Light Prevails in the Shadow of Death

     I think Psalm 23 is one of the first passages in the Bible I remember recognizing, for as often as it is referenced in the church I heard it from a very early age.  Right now I'm reading through Isaiah and pairing it with a psalm a day.  A few days ago I read this famous psalm again, my prayer being, "Lord, reveal this to me in a new way."  He is so good He blew me away with fresh revelations from this psalm, for verse by verse it was full of implications for my time in Rome.

     One that stood out to me especially was verse 4, when David talks about walking through the shadow of death.  Often at our team meetings in house church, when someone is struggling with finding words to describe an encounter or feeling sensed somewhere in the city, all he/she can come up with is 'dark.'  As I was journaling after thinking on Psalm 23, I found myself writing on how sometimes living in Rome feels like being in the shadow of the valley of death.  There is so much darkness here, darkness that can be hidden by the beauty of antiquity or bustle of the city, but darkness that lies underneath the crowds nonetheless.  

     Darkness has been on my mind so much over the last month, I think ever since I saw a photograph by an Italian friend of mine at the studio's inauguration that we are still displaying in our space.  He captured this beautiful picture of a dark cloud directly in front of the sun, the presence of which is evidenced by the rays bursting from behind the cloud.  Every comment on that photograph had a spiritual theme, whether it be the clear expression of the Lord or someone saying "it is almost as if a God exists."  My friend titled this picture "Dove sei? Non ti vedo."  Translated, that means "Where are you? I do not see you."  The irony to the title is heartbreaking, for all I see when I look at his picture is how the heavens are proclaiming the glory of God (Psalm 19:1).  

     This particular friend of mine has been my friend since literally day one for me in Rome.  In this last month he seems like a walking example of the darkness in this city, and he even describes his dominating mood as being in "the dark place."  There is such a storm in his heart, and it's hard for us on the team to see it because we know God is chasing and calling him to be His own, yet surrender when you know you will potentially lose all your friends and will definitely drastically change your lifestyle is a very difficult thing.  Unlike in the States where we as the church can offer one seeking an alternative from his/her former lifestyle, an instant place of community with love, acceptance, and support for new believers, Rome has no such thing.  This friend of mine has been impressed on my heart in the last month, affirmation the Lord is working on him since my roommate and two other team members feel the urgency to contend for him in prayer more than ever.  I would love it if you would join with us in praying for him too.

     A couple of days ago we had a surprise afternoon of wonderful weather, so I took advantage of it to explore a picturesque part of the city I had not been to before.  While I was on my walk I was thinking about Psalm 23 again and praying for my friend and all the others I have met here so far.  I was having fun with my camera, toying around with some artsy shots.  For some reason when I saw an Italian flag hanging out of one of the apartment windows I felt I should stop for a bit and see if there was anything I could capture, which felt strange because nothing other than the flag particularly caught my eye until I saw how the sun was trying to peek around the dark apartment building.  God spoke to me so clearly in that moment, while I was noticing the contrast of light and dark around the Italian flag, to tell me although it is dark in Rome now, His light will burst forth in this city...just like my friend's photo of the light behind the clouds, the Lord will make Himself known.  As if that wasn't enough, while I'm processing that huge "whoa" moment, my ipod randomly started playing "Furious."  I walked home feeling so excited, reminded that God still holds to His promises, He has a plan for Italy, and He will be exalted among the nations (Psalm 46:10).

     

His love is deep, His love is wide 

And it covers us
His love is fierce, His love is strong
It's furious
His love is sweet, His love is wild
And it's waking hearts to life

