thought were different was that they sat in 2 chairs, and that before they were pronounced husband and wife they had to sign this paper ( them and 3 witnesses). All in all, it was beautiful. We sang and then they let us stay for the appetizers, and then we had to leave. The dinner part of Italian weddings is the biggest deal. They eat for like 4 or 5 hours, like 7 courses.....all paid for by the couple. AYE! Talk about expensive, no wonder we weren't invited=) Wish you guys could of seen it. It rocked! And for a little while, I really felt like we helped to make their special day a little more perfect=)



Next on the list of cool activities, is our trip to San Gimignano. Ok, so we have developed a close friendship with a couple named Deborah and Orfeo (members of the church). We have spent quite a bit of time with them in the time that we have been here. Well, one day they had this great idea for us to take a trip together to one of the little towns on the Tuscan hillside just to enjoy our time together and for us to get a better feel for Tuscany. We decided on San Gimignano, the Manhattan of Tuscany, and lemme tell you how glad I am that we did. It's simply breath taking! It's called Manhattan because of it's many towers. It used to have like over 100 tall towers, now it only has 7 but they are pretty neat. Ok, so our trip. We ending up going with Deborah's whole family( who was already in town for the wedding) =). It was a blast, exploring and experiencing life in the small town. We all got to have some pretty neat conversations, some even spiritually focused, so besides the fun, I think that the trip was a success! =)




The fourth of July was classic! One of the Aimers has been developing a friendship with an American girl who lives here in Prato, but who isn't a member of the church. Her name is Julianna. Anyway, Juliana invited us all to spend the day with her and her fiance at the lake. We were thrilled and we planned for this pretty traditional fourth. I mean, we had hot dogs, sloppy joes, peach cobbler...the works! We spent the day soaking up the sun, talking, and swimming. My 3 favorite things!!! It was cool though because, it gave me the chance to really talk to the Aimer girls and encourage them. Girls have some of the best conversations when they are laying out=) We were thankful for that little piece of home on that special holiday!



The last really interesting thing that we did was this last Sunday. The whole church decided to head up the mountains after church top attend the annual "Wild Boar Festival". =) . It was all new to me, but they were all pretty pumped. We all caravaned up this curvy and really dangerous mountain road to get to the festival, that was at the summit of a huge mountain. It was scary but really neat. When we got there, we heard Italian folk music and saw what looked like a little fair. It was soo cool. Old people were dancing and waltzing in the center of it all.... soo cute. Basically what you did, was pay for whatever type of wild boar meal you wanted, and then you picked it up at this huge tent. The food was AMAZING! Wild boar is my new favorite meat. It was juicy and soo tender, who knew? We all ate, listened to music, played cards, and just hung out all day long. It was "an event". It was soo cool to see the church members fellowshipping and enjoying each other's company. I loved it.

I know none of the activities listed above sound much like "work" and maybe it wasn't much "work" for us, but they were amazing opportunities for us to love people. We just spent time with people and tried to show them that they were important to us. I just feel like that is soo important here, well everywhere. Relationships are everything! People will not respect you or listen to what you have to say if they don't know you. And on top of that, I really felt like all of these activities really gave us some time to strike up some much needed and beneficial conversations, so for that I'm thankful! God is good.

We love you all soo much and miss you. We are excited about being able to be home to see you all soon! Thank you again for helping to make this amazing experience possible. You have truly been a part of this work, right along with us. Thank you. May God bless you all wherever you are, whatever you are doing. We send our love.

Josie

Overdue Update!!

Ciao tutti!! I sincerely apologize for not writing sooner. We have been so swamped with things going on here that I really haven’t had much time to update the blog. So much has happened since the last post that it would take far too much space and time to write about it all, so I’ll give you the Cliff’s Notes version.

