So, we are heading back to Verona for a third visit (my fourth since I came here with Cliff Murphy, but we were only here for four and a half hours). This time we are taking the on field Ancona team with us. Since both Go Ancona and Go Verona are part of the same "Taking Christ to Italy" PACE project, it makes sense that the Ancona team would be involved with the research of the target city. Their field experience will be incredibly insightful as we seek to remove the enemy's grip from this city, while we seek out the spiritually needy.
We hope to spend some time in personal prayer over the city and getting to know the city better. It is quite an experience to transition from one home to another. One day, we will feel as comfortable in Verona as we do in Ancona, yet Verona will never replace Ancona in our hearts, just as Ancona never replaced Tulsa either. Our hearts have room for several "homes" especially since they all pale in comparison to our final heavenly one. And it is that home with our God that we want to share information about, within each city that we happen to find ourselves.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Saturday, May 19, 2007
A Map of Verona by Henry Reed
This is a war time poem... yet, it seems fitting for us.
A MAP OF VERONA
A map of Verona is open, the small strange city;
With its river running round and through, it is river-embraced,
And over this city for a whole long winter season,
Through streets on a map, my thoughts have hovered and paced.
Across the river there is a wandering suburb,
An unsolved smile on a now familiar mouth;
Some enchantments of earlier towns are about you:
Once I was drawn to Naples in the south.
Naples I know now, street and hovel and garden,
The look of the islands from the avenue,
Capri and Ischia, like approaching drum-beats—
My youthful Naples, how I remember you!
You were an early chapter, a practice in sorrow,
Your shadows fell, but were only a token of pain,
A sketch in tenderness, lust, and sudden parting,
And I shall not need to trouble with you again.
But I remember, once your map lay open,
As now Verona's under the still lamp-light.
I thought, are these the streets to walk in the mornings,
Are these the gardens to linger in at night?
And all was useless that I thought I learned:
Maps are of place, not time, nor can they say
The surprising height and colour of a building,
Nor where the groups of people bar the way.
It is strange to remember those thoughts and try to catch
The underground whispers of music beneath the years,
The forgotten conjectures, the clouded, forgotten vision,
Which only in vanishing phrases reappears.
Again, it is strange to lead a conversation
Round to a name, to a cautious questioning
Of travellers, who talk of Juliet's tomb and fountains
And a shining smile of snowfall, late in Spring.
Their memories calm this winter of expectation,
Their talk restrains me, for I cannot flow
Like your impetuous river to embrace you;
Yet you are there, and one day I shall go.
The train will bring me perhaps in utter darkness
And drop me where you are blooming, unaware
That a stranger has entered your gates, and a new devotion
Is about to attend and haunt you everywhere.
The flutes are warm: in tomorrow's cave the music
Trembles and forms inside the musician's mind,
The lights begin, and the shifting crowds in the causeways
Are discerned through the dusk, and the rolling river behind.
And in what hour of beauty, in what good arms,
Shall I those regions and that city attain
From whence my dreams and slightest movements rise?
And what good Arms shall take them away again?
A MAP OF VERONA
A map of Verona is open, the small strange city;
With its river running round and through, it is river-embraced,
And over this city for a whole long winter season,
Through streets on a map, my thoughts have hovered and paced.
Across the river there is a wandering suburb,
An unsolved smile on a now familiar mouth;
Some enchantments of earlier towns are about you:
Once I was drawn to Naples in the south.
Naples I know now, street and hovel and garden,
The look of the islands from the avenue,
Capri and Ischia, like approaching drum-beats—
My youthful Naples, how I remember you!
You were an early chapter, a practice in sorrow,
Your shadows fell, but were only a token of pain,
A sketch in tenderness, lust, and sudden parting,
And I shall not need to trouble with you again.
But I remember, once your map lay open,
As now Verona's under the still lamp-light.
I thought, are these the streets to walk in the mornings,
Are these the gardens to linger in at night?
And all was useless that I thought I learned:
Maps are of place, not time, nor can they say
The surprising height and colour of a building,
Nor where the groups of people bar the way.