Italians love cookies

    Despite all the nutella, gelato, pastries, tiramisu, fine chocolates, etc. you can enjoy in Italy, a good ol' American cookie is nowhere to be found.  It's the same for brownies and the vast majority of baked goods we appreciate so much.  Taylor (my roommate and coworker) and I have already seen how to use this to our advantage with shamelessly getting the students to like us and creating ways to spend time with them.
   Friday night we hosted our first movie night at the studio, so students could come and practice English in a completely non-academic setting and (hopefully) have a good time.  You never really know about the turnout for events without prior connections, and since the majority of our invites were mass announcements we expected about 3-5 people to show.  When we got an email from a girl expressing her disappointment at having to miss our event due to a medical appointment, we were surprised and thought people might actually come (Italians are notorious for not committing to anything in advance, so getting a 'regrets' email is pretty out of the ordinary).  Reid (another team member) was at the studio with us while we were setting up, and gave us the exciting news there was an actual gathering of people waiting outside.  Approximately 16 students came, 3 of whom joined Taylor and myself afterwards for dinner.  Looks like our bribe for American sweets worked, and the Italians loved the oreo balls and classic chocolate chip cookies we made that morning.  It was so funny to hear one of the girls talking about 'the biscuits' later and how they're much better than Italian biscotti, which made me think "well of course, they've got heaps more butter and sugar...but you don't need to know that."

stalker snapshot of half the group

     This morning in the first level English class we TA for, several people asked when we'd do another event.  One girl even asked if we could show a movie in the morning sometime since her evenings aren't free.  It appears God's given us a neat way to make friendships with the people that are so hard to get to know, so we're excited about that!
    I also ran into a girl who came Friday night, and she mentioned the cookies again.  I made the (obvious) connection that if she had never had one before, she certainly hadn't made any herself, so we have a baking party planned in the near future.  Italian girls especially are more closed off to strangers and people outside their group, so maybe baking will be an opportunity to create quality time and earn the chance to start friendships!

Storms

     Well it's been a bit longer than I intended since last writing, but things have been a little crazy in Rome over the last week.  Let's see...we began our prayer walks for the prostitutes and trafficked victims, classes are in full swing, I've started language appointments with one students and have others lined up, Kyra and I got stuck on the periphery of the city one day with her two little girls waiting on a bus for 2 hours that never came (typical), my documents for a permesso di soggiorno (like a yearly Italian green card) were finally accepted for processing, and more.  Really what defines the last week here though is the massive protest that many of the students I work with were involved in.

      What started out as a large but peaceful protest, like those that occurred globally last Saturday the 15th, became a huge, destructive event.  One of my Italian friends lives near the Colosseum, and he ventured out during the afternoon to check on his car since he heard several had been set aflame.  He couldn't even make it the few blocks away where he had parked, for angry militant protesters were clashing with the pacifists defending themselves and the carabinieri (police) who had to resort to tear gas and water cannons.  People were hurling stones first into bank windows, then into other people.  Francesco described it as "civil war."  Speculators think one reason the violence escalated to such a degree was in response to Berlusconi's confidence vote released the day before, so it will be interesting to see what follows.

The start of the 'Occupy' protest on October 15

One of the many awful pictures of the violence that ensued

       Classes this week were relatively normal, after talk of the protest and sharing different stories died down.  Everything shut down today though, because we had a torrential downpour this morning. Before I thought it sounded a little sad that Italians cancel appointments and don't go to work/school if the weather is bad, but that was evidence of how American I am.  We forget the effects of rain and wind since we get to drive everywhere, but when you're looking at a 30 min-hour and half commute via public transportation and walking to anywhere you want to go, it's a different story.  Our metro stop actually flooded earlier, like points all over the city, so we were all blessed with a rest day because there's literally no way to go anywhere.  While the rain was bad the main reason for flooding was that the drains are never cleaned so they clog up and take a while for water to go through, with how bureaucracy is here it's doubtful that a cleaning system will begin anytime soon.  

neighborhood of our studio and metro stop

     In order to add some levity to this post, I can tell you that Saturday night I finally got to fill my fried chicken fix.  Coming here I had a feeling that would be one of things I missed the most, and boy is that true.  Italian food is amazing, but no permanent substitution for Southern cooking! Kyra, one of the women on the team, and I cooked a southern dinner for a few of the girls here.  Since you can't find the same ingredients here as the US, and those you can find that were imported are much more expensive, it was quite a treat.  Also on the food note, at house church Monday I was telling a team member how I asked my mom to send peanut butter and goldfish (along with a huge list of other missed items) in her care package.  His response? "You know you're officially a missionary when you ask for pb and goldfish.  We've all done it."  Looks like even in the small things, I'm getting a fair taste of this kind of life!