On June 25^th, Josie and I travelled to Venice to celebrate our 3^rd wedding anniversary. Venice is such a beautiful and romantic place, and even more special for us since our relationship first started to bloom there 4 years ago. We had an amazing room right on the Grand Canal, overlooking the famous Rialto Bridge. After spending a day and night there, we took a short train ride to Padova to visit with the mission team that is working with the church there. They were gracious enough to endure our endless questioning, and even fed us lunch! They are doing a great work there, and are an encouragement to us. Please remember their work there in your prayers.

After our two day outing, we returned to Prato to finalize our work on our “mini” campaign that began the next week. We printed, cut, and distributed about 5,000 flyers, as well as put on puppet shows and hosted dinners for the church. The campaign was only three days, but it was a lot of work, and I believe it was very beneficial for us and the church. In fact, the flyers seemed to be already gaining a response. The day after we distributed our evangelistic flyer (advertising only Bible studies, no English lessons) a woman walked in the church requesting a Bible and future Bible studies. We were amazed at such a quick response, considering it is apparently not unusual to distribute thousands of flyers and never receive one response. I can’t tell you what an encouragement it was to us all. I believe there has also been a response to our flyer offering free English lessons (using the Bible) as a result of our distribution. Please pray for these responses and others in the future.

As I mentioned earlier, we also hosted dinners for the church and those in the community. The ladies of the congregation prepared amazing meals for us all, and then we all gathered together for a devotional. The first night was a singing devotional in which Josie and I taught the congregation 3 songs in Spanish. There is a large family of Honduran immigrants that attends the church, and we decided to do the Spanish songs in an effort to make them feel special. It definitely worked! When we told them that we would be singing some songs in Spanish, they were so excited!! They even brought some of their other Honduran friends that have never come to church because they do not yet speak Italian. They all were so excited to speak to Josie in Spanish; you could see their faces light up when they got to speak in their native language. What was better is that the church, even though they struggled through the songs, decided to sing them on Sunday for the Spanish speaking members! It was a beautiful gesture to illustrate how much the Hondurans mean to this congregation, and something that is certainly outside the norm for Italians here in Prato, considering immigrants are very discriminated against and disliked.

The second night was a night of prayer, in which we divided the men and women into two groups and had them each pray for certain things. It was a blessing to hear the men of the congregation discuss their own individual prayer requests and praises for the church here. The women also seemed to have a good response in their group, bringing laughter and tears during their session.

The third night was more focused on evangelism. We decided to have a Mexican food night in which we would invite all our friends who are not yet Christians into the church for a free meal. One of our Honduran sisters helped Josie make tortillas and empanadas, and Mike and I prepared the cheese and toppings. We had quite a turn out; apparently Mexican food is quite popular, although there are no Mexican restaurants to be found here! Several of our friends from the community showed up, and the building was so full that many of us ate outside in the courtyard. The food (of course) was amazing, and everyone seemed to have a really great time. We all stayed until pretty late, talking and laughing and enjoying the fellowship. The church really seemed to get a lot out of these three nights, and Mike later mentioned that he thought they would try to do this again in September. We were blessed to be a part of it, and it was a great experience for us to learn how to organize a campaign.

Well, I think this post has been quite long enough! I wish that I could say everything that has happened. In fact, I wish that you all were right here with us, experiencing it all for yourselves. Our Lord has truly blessed us during this time, and we thank you all for your help in making it happen. I pray that you are all doing well, and continuing to see God in your lives. Drop us a line and let us know how you are doing, and if we can be praying for you about anything. Continue to remember us and the work here in your prayers. God bless you all.

Fotos

Here we are in the centro the campaigners on the night that they arrived. We had such a great time just catching up and showing them around Prato.

Cinque Terre at it's best!!!! This the 4th City, Vernazza. This is shot from the actual vicious hiking path! It was a total killer, but isnt the view gorgeous?!!?!

Me and my sweetie on the hike, The coast was soo beautiful! If you know me, you know how important the ocean is to me. I was in heaven with the sea so close!

