Firenze, Day 4

I just realized I completely forgot to write a post about Florence. We took a day to visit some of the missionaries in Florence and tour the city. It was SO exhausting, and beautiful, and fun! :) Here are some pics from our day in Firenze:

Cool thing we did: We had the opportunity to go to the Galleria del'Accademia where Michaelangelo's David statue is. Probably one of the most incredible, amazing things I have ever seen!!! The picture above is actually a copy of the original put in the David's original space, in Piazza della Signoria. Too bad I couldn't take a picture of the real David, because it was incredible. So, if you want to see it, you're just gonna have to make a trip to Florence. :) The Accademia also holds Giambologna's Rape of the Sabines, and Botticelli's Madonna and Child & Madonna and the Sea. One of the coolest experiences ever.

On our arrival to Bologna from Florence, John decided to take a bet and take a dip in the pond. It was really cold. And he fell in. Hilarious. :)

Our team in front of the hotel on our last night. Sad to leave.

Effective Witnessing

Acts 8:26-40

What is your witnessing technique? Are you out for numbers only, beating people over the head with your testimony, hoping to mark notches on your spiritual belt? Or are you philosophical, enjoying deep discussions on religion, without communicating the simple message of Jesus? Or are you a silent witness, never opening your mouth about Jesus unless someone asks – and few, if any, ever do? Or are you simply... available?

Philip was available. He hadn’t gone to a Witnessing Conference, where he did role-play scenarios practicing various witnessing techniques. He hadn’t studied up on the way others approached people about Jesus, pouring through book after book getting ideas for the right things to say at the right moment. He hadn’t memorized the “Roman Road” with all the associated commentary so he could repeat it verbatim to anyone he ran across. Nope… he hadn’t done any of these things. He was merely available.

Take a moment to read Acts 8:26-40 once more (use the link above), and then think about what Philip did.

First of all, Philip was led by the Spirit (v. 26). This means he was leading the kind of life that allowed him to hear when the Spirit spoke to him. He had a deep, personal relationship with Jesus and was open to what His Spirit led him to do.

Next, Philip was obedient (v. 27), acting upon what the Spirit told him to do. Once he was in the company of the statesman, he didn't leap right into witnessing or giving a long, theological discourse. He talked with the man, listening and looking for the right opening (v. 30). He asked a simple, leading question. Noticing that the statesman was reading Isaiah, the prophet, Philip said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" That opened the conversation wide for a good discussion, didn't it? When the statesman responded (v. 31-34), Philip was tactful, opened his mouth, and "began to preach Jesus to him"… just that simple. No long treatise on religion… no confusing doctrinal garbledegook… no long, pre-rehearsed discourse filled with “Christianese” words that only a long-time Christian would understand… None of that… Instead, Philip’s shared the simple message of Jesus and Him crucified (v. 35). The results? Read verses 36-38 for yourself.

Study Philip's method of witnessing. If you really want to learn a witnessing “technique” by heart, this is the one to follow. The steps are simple, uncomplicated, and easy. All you have to do is be available.

Devotional by Dogwood Ministries Inc.

Bologna Day 3

We began the day with a couple of team testimonies at Cafe Zamboni near campus and then a group of leaders from Apologetics was there to train us how to speak with students and debate Christianity with other views the proper way so as not to turn people off to the option of Christianity. It was awesome and I wish I had taken more notes to tell you about it.

Afterward, we headed to campus for lunch in the Mensa. Kirk and I didn't have a whole lot of luck with conversations at lunch, so we decided to finish eating and head over to the scuderia to do some surveys and soularium. We first talked to an Israeli named Nizar who was studying for an English exam, so we decided to help him with some of his English questions before starting the survey. We found that Nizar was Muslim, and he was kind enough to fill out the survey, but wasn't really interested in anything beyond that. Kirk and I surveyed a couple of girls from England, who were very sweet. Most students were happily obliged to talk to us, mostly because we're from the US and they were wondering what in the world we were doing in Bologna, which often gave us an opportunity to share about Agape Italia and our stories at times.

After we talked to those girls, I went to ITIT for coffee and debriefing with Nicole and Tricia. Can I just say that the people of Bologna are so lucky to have such wonderful Christian people in their city who have such a burden for the students and the lost. It was such an encouragement meeting such wonderful followers of Christ. We talked about how God can work in your life exponentially, especially when you may not be comfortable in full time missions work. In fact, this week has been emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and physically exhausting!! But very rewarding, as well. It's so hard to communicate with someone when you don't speak the same language, but I think it was even harder once I realized just how lost this country and it's people really are. I found myself just crying, thinking about the possibility that a lot of these students (probably 99% of them) have never had their name lifted in prayer for their health, safety, or that God would embrace them in their lack of hope and truth. It also hurt to know that a large portion do not even know who Jesus really is. They don't know the truth and it's sad to think that there has been no one there to share the gospel with them do that they may know truth and have hope that fails to exist in these student's lives.

I know a lot of Americans are completely oblivious to the huge numbers of lost people an the unreached in Europe in general, but especially Italy. And that is understanding because many people think that because the Catholic church is so prominent that people are being saved left and right..but, this isn't the case! This country needs Jesus, but they have NO idea who He really is. Please pray for this country and pray about doing missions there. We need more people to help reach these people.

Bologna Day 2

We started the day similar to day 1. We began with devo, testimonies, and a debriefing from the day before at the Hannah's apartment. Afterward, we made our way to campus to have lunch at the mensa with students. Dillon & I sat down with 2 students, Floriana and Michael. To our surprise, they had met members of our team the day before at lunch. Floriana asked of it was normal in America to randomly sit with students you don't know and attempt a conversation with them. I think she thought it was pretty weird that we were trying so hard to meet other students and talk to them.

