Adventures in Italy

Cemetery dweller's journey 'from hell to heaven'

2010-12-25T04:10:00.000-08:00

Here is a great article from the Sydney Morning Herald on the difference Micah Projects has made in many peoples lives.

Not too long ago, Robert Pearce was sleeping under a tree in a Brisbane cemetery.

Now, he’s living in a unit on the city’s southside and celebrating Christmas alongside newfound friends.

Micah Projects is a community based not-for-profit organisation with a vision to create justice and respond to injustice at the personal, social, and structural levels in church, government, business and society.

They believe that every child and adult has the right to a home, an income, healthcare, education, safety, dignity, and connection with their community of choice. Micah Projects provides a range of support and advocacy services to individuals and families.

Micah Projects began as an initiative of the St Mary’s Community in South Brisbane, a community of catholic people from across Brisbane. People, who with a passion for social justice as a contemporary and critical element of faith in action, continue to support, collaborate, and provide spiritual nourishment to anyone who chooses to participate.

In the early hours of one morning in June, Mr Pearce was approached at the gazebo by volunteers working on the 50 Lives 50 Homes campaign.

The social workers wanted to try and arrange accommodation for him. They were true to their word.

Mr Pearce finally ended his long stint of homelessness nearly three months ago when he moved into an “absolutely beautiful” new public housing unit at Moorooka.

The rent comes straight out of his pension.

“You just couldn’t possibly believe how fantastic it is,” Mr Pearce said.

“It’s sort of taking you out of hell and putting you into heaven. Everything’s brand new.

What a great thought for Christmas... does our faith result in people being taking out of hell and putting them in heaven? That was the intention of Jesus choosing to become one of us.

The Real Santa Claus - Part 2

2010-12-23T16:55:00.000-08:00

When Myra passed into the hands of the Saracens, some saw it as an opportunity to move the saint's relics to a more hospitable location. There was great competition for the relics between Venice and Bari. The Barese won the race and the relics were carried off under the noses of the Grecian custodians (Nicholas was Greek), the Saracens, and the Venetians. Legend has it that this race was pretty intense and resulted in the body of Nicholas losing an arm along the way. The Venetians could not go home empty handed however and managed to return to Venice with the relics of the Apostle Mark and the resulting edifice to house his remains is St Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. On May 9, 1087, the relics of Nicholas were safely landed at Bari. A new church was built to shelter Nicholas' remains and in the form of St Nicholas’ Basilica.

St Nicholas is popular and he's said to have been represented by medieval artists more frequently than any saint but Mary, and nearly 400 churches were dedicated in his honor in England alone during the late Middle Ages.

He is the patron saint of children and probably from this the custom arose of giving gifts to children in the name of Saint Nicholas on his feast day, December 6. The Dutch actually exchange gifts on the eve of this day, December 5. It was them that called him Sint Nicolaas, or more commonly Sinterklaas and it was this name and idea that has transferred into our modern day Santa Claus.

On Saint Nicholas Day it is traditional for the clergy of the basilica in Bari to lower a flask into the tomb of Saint Nicholas to extract some of the myrrh which is believed to exude from the relics. Containers of this myrrh are sent all over the world, and believers have reported numerous miracles as a result of being anointed with it. This is still collected each year and can be bought at the shop next to the shop for between 500 and 1000 euro a bottle!

From what I understand, St Nicholas is the only Saint shared by the Catholic and Orthodox Church. The Basilica in Bari is in fact a very unusual church in that it is shared by the Catholics and the Orthodox. Every week Orthodox services are conducted in the crypt and on Sundays Catholics have their services in the main area. The church and the city is a connecting point between the catholic and Orthodox churches with many pilgrims coming from the east and the west. In May a statue of St Nicholas is paraded around the city as a celebration of the arrival of the relics.

An interesting thing to note form all of the images of St Nicholas is that he is generally portrayed as having very dark skin. The central top image below shows a reconstruction by scientists of what Nicholas looked like.

This is a far cry of course from our images of Santa Claus today.

The Real Santa Claus - Part 1

2010-12-22T03:29:00.000-08:00

Saint Nicholas is the man behind the legend of Santa Claus. Historically speaking there's not much we really know about Nicholas, despite him being one of the most popular saints in the Catholic and Orthodox churches and being popularized by the idea of Santa Claus. We do know that he was probably the bishop of Myra (near modern Finike, Turkey) sometime in the 300s.