We found out while we were there that Italy was Playing against France that night so we found a restraunt with a tv and watched the game with the Italians. It was a blast because the natives are crazy when it comes to soccer! They yell and scream...hahah.... but I guess thats what makes it soo fun huh?

This was taking during one of our puppet shows this week. I am the "conductor" of the gospel train, and here I am leading the kiddos around the park. Quite fun! The love it, esp. when I spend the train up to running speed.=)

After the week of death

Hello everybody!!! Im alive! Back in the land of the living. Sorry it has taken entirely too long for me to update the blog, I've just been a mess. Like Aaron said earlier, a big mean stomach virus came along and took me out for a whole week. I felt like a prisoner in this house and it was miserable. Good news is, though, that Italians do have good medicine. Who knew?=) So anyway, after the week of pain, great things started happening again. The Italy campaign finished that same weekend, and they made their way up to Prato to see us for a night. That was a blast, we got to hear all kinds of amazing stories about the work that was going on in cities all over Italy. It was nice to be reminded , after a week like I had, that there is soo much going on, so much work to do here. It was definitly a pick me up to see them. The best part about them being here is that we were able to plan a day trip together to go to Cinque Terre (a series of 5 smalls cities on the coast). We went first to Florence to catch up with the Daggett family on their way through Tuscany, and that was amazing. It was soo nice to be around people that we knew loved us and that could offer us some encouragement. They were great about telling us that they think we're doing a good job and to keep it up. They really encouraged us not to loose heart and to work even harder this last month that we have here. They gave us some ideas of new things to be involved in and ways to make new relationships. That was soo needed and totally priceless to us, because we had been getting a little down. We feel renewed and refreshed and ready to work, Thank God. We have realized how important relationships are. Sometimes when the work is slow or we feel like we aren't making a difference, it's good for us to remember that relationships are the reason we are here. Through forming relationships we can encourage, teach, and comfort. We intend to spend a big part of our time doing just that, forming relationships here. The Christians in the church in Prato are so closed off from each other, and they dont open up to each other. What an opportunity for us to be what they need while we are here! =) Anyway, thats been really on my mind, sorry about the soapbox=) Outside of spending time with the Italian families we have been hosting puppet shows in parks around the city all week and thats been fun. Really HOT, but soo fun. The kids love it. Sooo many actually come out and sit through the 2 hour show! warming all over the place! There is a ridiculously vicious hiking path the runs to/ thru each ofOh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys about the actual trip to Cinque Terre! It was soo stinking fun! WE loved it there! I'll post pics, but the cities are in the mountains right along side of the Med. sea. They are super quaint and cute, with tons of tourists swarming the cities. There is a ridiculously viscious hiking path that leads through each of the cities and it was fun/exhausting to do that with the campaigners! We couldn't have asked for a better end to the "week of death". Before I go, I just wanna say how much I miss you guys. SO MUCH! I am having a bit of a hard time with being so far away. I feel completely excluded from your lives, and its killing me. PLEASE, please write me updates on you. Let me know the new and exciting things that are happening in your lives! I love you all soo much, and pray for you daily. God bless you all this week!

p.s. This Wed. coming up (the 25th) is a very special day. It will be our 3 year anniversary!!!!!!! We are taking an overnight trip to Venice to celebrate and we are soooooo excited!!!! Pray for everything to go well please, so that we can start year 4 with a bang!! =)

One Month

Dear Family,
I hope you all are well and enjoying your summer as much as we are. As I sat down to scribble out this post, I was reminded that this week is our fourth here in Italy. We have roughly six more left. It’s hard to believe that we are nearly at the half-way point for our time here. In some ways, it has flown by. We are learning so much Italian and have become pretty well adapted to the way things work here in Prato, at least in our little circle. So, in that respect, it seems as though we’ve been here a while. Then, when I think about the fact that one half of our time here is nearly over, and that one third of our entire summer is gone, it seems that time is flying by!! But, all in all, it has been a great month overall, except for the fact that we have been sick for the last few days. Josie and I both seem to have gotten a stomach virus that is going around, so we’ve been in bed for the last couple of days. Especially Josie; she’s had it pretty bad. I’m confident that we’re on the better side of things now, and we’ve finally gotten some good medicine that seems to be helping. So, no worries about us. We’re in good hands. :)