New Space, New Classes...Gladiator Throwback?

  Well goodness, this last week has been busy and the new semester has officially begun!  Thank you to everyone who was praying for the opening of our studio, it went extremely well! We had many more people show up to check out the artwork and meet us than expected, so that was exciting.  It's already so nice just to go to work in the studio and be able to schedule English appointments there. 

Sara and Silvia, two of my Italian friends who came to the inauguration

Half of our team at the close of the night, with our super professional Intercambio Italia sign
(our partner business to accredit our English tutoring)

     Next Tuesday, so one week from now, we will have our very first  Comunità Connection at the studio, the Bible study we're starting for university students..  That will be quite interesting, because for one many people here don't give God a second thought, and two, those that do are not accustomed to the idea of reading the Bible for themselves and having freedom to share opinions and ask questions.  We hosted the team leader in Milan for a few days who came to support the opening, and were able to learn a lot from talking with him on how they have started and kept their Comunità Connection going over time.

    In the midst of all our team excitement, classes have officially started at the university.  One of my jobs here is to help out in three of these classes, comparable to being a TA (teacher's assistant).  Now that classes are rolling, Taylor and I have already had requests from students for weekly or biweekly English appointments.  That's fantastic and will hopefully generate more Italian friendships, as team members have seen in the past years.

    To enjoy our last bit of beautiful weather before the rainy season and take a break between busy days of work,  three of the girls I hosted in Athens coordinated a picnic day on Saturday for us.  Sara, Silvia, Manuela and I have been trying to get together as a group since I arrived, so that was fun and a great opportunity for some pleasantly surprising conversations.  It was funny because we went to this park on the outskirts of the city, away from tourists, but somehow stumbled upon a gladiator festival.  Only in Rome, right?  Even better, the Romans the event attracted had trouble themselves understanding the re-enacters (accents vary greatly across Italy, and these ‘gladiators’ had strong Milanese accents), so for once I wasn’t the only one struggling with interpretation!

One of the fights we saw, with lots of Italian smack talk in the process

Ready for Inauguration

      Tomorrow brings our team in Rome to a long-awaited day…the opening of our studio!  This day has been prayed for and worked towards officially since the contract for the space was signed in June, but really this marks a significant sign of progress over the past few years.  Before having this building, team members just met students for English lessons around the city, and there was no central space to encourage people to visit.  Now, this building will serve as a place where we display the pieces from rising artists, give English lessons and homework help, hold our new Bible studies, and more.  Basically, it will play a huge role in giving us a real presence in this community. While the place looks awesome after all the work that’s been done, it is truly just a means to create better relationships with these students to share the gospel over time

     Please pray for our team, the inauguration of the studio tomorrow evening, and how the Lord will use that space from here out.  Surprisingly we are expecting many more people to arrive than we previously estimated. Not counting all the friends and family that our photographers whose work will be displayed tomorrow will bring, over 70 have confirmed. Since Italians rarely confirm to anything in advance, that’s exciting.  In addition to that, the (café) bar owner next to our studio has been looking forward to this day as long as we have, and has been doing major PR for us in the local area.  Hopefully tomorrow night we can establish relationships with new people, and those who come in that door will sense something different about the studio’s atmosphere because every part of that space has been covered in prayer.

     Yesterday was really neat, because it was our team fasting day.  While house church was a little more subdued than normal since we were all feeling the effects, it was awesome to come together and pray for the inauguration tomorrow and wisdom in our stewardship of the studio God has given us.  I’ve never been a part of a team fast before, and seeing the unity of our team in bringing the new studio and the people we love here to the Lord was a huge blessing and something I will always remember.  Not going to lie though, the pancakes Kyra made to literally break the fast this morning for Taylor, Cristina, and I before we did a final clean up at the studio were probably the best pancakes of my life!

stoked about pancakes, especially with syrup (a luxury in Rome)