It is strange to remember those thoughts and try to catch
The underground whispers of music beneath the years,
The forgotten conjectures, the clouded, forgotten vision,
Which only in vanishing phrases reappears.
Again, it is strange to lead a conversation
Round to a name, to a cautious questioning
Of travellers, who talk of Juliet's tomb and fountains
And a shining smile of snowfall, late in Spring.
Their memories calm this winter of expectation,
Their talk restrains me, for I cannot flow
Like your impetuous river to embrace you;
Yet you are there, and one day I shall go.
The train will bring me perhaps in utter darkness
And drop me where you are blooming, unaware
That a stranger has entered your gates, and a new devotion
Is about to attend and haunt you everywhere.
The flutes are warm: in tomorrow's cave the music
Trembles and forms inside the musician's mind,
The lights begin, and the shifting crowds in the causeways
Are discerned through the dusk, and the rolling river behind.
And in what hour of beauty, in what good arms,
Shall I those regions and that city attain
From whence my dreams and slightest movements rise?
And what good Arms shall take them away again?
Sunday, May 13, 2007
And The Team Grows On...
So, in a week of news, we still have more to share. We would like to introduce you to our newest team members of the Go Verona team, John and Ann Blackburn. John and Ann have four kids and several years’ missions experience. We look forward to letting you know more about them and their family. As we move forward together you will have the opportunity to get to our entire team better. We are still looking for team members to excel in areas of music and youth, so please be praying for those holes to be filled with God’s choices.
And The City Is...Verona!
Well, we have some great news to announce, which is in some ways months in the making and in other ways years in the making. The target city for church plant number two of the Taking Christ to Italy project is Verona. In subsequent emails, we will be introducing you to this new city as we enlist you in praying us out of Ancona, where we have lived and ministered for over six years and preparing for the move to Verona.
In this email, I would like to share with you a few of the things that led us to the city of Verona. First, the Italian minister of the Apostolic Church in Verona made contact with us and showed us some of the spiritual needs of the city. The Apostolic Church is one of about four Italian speaking evangelical churches in this city of 270,000 people. The Apostolic Church is also the group in Italy that has provided the requests for us to have permission to be in Italy over the past six years. Elvio, the minister, and his wife, Paola, told us that they had been praying for more workers to come to Verona for a long time, in fact over a year ago they recruited the other members of the Apostolic Church to pray and fast with them about it. They saw our new team as answers to those prayers. He has been incredibly open to our new team, which is very strange for churches in Italy. They would love to help us get settled in the new city and find information for our new church plant.
Second, while the prayer/survey team was there we broke up into groups to explore the city throughout the day. At breakfast, a couple of us went into a coffee shop to get to know the workers. There was one woman behind the counter, who was very open and talkative with us. We asked about the spiritual condition of the people of Verona. She said there were many people who believed, but not many who went to church. She told us that she believed, but didn’t go to church, because she was not sure what she thought about the church, referring to the Catholic Church. She asked us more about what we were doing. We replied we were praying about choosing a city, out of four cities, for myself, my wife and a some friends to move to and start a new work there. Part of what we would be doing would be studying the Bible with people and being the Church, the way the New Testament describes it. She told us some of the great things about Verona and then told us before we left to come back and find her, if we chose Verona. She was the only person, out of the four cities, who told us to find her if we chose her city to move to.
Person after person, store owner after store owner, people continued to be friendly and talkative as we walked, prayed and surveyed Verona. Out of all the cities, it’s receptivity towards us and the new work seemed to be the most open. In some cities, to have conversations it felt like we were pulling teeth to get them to talk, or in other cities they simply answered questions, but in Verona the people there actually started conversations, not just continuing the ones we started. It was simply refreshing, to say the least. This was a characteristic which is foreign to us in Italy, in other words it isn’t normal.
While visiting the four cities that we surveyed, the people often told us what they thought of their particular city and the other cities we were visiting. Verona was the only city which people always had good things to say about. We prayed that God would use the people we met in the different cities to speak to us and had faith that He would. In Verona, we felt like the Christians there were asking for help and Eli (pronounced Ellie), the unchurched worker at the coffee shop, was interested in the new work that we were talking about doing. These people seemed to be clear voices in a search where we were praying for clarity.