Up until our illness, we were staying quite busy with the activities in the church and other things. As for activities with the church, we’ve been able to visit with some of the members quite frequently, going to their homes and hanging out, and getting ice cream together. Also, a couple of the members of the church here had birthdays last week, so we threw them a part that practically the whole congregation attended. As for our group’s (the Mahan’s, the AIMers, and us) activities, we all went into the mountains Sunday night to sing for a conference held by a local battered women’s support group. As a show of their appreciation for our singing, we were invited to dinner, which was a four-course meal that lasted over two hours! We as a group are also doing singing and puppet practice, getting ready for those activities later this week. For Josie and me personally, we got a chance see some friends from the States when the Wilson’s came through Florence as part of their European backpacking trip. It was good to see old friends, and to experience Florence together with them. We also have been working on Italian, both in private lessons and in everyday conversations with church members and people here in Prato. It was a lot of fun going to the pharmacy to get Josie some medicine, and trying to explain to the woman there what I was wanting! I have a hard enough time doing that in the States, much less here in a language I really don’t know!! But I made it through, and learned a few new vocabulary words as well. :)

We have yet to get a chance to do much traveling to some of the really beautiful and scenic towns here in Tuscany. Between bad weather and illness, we’ve basically been in Prato the entire time. We hope to venture out for a couple of short day trips in the next week, and maybe a couple of over-night trips to visit with other missionaries here in Italy later in the month. We should be back in Florence with the Daggetts and some of the campaigners this Monday when they come through. It will be such a blessing to see them again, and hear about all their adventures from the last month. We had hoped to be with them this week while they were in Naples, but it just didn’t work out. So, we’ll settle for Monday, since even a little visit is better than none at all.

We miss you all dearly and pray for your well-being constantly. We also ask for your continued prayers for us and the work here. May God continue to bless you and your work for His kingdom in your everyday life, and may he bless our brothers and sisters here in Italy as they struggle in the same effort.

Love to you all,

Aaron

This is what the Piazza at the Center of town looks like. This is where you will see everyone hanging out on a typical afternoon. We pass this on the way to church. It's pretty huh

He He He. ok, ok, this is just me being silly, but take a look at what's behind me. That is the river side/mountain side of Prato. It's gorgeous. Aaron and I have bible time over here often. It's what I always imagined Tuscany would be like....

Here we are singing at the Nursing home. This was soo much fun. We sang some Christian songs and some Tuscan folk songs. They loved it! Notice... one of the little old ladies even got up to be with us=) Sooo cute!

Here is "La Chiesa di Cristo" on a Sunday morning. There are about 25- 30 members at the church in Prato, and they are all great.

Prato

Ciao tutti! It's me again! I miss you guys, but life here is swell.=) God has helped us to really get involved and feel a little more at home. We have been a part of alot of different activities this past week and a half and that has been great because it's created alot of opportunities for us to reach out to the church members as well as the AIMers. Right after we got in town we dived right into puppet practice to prepare for a big puppet show in the park later on in the summer. The church here in Prato really likes this form of outreach because is non-intrusive and kids from all over can come out and be entertained, all the while creating contacts with parents. So yea, we did that and then we got to do my favorite thing of all so far. We went and sang at a nursing home one morning for a couple of hours. It was amazing. I love going in to visit and hug people that spend most of their days in solitude. They yearn for touch and smiles,and it felt so good to be able to make their day. We got to hear awesome stories too. We have had several church get togethers also, birthday parties and fellowship meals. Those have been great for our Italian because we are forced to speak it just to communicate with the church. It's been great though, not as hard as I thought. We've even be able to make plans with several members of the church to have lunch, or garden together, or just hang out--- so I say we must be doing really good=) Seriously though, its been awesome how they have just accepted us as one of them. We've only been here a week and already have plans to spend time with almost all of the families at church. That has been good for more reasons than just Italian learning, it helps us to feel like we have purpose here and like we might be able to make a difference while we are learning.