Nicholas was born sometime around AD 280 in Lycia to wealthy, Christian parents. A lot of Nicholas’ life is surrounded by legend and myth. It is said that when he was still a boy, Nicholas’ parents died in a plague, leaving him with great wealth. He used this wealth for charitable work. His uncle, the Bishop of Patura, became his guardian and ensured his education in the church and Nicholas became a priest at a very young age.

Once, while traveling by sea to Jerusalem, a storm threatened the safety of Nicholas and the ship’s crew. Legend has it that Nicholas prayed to God and immediately the storm was calmed. Upon returning from that trip, he visited a church in Myra. A priest was outside the church waiting. When Nicholas arrived, the priest asked his name. As Nicholas answered, the priest began praising God. He explained that God had told him to wait outside the church and the next person to come by, named Nicholas, would be the new Bishop of Myra. While Nicholas at first humbly refused, he eventually became their Bishop. Because of his young age he was called the Boy Bishop.

Tombs and Ampitheatre in Myra, Turkey

One popular story about Nicholas is that of a man with three daughters. The man was poor and could not afford dowries for his girls. At the time, this meant they would have to succumb to a life of prostitution. Hearing this, Nicholas dropped a bag of gold down the chimney (or, according to some, threw it in the window) on the night before each girl needed a dowry for marriage. One story says the last bag of gold Nick threw in landed in a sock, hanging to dry above the fireplace. Sound familiar? Another version of the story tells of Nicholas’ request to remain anonymous until after his death. It was these types of stories that helped develop St Nicholas into the images we have of him today.

Under the persecution of Diocletian and Maximillian Nicholas was imprisoned.

During his life it is suggested that he had an important role to play in the development of Christianity. When Constantine became emperor, Nicholas was released with countless others and returned to his preaching only to find a new threat: Arianism. According to one biographer (writing five centuries after Nicholas's death), "Thanks to the teaching of St. Nicholas, the metropolis of Myra alone was untouched by the filth of the Arian heresy, which it firmly rejected as a death-dealing poison." Other biographers claim Nicholas was involved in the Council of Nicea and was a key spokesperson against the heresy. However Nicholas isn't mentioned in the records of the meeting.

Wherever the truth lays, between legend and fact, Nicholas, Bishop of Myra was an inspirational figure for the church. By the reign of Justinian (d. 565), Nicholas was famous, and the emperor dedicated a church in Constantinople to him. By the 900s, a Greek wrote, "The West as well as the East acclaims and glorifies him. Wherever there are people, his name is revered and churches are built in his honor. All Christians reverence his memory and call upon his protection." The West became even more interested when his "relics" (that is his decayed remains) were taken from Myra to Bari, Italy, on May 9, 1087.

Bari is where we live, and tomorrow I will explain a bit more about his influence on the church, and the development of the modern Santa Claus.

Pastors Gathering

2010-12-20T06:34:00.000-08:00

Recently we helped to organise a gathering for the Leaders for the Assemblies of God here in Italy. The purpose of the meeting was to help create a real sense of a movement amongst the churches. At the moment the churches a joined through relationship. This will go only go so far. What any movement needs is a sense of togetherness. This can be created through rules and regulations that people must adhere to, or by a commitment to a common set of values that drive a movement forward.

I prefer the idea of a set of values that bind the churches together, giving an identity and unity while allowing for diversity.

For this meeting we invited Peter Sleebos, the President of the Assemblies of God in the Netherlands and his wife Corrie. They are a fantastic couple who have done some great things in the Netherlands. Under their leadership, in the last 10 years, the Assemblies of God in the Netherlands has grown from about 50 to 200 churches and making an impact across the nation.

It was a significant time with the Pastors as Peter Sleebos challenged them to seek God’s purposes for the movement and to understand who God has called us to be as a movement of churches.

Corrie ministering to the ladies.

The all important 3 course lunch!

The Digital Story of the Nativity

2010-12-18T14:23:00.000-08:00

The Power of Pictures

2010-12-18T06:40:00.000-08:00

I love Mark Batterson's recent post on the importance of painting pictures. A picture, he says, is word ten million words.

He notes: Nothing is more powerful than a picture. It can move in ways that words cannot. It bypasses defense mechanisms. It gets past the mind and invades the soul. A well-painted picture changes minds in ways that words cannot. That's one reason why the parables are so powerful. Jesus painted pictures.

