After many months, it is a joy to announce that we have a new photo gallery installed. Just click on the “Gallery” link here or on the left side of our main page and you’ll enter our interactive albums.
In the Gallery you can view our photos individually or in a slideshow. You can select the size that you’d like to view or download & save. You can also add comments to the pictures and select a service to have them developed and mailed to you. Each album also has its own RSS feed for those of you who like to utilize that feature.
We’ll be adding a number of photos and albums all this week to populate the gallery. Then, we’ll continue to add photos as we adventure along. Some future improvements include more decor to the main entry page, an Italian language pack, photo polls and ranks, and contributions from other partners and ministers.
I studied the installation of this gallery for quite some time and just felt it was a hair beyond my “know-how” even though I’ve installed other *php* packages on our server. SO, I owe many thanks to one of our new ministry partners here in the area named brother Mike Rosowski. He and his wife Gwen are looking to come alongside of us in the ministry. Mike has tremendous computer/web skills and saved me hours of time by doing the install. Many kudos Mike!
Soon — be looking for an announcement about OPERATION YELLOW RIBBON. You can get involved with us in supporting the troops with prayer and good Christian materials for the servicemen/women and their families.
Being a servant of God really doesn’t take a special title or require an advanced degree. It does require a great co-mission. I heard the beginning of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 translated something like this, “While you’re going about your business, be doing My business.” That’s not too bad of a translation (especially of the present participles).
Last May, we were conducting a public baptism out at the river Livenza as we regularly do when the weather warms up. While holding the baptism service, a lady walked up named Patrizia. She was fascinated with what she saw. Patrizia has been coming to our church regularly ever since. Patrizia is a hairdresser by trade and has a salon about 100 yards from where we used to live. I must’ve passed her placed at least 3 times a day for 5 years and knew nothing about her.
Late last summer, I decided I’d go and get a haircut there to visit and share the Word. I brought my Bible with me and we were soon in a discussion of the 10 commandments. As I entered her store, I realized I was in a neo-pantheon of sorts. Beside the new age “whale-call” music I was also greeted by a zen garden in front of me, a Navajo indian chief on the wall, and a small shrine to Mary in the back. My new “peace-searching” friend greeted me with all smiles and a totem pole hanging around her neck. I asked her about these things and found out that she had been with the Buddhists in Treviso, Mormons in Pordenone, studied Shintoism, and visited different Hindu groups when they come through. For all the peace that these things were supposed to bring, I asked her why she couldn’t stop smoking. She drew on cigarettes to relax came her reply. Ultimately, I had to ask her, “Why do you like coming to our church so much?” She replied, “You are a community of peace, and I love hearing about the beautiful things of the Bible.” I thought, “Good enough.” At the end I went to pay, and she wouldn’t permit to pay (which is extremely rare in Italy). She said, “Thank you for your teaching here. Take the money and help out people that you know need it.” Hey, at that point and from a business point of view, Patrizia won a patron. 
Over the last five months, I’ve continued to get my haircut there. And, with vacation assistance from my barber-father-in-law in Arizona, I haven’t spent a dollar on my deformed melon in six months! I’ve also taken the Word for each haircut to ground some of the wild, ethereal discussions that come up. Now Patrizia is regularly bringing her next door neighbor Manuella to church. She’s also telling almost every client about our church. When I go into the shop, the common phrase is, “Oh, this is the American Pastor you’ve been telling me about.” Last Sunday, Patrizia asked me about the Hebrew concept of teshuva. Teshuva is a deep Jewish understanding of repentance. There’s much to study in the Bible about this. So, we had a good discussion about that. Then, I began to show her pictures of our family, friends, sponsors, and disciples etc. That’s when she made a thoroughly postmodern statement, “When I look at these pictures, I see so much harmony…” Now I could work with something. When sharing God’s metanarrative (grand story) with people in our culture, the metaphor becomes a great tool of language. It was on the battlefield of “harmony” that I could confront and conquest the other gods all around me. One by one, I was able to share story after story of the Gospel bringing harmony to the lives of real people. My hairdresser friend then replied, “How beautiful, you just don’t hear stories like these today…” I thought, “But, you’re the one who brought up harmony.”
Patiently continuing on.
“Really Simple Syndication” (or so they say…)
I fixed the RSS feed problem that a couple of you mentioned to me. You can now subscribe to our feed through your news aggregator or through Live Bookmark in Firefox. I really love the Live Bookmark Feed in Firefox personally and use it all the time.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about or think I’m speaking in Italian there’s nothing to worry about.
RSS (or Atom) feeds are meant to give you the title or update whenever we post something to our Weblog. You click on the title and it takes you to that post. In essence, it feeds you or your browser up-to-date information by way of a quick title so you don’t have to check our page — it checks it for you. If you’d like more information on this neat web-thing that so many people are starting to use — just email me.
We made it safely back to Italy. All six luggage pieces at 70 pounds each followed us too. Luggage piece #2 coming off the conveyer belt is what threw my back out.
When we arrived, one of our deacons and his wife came to pick us up. The girls wanted to ride together with the kids and the fellows together to “catch me up.” Now, the last 5 times that I’ve returned from a trip, that “catch you up” thing has never gone well. So, I was bracing for the worst. Maybe you can catch a glimpse of what I’m talking about after just arriving from a whirlwind trip, dealing with your small children for 25 hours, only to hear how bad your life mission is… Trust me, it’s a great “welcome back.” 
This time was incredibly different. We got in the car and the first thing we did was pray. We prayed with jubilation. Then, for the next hour, I listened to blessing after blessing. We got to the house and our grass was cut, house dusted, office organized (a miracle in and of itself), pasta in the fridge with homemade hot oil from South Africa, mail sorted, bills paid, and dog still alive.
Then our friends sat us down and played a skit that they had done of a morning service. They had us in tears laughing. Shortly after, our friends left to do a ministry project.
The next morning was Sunday. Usually Sandy and I do a lot of logistical support. However, the church had everything done. The attendance was greater with new families. The worship team was larger and full of enthusiasm. There were more Italians. And, there was a salvation last week too. The folks cheered for us when we came and all I did was stand up and speak.
Then we heard the stories of selfless service toward one another, revival, accountability, growth, and joy. It was clear that the Body was healthy and full of life. I can truly say that we were shocked with joy. So I called the airport to say, “I don’t think our plane landed in the right place — could you confirm that for me?” It did — what a church!