On a personal note, I have been attempting to cook like the Italians do. Kinda tough, but I think I'm getting it. It can't be that bad, cuz I have been watching Aaron's belly grow =) Aaron and I have also been trying to create a schedule for ourselves so that we don't get into the bad habit of sitting around. We are creatures of routine and setting up a daily schedule has been great for us. We get up and have bible time, stop by our favorite bar for a pastry, and then head out. We either go to the Mahan's for Italian lessons or to whatever "appointment" we made for the day. That has helped alot. Also, because we live with 3 other girls and are almost constantly around people, we decided to take one day a week just for us. Kinda like a date day. On those days we are going to head out to one of the small towns that surround Prato- in Tuscany and enjoy time alone sightseeing. Train tickets here are like 1 Euro, so its a pretty inexpensive way for us to keep our priorites straight and having fun while we're doing it=)

Thanks you guys for keeping in touch and letting us know that you love and miss us. That means soo much to us. Italy has been great, but I'll be honest, the one thing missing is all of you. Being away from home is really hard when you are away from your friends and family. God bless you all this week.

Love always,
Josie

Naples and Rome Pictures

The Parthenon in Rome. We actually got to go inside this time!! Amazing that this building was built a couple of thousand years ago, and was only one of its kind until the 20th century!!! The largest free-standing dome in the world for 20 centuries. Pretty amazing. And it's still here.

A part of the ruins of the Roman Forum. We intended to get the audio guide of the ruins, but we couldn't find the store! So, because of that, I have no clue what this building was used for. If you know, feel free to tell us. :-)

This is a part of the ruins of the ancient Roman Forum from Palatine Hill. This area was once the Broadway of ancient Rome, however it was later used as a cow pasture!! Its amazing how much of it is still here after all these years.

We got a chance to challenge the church in Naples to a "friendly" game of soccer. It was the USA vs. Naples...the US didn't exactly come out on top, but it was a good game. Even I scored a few goals, so you know they were taking it easy on us!!

A typical street in downtown Naples. It was raining and the streets were still packed! Naples definately has a culture all its own.

More Pictures!!

This is our favorite ice cream shop in Prato (so far!!). We've been eating way too much gelato!!

This is the river in Prato. This is going to be our peaceful devotional place for the summer.

Here I am at the retreat on Saturday night giving a short devotional thought. Good thing Shawn was there to translate!!

Napoli and the first week or so...

Hey there,
So our first week has been a good one. We had an amazing time at the retreat in Velletri with all the other Christians from around Italy. We got to see lots of our brothers and sisters that we met 4 years ago on the campaign. We also got a lot of exposure to Italian, and some great practice in speaking and communicating with the Italians. Josie, of course, really showed me up, but I think I'm coming along ok. Better than last time for sure... :-) Anyway, Saturday night I was asked to give a short devotional talk for the meeting that night (Shawn translated for me, otherwise it would have been a really short talk!). So overall, it was a huge blessing to be there and be a part of the nationwide fellowship of the Lord's Church in Italy. Sunday afternoon, after eating an amazing lunch and saying tearful goodbyes, we packed into the car and headed south to Naples for the week with the Mahans and some of the AIMers that are working in Prato. It was such a blessing for us since we had really wanted to go down to Naples anyway, and this way we didn't have to go all the way there alone. It was great to see the DeMarco family, Genni, Massimilliano, Lino, and all the others from Napoli. We stayed with an American family that is working on the Naval base there. They have an amazing home with a gorgeous view, so we definately took advantage of that. We got to spend a lot of time with the DeMarcos as well. They showed us a little bit of downtown Naples, and we were able to hear about the work there, and hopefully encourage them a little at the same time. The work there, as in the rest of Italy, is difficult and can be discouraging, so please pray for the church there as they try to be a light in that area.