Batterson, whose church meets in movie theaters sees the movie theater screens as postmodern stained glass.

The modern church was very wordy. And there is nothing wrong with words. But we also need pictures! And if the gospel is going to capture the imagination of our generation I think it'll be worth words AND pictures!

Teaching Opportunities in Thailand

2010-12-17T03:48:00.000-08:00

We just received a newsletter from our friends Malcolm and Sandy Potter who are based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. They are from Cromwell in New Zealand and have been serving in Thailand for more than 10 years now. They are a fantastic couple who have had a focus on helping to establish Baan Fai Mai Tribal Youth Centre in Mae Chaem, about 3 hours from Chiang Mai. When I first visited the original Youth Centre about 12 years ago it was in a rundown building offering not much more than a shelter for Tribal Children. Through foul means this property was effectively stolen and the funds pocketed by a ‘trusted’ national worker. Now, under the work of the potters they have established a new, wonderful property to serve the needs of Tribal Children who are sent to be educated in the local High School. It has also becoming a missions centre as the students go back to their previous unreached villages to share the gospel.

In their newsletter the Potters describe the needs of the school that they have sent their children to on Chiang Mai. Grace International School serves the children of missionaries from more than 26 different nations. More than one third of the world's population is within 3 hours flight Chiang Mai so it has become a strategic centre in Asia for missionaries.

The school occupies it purchased 11 years ago that use to house a popular athletic club. While the school has enjoyed the gymnasium, athletic courts, weight and racquetball courts and Olympic-sized swimming pool for more than a decade, the Nittibukon, an association representing the surrounding neighborhood, recently sued to regain control of the property.

The court case concluded in August with the judge ruling in favor of the association, meaning, in effect, that Grace International School will have to restore the property to its original condition and turn it over to the association

The schools is halfway to raising finds to purchase a new property. You can check out the Saving Grace website for details on how you can help.

Also, Grace School is looking for teachers to come an serve at the school. In order to provide quality, low cost education to the children of Christian workers in Southeast Asia teachers and other foreign staff come as volunteers through sending agencies and raise 100% of their own financial support. Teachers serve the same way as missionary does, with support from back home. This is an exciting opportunity for teachers to serve overseas in an English speaking environment. Grace is looking for teachers for the 2011/2012 year.

So if you are a teacher, and after an adventure for a couple of years or more, than why not consider this? I have visited Chiang Mai 9 or 10 times and love it. It is a great, inexpensive city with all your modern conveniences as well as the charm of 'real' Asia. It is the close to stunning mountains, rivers and waterfalls. You can find out more information about serving there on the schools website.

Christmas Gift Ideas

2010-12-16T07:26:00.000-08:00

We received our first Christmas present today!! From Andrea’s brother and fiancé, it was an Unwrapped Gift from Oxfam which gave education to a child in a devloping nation. The funny thing was Andrea and I were look at the catalogue to buy some gifts like this as well!

The idea is to give gifts that change a future Oxfam points out that when it comes to buying a great present, another pair of novelty socks or more bubble bath just won't do! Instead you can choose from their catalogue of items which lists things from a couple of chickens, to a goat, sending people to school, or training a birth attendant. This means you you’re giving someone living in poverty in the developing world the chance of a better life, while your loved ones will receive a card detailing the present you bought them.

Tearfund offers vouchers as a gift that the recipient is able to donate to certain causes in various parts of the world.

If you are struggling for gift ideas for someone this year, don’t rush down to the Warehouse or $2 on Christmas Eve, consider giving a gift that makes a difference.

Here is some more thoughts on this gift giving from the Sydney Morning Herald.

Italy from Space

2010-11-17T08:01:00.001-08:00

This is an image taken from the international Space Station at night. Pretty Cool view of Italy. Our apartment added to lights in the photo! You can read about it at BBC online.

Sacreligious

2010-11-16T11:57:00.000-08:00

A song with some interesting thoughts. Apparently Christofer wrote this in reference to when he was kicked out of church for opening up his home to homeless people.

Decisions that Define Us

2010-11-04T15:47:00.000-07:00

A video with some great challenges.

Awkward Family Photos

2010-10-29T03:13:00.000-07:00

I was trying to work out how to spell awkward the other day and so typed it into the search engine. It usggested this site, Awkward Family Photos. These are a few of my favourites.