After a long conversation with Floriana and Michael about what they liked to do, american football, etc., we invited them to an aperitivo we were hosting at Lab 16 near campus. Floriana gladly accepted and I was so excited that she was going to come and meet more of the team and allow me to talk to her more.

After lunch, we went to the scuderia coffee bar on campus and began doing surveys and soularium. Melissa and I began a conversation with 2 Albanian girls and asked them if they'd mind doing a survey. We learned a lot from these girls and this was probably one of the most interesting conversations we had all day. They told us that 80% of Albania is Mulsim and about 20% is Catholic or Protestant. Only a small percentage of the Muslim population actually "practices" their religion, while a larger portion of Christians are "active," I guess you could say. We asked these girls a few questions about human rights and their personal philosophy. The conversation got really interesting, though, when we brought up God and Jesus.

Ani believed that Jesus was not the son of God, yet did live, was not crucified, but ascended into heaven and will come again to save the world. The other girl (I cannot remember her name...) said she could not believe in God because she believes in science, however, she did say that she believes that Jesus is the son of God, died on the cross, but was not resurrected. She also mentioned that she was not well informed about Jesus (interesting...).

Ani also went on to say that she believed that God is the most intelligent scientist, as well as the creator of intelligence, and that he created the world. The other girl said that this could not be true because it conflicts with science. We both thought this was a really weird conversation coming from girls declaring to be Muslim... Together it seems like they "know" the gospel, but it's so misconstrued between the 2 of them. We mentioned that our team practices English with Italian students and gave them our card for Agape Italia, so hopefully they'll contact our team and maybe want to know more about our conversation.

That afternoon, we hiked up to San Luca, a church on the hill. This was probably the longest uphill hike I have ever done, but the view was amazing. The church was also very ornate and beautiful.

That night, our team hosted an aperitivo at Lab 16 and we had quite the crowd! Several of our new friends showed up and stayed for 4 hours, getting to know the team, learning about each other's cultures, etc. this gives our missionaries a great advantage because relationships that are formed are very helpful when entering into a conversation about God. The Italian students are so turned off by God and the Catholic church that a relationship is needed to really get a feel for what their life is like, what feelings they have toward God and religion, and how we can help them to know the truth about Christianity and a relationship with Jesus Christ.

This week has been a blessing already. God has crossed our paths with students who have openly talked about their lives, beliefs, and feelings toward religion and it has given us such a burden for these people. Please pray for the students at the University of Bologna and our full time team there.

Forgot a few of the silly pics from the other night. We also went to the whispering wall tonight.

Bologna, Day 1

Today was our first full day in Bologna & it was amazing, and that's pretty much an understatement. We started the morning at a couple of the STINTers apartment for devo & Alicia & Beau's testimonies & some training.

Then we made our way to the mensa (or cafeteria) for lunch. We split up into pairs & sat with students. [Keep in mind this university has ~ 100,000 students & only ONE cafeteria that seats about 300.] John & I talked to a girl from Naples for a short time & after some simple conversation, she asked why were in Bolonga. It's not very common for tourists or Americans to be in Bolonga, since it's not really a tourist-y city. We told that we were here working with an organization called Agape Italia and that it's purpose it to share the word of Jesus Christ. I asked her if she was Catholic, and she said that her family in Naples in Catholic and that she is not. She said she does not believe in the Christian God, but she does believe in some higher power, or something bigger. She also said she doesn't believe in hell, but thought there could be a heaven.

When we finished eating, we headed outside to wait for the rest of the group. Four of us ended up initating Soularium with a group of students. There were very intrigued - Italians love pictures. We asked 3 questions: 1) Which 3 pictures represent your life, 2) which picture represents hope, and 3) which picture represents God? Hope is very sparse in Bologna.. the economy is bad, many are frustrated with the political system, and without God, how can you have real hope?? One showed the picture of a homeless man lying on the sidewalk and basiclally asked, "How could God let this happen if He is a loving God? If he can do anything, why doesn't he stop all bad from happening?" He wanted an answer, which was the perfect opportunity for someone to share. We passed out several Agape Italia business cards and they had to get to their oral final exams.

Then, we headed to the Scuderia, which is a coffee bar on campus. Some of us stayed for coffee and to meet students. he girls went to itit, another coffee bar on campus, to meet a couple of girls that meet once a week to practice English conversation. We ended up talking for 2 1/2 hours about cultural differences, stereotypes, etc. It was so much fun to learn about the culture, language, etc. and to develop a relationship with Italian students. We don't often get to have such a long conversation. In Italy, you have to develop a relationship with the Italians before you have a pretty good opportunity to really dive into spiritual conversation. And, the basis of Agape Italia, is loving one another and showing people the love of Jesus Christ. So, it was really cool to meet and become friends with some Italians.

After coffee at itit, we went to an aperitivo (appetizers & drinks) with another Italian girl and some of the STINTers and had some more girl talk and that was really fun, as well. I can't remember exactly what was the little bar was called, but the atmosphere was incredible.

Then, we went to dinner at a cute little Italian dive (at least, it seemed like a dive to me). I had tagliatella ragu, which was delicious (obviously.), and then gelato on the way back to the hotel.

We decided to walk around and take pictures and be silly for a while. Here are a few:

Anyway, it's been a very long, exciting, and fun day. It's time for bed! Buona notte!

Meredith Andrews - You're Not Alone

I love this song!

Louie Giglio - Tell Everyone