Saturday, November 20, 2010

Pictures of my Apartment in Roma


The view from my bedroom window.


A view from our balcony.


The Big screen in our living room.  It is our landlord's I think...


Our livingroom:  View 1


Our livingroom: View 2
 

Kitchen:  View 1


Kitchen: View 2


Kitchen:  View 3


Kitchen:  Coffee, garlic, fruit, wine, and olive oil... Staples in our kitchen.


Cute little stove.


My Shelf in the pantry...the one with the Dr. Pepper of corse!


Our little fridge holds quite a bit... but we do have two for the 5 of us...


I love the brick wall in the hallway...gives it a cool feel.


Bathroom one of two.


The bathroom I use. 


The "Harry Potter" room.  Nicknames because of it's cubbard like apperances. 


Dinning room, a luxery here in Italy.


It has such great storage.


Plus our corner office. 


View of the hallway from the other end.  With Meg "creepily" poking her head out from the kitchen. 


My room.  We covered the closet doors to make them more whimsical.


Lindsay's corner.


My little space.


I love my Grandmolly's boots under the nightstand.  The same nightstand I use at home in Texas. 


Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Fear

Last spring I was babysitting my coworker's daughter. We were walking to the park when there was a loud noise from behind the trees beside the sidewalk. Her first reaction was to grip my hand tighter and turn towards me. She was seeking comfort from her fears from someone she knew well.


Later that day, I reflected on several questions. What or who do I turn to for comfort? What is it that I know well enough that it comforts me? Does the comfort last?

What I realized is often times the things and people I turn to rarely provide true comfort from my fears. I turn to people and things I know well because I trust their reassurance, but usually the comfort from fears doesn't last because I know they often are powerless to prevent or overcome my fear.

So this then lead me to think about where I could find true comfort from my fears. One of my memory verses in the past few years was found in the book of Joshua when God is sending Joshua into the Promised Land with the Israelites.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1: 9

I know God can provide me true comfort. I also know I should seek Him and desire to know Him better so it will be my first and not the second, third, ect. reaction to turn to God for my comfort.

In Christ,

Crystal

Friday, September 3, 2010

Moving Ahead.. Rome 2010-2011

As the year in Bologna drew to a close, I knew the Lord was asking for another year.  This honestly scared me, but as the time draws near, I can honestly say that this year I am more prepared for what the Lord has in store for me, and some of the challenges that will lie ahead.  It is never easy for me to leave behind friends, family, and an active social life to go away, however I know there is more blessing in sharing the kingdom of God than there is in the life I lead in the states.  The Kingdom of God should be my focus, and the one who rules it. 

In the coming year, I will be serving in Rome, Italy.  I will work alongside Alan and Tina Lyle and be a part of the Family Life Ministry.  This will be an opportunity to serve the families and the community and share God's love with them!  I will help run some of the day to day operations of music, art, dance and English club classes while sharing Bible Stories, Scripture, and Bible Songs.  So pray for me as I continue to raise support and as I prepare to leave again! 

Crystal

Summer Project in Bologna 2010

Here is a video one of the gals who came to work along side us in Bologna made to highlight their trip there to serve.  Enjoy!

We are the Sound

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Italian Chocolate Eggs

They don't do Easter Baskets in Italy, but they do have giant chocolate eggs!  Here is mine from Easter....






Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Feste Della Donna- International Woman's Day Outreach

Today our team handed out 100 mimosas (the flower not the drink) to Italian female students!  It was great fun to give away something that is a cultural symbol of the holiday that celebrates women.  Attached to the flowers was Agape Italian's Logo, and a link to our website.  There were even a few women who came back and wanted to double check that the flowers were indeed free.  :)  Which they were.  Here are a few pictures from the outreach!






Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Where we are now...

In the states, college students generally go back to campus the second week or so in January to start their spring classes. However, in Italy it is a little different. They start taking their exams for the fall term in December and are just now finishing them up. Almost all exams are given orally and are in many cases the only grade given in a course, so if a student doesn't pass the test they don't pass the class. No pressure right!?! This still seems very odd to me, but I am learning. So in December we focused on helping out some of our Bologna partnerships while students just weren't on campus to meet. Many went home to study, outside of Bologna, and to spend the holidays. Those that did go home often only came back to take their test and to leave town again.


In January, our team came back and did intensive language study during two of the weeks, went to Nerja, Spain for midyear for a week, and then to Florence for a seminary type training on the book of Romans for a week. These were all things that even though aren't directly things that impact students are designed to prepare us for ministry with students. I can sometimes feel like I wasting time by doing things such as these but when I look at the overreaching effect that they have, I see their value and importance. For example, how can I communicate to Italians about Jesus if I can't speak Italian? Drawing pictures and hand gestures only go so far. In Nerja, my team got to talk with other STINTers from Western and Eastern Europe, North Africa, and some special forces. The hard soil that they are experiencing can be similar to what we are experiencing here in Bologna. So it was good not only to praise and worship God together but to also share ideas on ways to sow seeds that God can use to bring people into his kingdom! The class on the book of Romans gave me insight into the culture and times in which the letter was written that enhances what I know about how Paul shares the message of the gospel to the citizens of the Roman church. This is important not only for how I process the gospel as it relates to me but to also how I share the gospel with Italians today. So long story short, even though January was busy and productive, I really was ready to get back to campus.
As we begin the new semester, we took a look at the strategies we garnered from others in Nerja.
One of the suggestions that seems to work really well in not only doing English clubs like we have but also having conversation partners. The reason this seems to work a little better for reaching students is that you’re more likely to develop deeper and more meaningful relationships with students meeting one on one. This of course means more opportunities for processing the gospel with students.

Another avenue we are using for reaching students in the International Woman's Day on March 8th. We are planning on doing an outreach on campus that would allow us again meet students and to also maybe get the Agape Italia name out there as far as students recognizing who we are. I will post more about this as details are finalized.
Another upcoming project that our team is preparing for is the Effective Study outreach. With this Agape Italia Bologna is sponsoring a world renowned team from Switzerland to come and share effective study tools with students at the university. Also woven into the presentation is the gospel. Right now we are still searching for a location as it is very hard to get a room on campus.

Overall we are really as a team trusting the Lord to bring relationship building opportunities to us and for us to recognize those and use them for building God's kingdom. Without relationships to work with there will be little opportunity for reaching students for Christ.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support for Bologna!

Crystal