On Saturday we left Naples and headed to Prato, with a few hour layover in Rome. Mike and Anto had a wedding in Rome (failure to attend a wedding when you've been invited is an insult in Italy) that took most of the day, so we got the chance to check out a few of the sites we missed last time. We took a tour of the ruins of Palatine Hill and the Forum, and then walked over to the Pantheon. After lunch (which happens around 2 or so in Italy) we took a stroll all over central Rome, enjoying the beauty and the atmosphere of the Eternal City, as well as getting a little bit of a sunburn!

Saturday evening we drove back to Prato, which is only about 3 hours or so, but seems much longer after a long day in Rome, and when you have 9 people in a 6 passenger van!! Especially when one of those 9 is a two year old!! But we made it just fine, and settled into our apartment that night in Prato. We are sharing an apartment with three of the girls that are here with the AIM program, and they have been nice enough to give us one of their rooms (it's only a 2 bedroom apt.!) for 2 months. Sunday morning we went to church and visited with our brothers and sisters that meet here in Prato. We gave lots of hugs and kisses (Italians greet one another with a kiss on each cheek), and met the new members that have been added to the church in the last 4 years.

The last couple of days we have had the opportunity to relax a bit and get settled into our surroundings. We've gone grocery shopping, done our laundry, and walked all over Prato. We've also been working out our plans for the rest of our time here. As a group, we are expecting to be performing several puppet shows and singing concerts for various groups. As for just Josie and me, we have already started our private Italian lessons with Mike, and we are planning a couple of different trips to spend time with other missionaries here in Italy. There are also plans for visiting with the members of the church here, and meeting some of the evangelistic contacts that have been made here in the city. Our schedule is already getting booked, so it seems like we'll be quite busy this summer learning, growing, and serving.

I hope you all are doing well, and that God is blessing you all with opportunities to shine for Him in your own mission field. Please continue to pray for the work going on here in Italy, and for our brothers and sisters here that live and work in a very difficult area. They need so much encouragement, and often feel very alone and overwhelmed. Also pray for us, that God would use us to encourage and strenthen our family in Christ, and that we would see and understand more clearly God's plan for our future. Love in Christ,

Aaron

more....

This was part of the children's class! We had a blast!











Here we are with the campaigners and our cook Laida and her husband. They were so sweet, they cried when we left=)

Pictures

This is the villa that we stayed at in Velletri. It was beautiful, it housed 145 guests in the whole compound. Obviously, this was only one part of it, but I wanted you guys to get a feel for it.


This is "La PASTA". This is the first Italian meal that we had. Jealous?

Siamo Qui! We're here!