Lausanne

2010-10-28T02:44:00.000-07:00

I have been following various blogs from people at Lausuanne 2 which have been really interesting. Andrew Jones and Brett Anderson have soem good summaries of the conference.

A story from the conference thats stands out is of a an 18 year old girl from North Korea.

She was born into a wealthy family, her father an assistant to the North Korean leader, Kim Jong II. Eventually her father’s political fortunes shifted, and after being politically persecuted by the North Korean government, he, his wife, and his daughter escaped to China.

In China a relative brought her family to church where her parents came to know Jesus Christ. A few months later, however, her mother died. Her father started to study the Bible with missionaries and eventually the Lord gave him a strong desire to become a missionary to North Korea. But in 2001 he was reported as a Christian, was arrested by the Chinese police, and was returned to North Korea. Forced to leave his daughter behind in China, he spent three years in prison. During this time the girl shared that it only "made my father’s faith stronger” and that he “cried out to God more desperately rather than complain or blame Him.

After three years he was able to return to China where he was briefly reunited with his daughter. Soon after, however, he gathered Bibles having resolved to return to North Korea to share Christ which he did. He was given the opportunity to go to South Korea, but he turned them down.

In 2006 he was discovered by the North Korean government and was arrested. There has since been no word from him. In all probability he has been shot to death publicly for treason.

Now this 18 year old girl is determined to take the love of Christ to her people as well, regardless of the cost.

Like her father, she is not choosing the easy path of comfort and safety.

Those whom God has used to make some of the greatest Kingdom impact have been those who have not made decisions based on "what is best for me?" They made decisions based on an undeniable, unshakable, "illogical", "foolish" passion for Jesus Christ and for His kingdom glory among the lost.

What a challenge for us in a time where comfort and self are king.

You can read this courageous girls story here.

Christian Movies

2010-10-27T02:13:00.000-07:00

What does the idea of 'Christian' movies invoke for you? I have to admit I have had some pretty awkward moments sitting though bad movies that I am supposed to appreciate simply because they are 'Christian'.

Here is a great article on the topic from Relevant magazine. One is one quote from the article:
You can have the huge budget, skilled and experienced technical crew and a firmly executed marketing plan, but if you film a pedantic script with summer-stock-reject actors, your better-looking product is simply lipstick on a pig. Throw in Christian film’s inherently agenda-driven plots and dialogue and you have lipstick on a preachy pig.

I love it - How often do we put lipstick on a preach pig and expect everyone to buy into it?

Here is another blog that touches on the unnecesary spiritual/ secular divide that we create, including in film.
another question posed by the group was on the sacred/secular split – the tendency we as christians have to divide life into what we call spiritual and what we call secular when, as one guy pointed out in my group, Jesus would probably be confused if i told Him about “my spiritual life” because to Him everything was spiritual – and so can’t we as Christ followers just start making good movies – when i look at a movie like ‘the blind Side’ with Sandra Bullock in, it was a really strong movie and received critical acclaim in many quarters but was not produced as a ‘christian movie’ – we have the stories, we just need to do better at getting them across

And just for a laugh, here are some of the best Christian Rapture movie posters from Tall Skiiny Kiwi

Juventus

2010-10-11T03:13:00.000-07:00

While in Turin I went to a practice of the Juventus team. It was pretty cool to see some of the big names of football practicing their skills.

Juventus Football Club was founded in 1897 and have spent their entire history, with the exception of the 2006–07 season, in the top flight First Division (called Serie A since 1929).

Juventus are historically the most successful team in Italian football and one of the most successful and recognized in the world. According to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, an organization recognised by FIFA, Juventus were Italy's best club of the 20th century and the second most successful European club in the same period.

Juventus have won 51 official competitions, more than any other team in the country; 40 in the national First Division, which is also a record, and 11 in UEFA and world competitions, making them the third team in Europe and sixth in the world with the most international titles won officially recognised by their respective continental football confederation and FIFA.

While most people form Turin follow Torino F.C, Juventus has a huge following nationally and internationally. Torino F.C is famed because on May 4, 1949, after having secured their record fifth back-to-back Serie A title, and on their way home after a friendly match with Benfica in Lisbon, Portugal, the airplane carrying the team crashed against the Basilica of Superga, on a hill near Turin (pictured below), killing nearly all the players and managers.

Arrivederci, Italia: Why Young Italians Are Leaving

2010-10-10T01:11:00.000-07:00

Young Italians struggle to get ahead in Italy and this is reflected in the number of them leaving the country according to this Time article.