One of the heartbreaking traits that we uncovered is that Verona leads the country of Italy in the number of divorces. This is a city that is famous for love, due to the semi-historical story of Romeo and Juliet (more on this in future months). This city of love continues to look for love in all the wrong places. The only love that will quench the thirst of their souls is the love of God, found through his son, Jesus Christ. We hope to be His witnesses in this new city.
Verona is a city of art, music, bikes, community and friendly people. Throughout the next many months we will mourn our life and friends in Ancona and greatly anticipate our life ahead in the city that God has directed us towards, which is Verona. Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement as we have marched ahead in this new project for God’s kingdom.
In this email, I would like to share with you a few of the things that led us to the city of Verona. First, the Italian minister of the Apostolic Church in Verona made contact with us and showed us some of the spiritual needs of the city. The Apostolic Church is one of about four Italian speaking evangelical churches in this city of 270,000 people. The Apostolic Church is also the group in Italy that has provided the requests for us to have permission to be in Italy over the past six years. Elvio, the minister, and his wife, Paola, told us that they had been praying for more workers to come to Verona for a long time, in fact over a year ago they recruited the other members of the Apostolic Church to pray and fast with them about it. They saw our new team as answers to those prayers. He has been incredibly open to our new team, which is very strange for churches in Italy. They would love to help us get settled in the new city and find information for our new church plant.
Second, while the prayer/survey team was there we broke up into groups to explore the city throughout the day. At breakfast, a couple of us went into a coffee shop to get to know the workers. There was one woman behind the counter, who was very open and talkative with us. We asked about the spiritual condition of the people of Verona. She said there were many people who believed, but not many who went to church. She told us that she believed, but didn’t go to church, because she was not sure what she thought about the church, referring to the Catholic Church. She asked us more about what we were doing. We replied we were praying about choosing a city, out of four cities, for myself, my wife and a some friends to move to and start a new work there. Part of what we would be doing would be studying the Bible with people and being the Church, the way the New Testament describes it. She told us some of the great things about Verona and then told us before we left to come back and find her, if we chose Verona. She was the only person, out of the four cities, who told us to find her if we chose her city to move to.
Person after person, store owner after store owner, people continued to be friendly and talkative as we walked, prayed and surveyed Verona. Out of all the cities, it’s receptivity towards us and the new work seemed to be the most open. In some cities, to have conversations it felt like we were pulling teeth to get them to talk, or in other cities they simply answered questions, but in Verona the people there actually started conversations, not just continuing the ones we started. It was simply refreshing, to say the least. This was a characteristic which is foreign to us in Italy, in other words it isn’t normal.
While visiting the four cities that we surveyed, the people often told us what they thought of their particular city and the other cities we were visiting. Verona was the only city which people always had good things to say about. We prayed that God would use the people we met in the different cities to speak to us and had faith that He would. In Verona, we felt like the Christians there were asking for help and Eli (pronounced Ellie), the unchurched worker at the coffee shop, was interested in the new work that we were talking about doing. These people seemed to be clear voices in a search where we were praying for clarity.
One of the heartbreaking traits that we uncovered is that Verona leads the country of Italy in the number of divorces. This is a city that is famous for love, due to the semi-historical story of Romeo and Juliet (more on this in future months). This city of love continues to look for love in all the wrong places. The only love that will quench the thirst of their souls is the love of God, found through his son, Jesus Christ. We hope to be His witnesses in this new city.
Verona is a city of art, music, bikes, community and friendly people. Throughout the next many months we will mourn our life and friends in Ancona and greatly anticipate our life ahead in the city that God has directed us towards, which is Verona. Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement as we have marched ahead in this new project for God’s kingdom.
One Phrase at a Time, Maybe Even Two
Learning a new language begins somewhere. And even though sometimes the milestones are more like tiny sand pebbles, they will eventually build a path to long conversations over an extra cappuccino on a rainy night. Today, I had two sand pebbles. As I listened to an Italian song, I understood two whole phrases. Two whole phrases.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
A Decision is in the Works
Soon, we will be announcing the new target city for the Taking Christ to Italy project. Check back soon for details.
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