Hey everybody! First lemme, just say that we miss you all and have been anxious to get to a computer to be able to let you all know how we are doing. We are GREAT! Quick recap of whats happened so far.... really long, uncomfortable plan rides, then arriving in Italy,driving through Rome, arriving at the Villa in Velletri where the Retreat was. All of that happened so fast, but it was wonderful. We got some bonding time with the campaign group for a few days, as most of the Italians didn't get there till Friday night. It was a blast, we really connected with them and actually felt like part of the group. Finally, the Italian brothers and sisters arrived and it was amazing, because we already knew so many of them. They actually remembered us from 4 years ago, and that cool thing was that this time when they talked to me, I could understand everything! yay!!! I still can only speak like a 4 year old, but I'm really trying hard. You know me, I'm not afraid to make mistakes and look stupid if it means being able to communicate with someone. Aaron is doing great too! He's understanding alot, maybe we will both be able to hold our own before we leave=)We all got a discount at the beautiful mountain villa by cleaning up with the staff, so we washed 80 sets of dishes 3 times a day.=) it was so neat to be serving these people so that they could enjoy their time, and they appreciated us and our work. That felt good. The children's classes went good, I mean, our instructions in Italian kinda stunk, but the activities were great. They loved the singing too. So we had a good time. We lead a special activity for the youth ( ages 10-35 in Italy=) where we played mixer games and then read through the first 3 chapters of 1 Timothy and they seemed to really enjoy that. We had a big discussion session after the reading and they all got really involved. Many of them came up to Shawn Daggett( the leader) afterwards crying, just saying how much it meant to them to have time like that. See, in Italy the young people usually are alone, churches here don't have many young members. So for them to come and spend time and talk to other Christians is HUGE. It was really neat to be able to encourage them. Anyway, the retreat was a huge success, and we all got to know alot of Italian brothers. We all got to praise God together too. After all of that ended we had to say a tearful goodbye to the campaigners and the Daggetts and go on our way with our new family. We are now with Mahan family and their 6 aimers in Naples. They are on their vacation so we are joining them, spending time getting to bond and grow together before we go back to work. Naples is beautiful, it's by the sea and full of people. It's good to be back here as well, esp. because we already know so many people. Aaron and I have been troopers, we have had to spend alot of time away from each other because there has been soo much to do, but we are making it. and looking forward to a little bit of time alone to process all of whats happened=) Pray for that. Please keep all of youth who are going back to their towns a little discouraged and sad in your prayers, that God would provide opportunities for them to find Christian friends, mentors, and just a little encouragement. Pray for us to be able to serve whole heartedly even in the most awkward of situations and to do it with a smile on our faces. We want to shine, not to bring attention to ourselves, but so that God may be glorified through our work. We love and miss you all. You have no idea how much we wish you could share this with us. Please keep writing us, let us know how you are doing so... that I wont worry=) Nawh, seriously though. Fill us in our your lives too!
Josie- jallen4@harding.edu
Aaron- aallen4@harding.edu

On our way

Hey guys! Josie here. It's Tuesday and we fly out of here tomorrow morning at 6:oo. a.m. Early huh?=) We are ready to go and totally excited about the work we will be able to do over in Italy! We will be arriving in Rome to help with a Retreat of the churches if Christ in Italy. That should be a treat! We'll start off with a bang, seeing old friends and getting reaquianted with the language. We'll get to be a part of the children's program with the campaigners and we'll be teaching the kiddos Bible lessons that go along with the theme: "Traveling Through Time". It should be a blast, and lemme tell ya, the kids are gunna love my class. I'm gunna be acting out Moses parting the red sea..tee hee. At night we are even providing "fun" entertainment for the adults. Who knows how that goes, but it should be good for a laugh. We've got a "human Scavenger hunt" planned. I'm talking, " who has the biggest nose?" and "who has the loudest laugh?" kinda stuff. Very funny. Anyway, We are really looking forward to it all, well except for all the flights and all of the layovers. =) Please keep us in your prayers as we travel. And before I go, I just want to say a big fat THANK YOU to all of you who have helped make this trip possible! We love you very much and we'll miss you. Please feel free to comment on this site, to email us, and to even catch us on facebook=) Arrivederci!

P.S.

Posts by Aaron will be in blue, and posts by Josie will be in Pink! Aren't we clever?!

Finally Online!!!

We've finally managed to get this website going! Its something that we've wanted to do for a long time, but just haven't found the time to sit down and do it. Now that the semester is over, and finals are all done, I should have a little more time to work on it. We should be updating this site weekly (I hope) while we're in Italy this summer, and then less frequently once the fall semester starts back. I would like to post updates and pictures so all of you back home can get a feel for what we're up to. Check out the profile for some more info about us, and please check back periodically to see any new posts. Feel free to make comments on any post; we would love to hear from you. Please continue to pray for us as we work in Italy this summer, and continue to seek to do God's will in our lives. God bless