Even the head of an elite university. In an open letter to his son published last November in La Repubblica, Pier Luigi Celli, director general of Rome's LUISS University, wrote, "This country, your country, is no longer a place where it's possible to stay with pride ... That's why, with my heart suffering more than ever, my advice is that you, having finished your studies, take the road abroad. Choose to go where they still value loyalty, respect and the recognition of merit and results."

Celli, many agreed, had articulated a growing sense in his son's generation that the best hopes for success lie abroad. Commentators point to an accelerating flight of young Italians and worry that the country is losing its most valuable resource.

Take Luca Vigliero, a 31-year-old architect. After graduating from the University of Genoa in 2006 and failing to find satisfying work at home, he moved abroad, working first for a year at Rem Koolhaas' Office for Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam and then accepting a job in Dubai in 2007. In Italy, his résumé had drawn no interest. At Dubai's X Architects, he was quickly promoted. He now supervises a team of seven people. "I'm working on projects for museums, villas, cultural centers, master plans," he says. "I have a career." Escape from Italy has also allowed Vigliero to fast-track his life plans. He and his wife had a son in September; had they remained in Italy, he says they would not have been able to afford children this soon. "All my friends in Italy are not married, they have really basic work, they live with their [parents]," he says. "Here, there's a future. Every year, something happens: new plans, new projects. In Italy, there's no wind. Everything is stopped."

According to a poll by Bachelor, a Milanese recruitment agency, 33.6% of new graduates feel they need to leave the country to take advantage of their education. A year later, 61.5% feel that they should have done so.

The unemployment rate among Italian college graduates ages 25 to 29 is 14%, more than double the rate in the rest of Europe and much higher than that of their less-educated peers.

Italians have a word for the problem: gerontocracy, or rule by the elderly. Too much of the economy is geared toward looking after older Italians. While the country spends relatively little on housing, unemployment and child care — expenditures the young depend upon to launch their careers — it has maintained some of the highest pensions in Europe, in part by ramping up borrowing. This imbalance extends into the private sector, where national guilds and an entrenched culture of seniority have put the better jobs out of reach for the country's young.

Italy has always suffered under a hierarchical system, with the young deferring to authority until it's their time to take the reins. "You are not considered experienced based on your CV, on your ability or according to your skills, but just based on your age," says Federico Soldani, 37, an epidemiologist who left Pisa in 2000 and now works in Washington, D.C., for the Food and Drug Administration. "When you are under 40, you are considered young."

The system worked — to a certain extent — as long as the economy was growing. Patience paid off as jobs opened to whoever was next in line. But with the extended slump, the labor market has seized up. "The queue is not moving forward anymore," says Soldani. Entry to some professions — like the lucrative position of public notary — is so limited that the job has become all but hereditary. In a country where success is built on relationships and seniority, only the friends and children of the elite have a chance to cut the line.

It's not just better pay that attracts Italy's young emigrants: it's also the opportunity to escape dull jobs that involve mainly rote tasks and flattened career trajectories. "If you're young in Italy, you're a problem; in other countries, you're seen as a resource," says Simone Bartolini, 29, a creative copywriter in Sydney. He left Rome in 2007, following a change of management at his advertising firm, when his new boss told him, "We will put sticks in your spokes." He was good to his word. "Every idea was turned down," says Bartolini. "Everything was a no. As soon as I made a mistake, I was under the light." In comparison to Australia, where Bartolini has launched a successful career, Italy simply had no use for his drive. "They need executors," says Bartolini. "They don't need thinkers."

Meanwhile, every young person driven away is one less voice calling for reform. Silvia Sartori, 31, tried returning to Treviso after working in Asia for four years. After a fruitless year of job-hunting, she went back to China, where she now manages a $3 million European Commission grant for green construction. "It's something in Italy I would never get, unless I was 45 and somebody's daughter or cousin or mistress," she says.

Turin

2010-10-09T02:51:00.000-07:00

I had a meeting in Turin the other day and got to see around the city a bit. It is a beautiful city and really pleasant to walk around. There are some beautiful views with the Alps just to the north and west of the city. It includes the largest Piazza in Europe. Much of the city's public squares, castles, gardens and elegant palazzi (such as Palazzo Madama), were built by Sicilian architect Filippo Juvarra, who modelled these buildings on the Baroque and classical style of Versailles.

Turin used to be a major European political centre, being Italy's first capital city in 1861 and being home to the House of Savoy, Italy's royal family. I drove past the old palace which still looks stunning in opulance.

Turin is well known as the home of the Shroud of Turin, the football teams Juventus F.C. and Torino F.C., the headquarters of automobile manufacturers Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo, and as host of the 2006 Winter Olympics.

There are a number of places there I would like to visit another time,, such as the old Roman Palatine Towers, the Cathederal and the Egyptian museum which is reputedly one of the best Egyptian collections in the world.

Has God Left Europe?

2010-10-09T00:27:00.000-07:00

A recent Time article discusses the state of Christianity in Europe.

The implication is that while organised religion is on the decrease, people (especially the young) are open to authentic faith. This begs the question: What fresh expressions of the church will best reach a generation that are intersted in God, but tired of the old approaches? Here are a few extracts:

In 1966, a TIME cover story pondered the fate of Christianity and asked, is god dead? The magazine wasn't the first to pose the question — theologians have lamented society's secularization for centuries — nor would it be the last. He's still not dead, but these days in Europe, He's not always in the same old places. So it's worth asking: Where has God — and Christian faith — gone?

It may sound strange to say, but in some ways Europe's faith has survived the church. While the Continent may be more secular than ever, God hasn't gone away for everyone. Many Europeans, able to distinguish between the message and its flawed human messengers, still find Him where they always have — in church. And many others who don't attend say they still believe in God and in the importance of religion, especially at life's key moments. Faith is more private, more personal, which means it may be harder to find and often more at odds with Christian orthodoxy. But in some places — among immigrants and youth — it is thriving and even growing.

The same Third Wave survey that shows a lack of interest in religion among half of Europe also shows enduring belief in God and some of faith's trappings. In all but a handful of countries, more than two-thirds of people believe in God. In all except the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, more than 70% of respondents said that a religious service is important at death; the numbers were slightly lower for marriage. This clear "yearning for something beyond" has led to what Exeter University sociologist Grace Davie calls "a funny mixture of what we have in modern Europe, which is still a religious sensibility, but a loss of the tradition and the knowledge base." Your faith may not look like your grandmother's. But "this is not the end of Christianity at all," says theologian Hans Küng. "I have hope."

As Europe has grown less religious, you'd expect that its youth would too, and in several countries — Britain, Spain and the Netherlands — they have. But overall, "an increase in religion among youth is very clear," says French sociologist Yves Lambert. Among Danes, the number of 18-to-29-year-olds who professed belief in God leapt from 30% of youth in 1981 to 49% in 1999. In Italy, the jump was from 75% to 87%. Even in France, which has Europe's highest proportion of atheists, the figure crept from 44% to 47%.

Timing was one issue — the Thomas Mass starts at 6:30 p.m., recognizing that people no longer feel obligated to be in a pew on Sunday morning. Other churches in Europe remember the Sabbath but also make other days holy, holding 30-minute lunchtime services or weekday breakfast Bible studies. "If they had a Thursday-night service, I would be more likely to go," says Alex Olzog, 24, a student from Munich who is an occasional churchgoer. "I want to relax on the weekends."

It's no accident that the minority of churches and movements that are growing emphasize accessibility, not only in timing but also in style.

OSPITALITA’ 3

2010-09-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

L'ospitalità nei confronti degli altri credenti

L’agape (amore incondizionato) attraverso la quale dimostriamo amore agli altri, racchiude sempre il concetto di ospitalità (filoxenia). Un'altra forma di amore che esterniamo è rappresentata all’”amore reciproco” (filadelfia). La connessione fra i termini filadelfia (amore reciproco) e filoxenia (ospitalità) è impressionante e questo ci ricorda che nonostante un Cristiano qualunque possa essere un estraneo a noi, lui o lei è comunque un fratello o sorella che dovrebbe essere trattato in quanto tale. Questo non è un consiglio da adottare con ospiti che conosciamo (anche se questa è comunque una buona idea) ma da mettere in pratica con i nostri fratelli credenti che non conosciamo. Quando è stata l’ultima volta che ne avete ospitata una a casa vostra?

Oggigiorno esiste un problema di fondo sia nella chiesa che nella cultura in senso largo del termine che è quello della superficialità nelle relazioni. Spesso risulta arduo poter andare al di là della semplice cordialità e poter intraprendere con la gente un rapporto più profondo, uno intriso di significato. Forse perché i servizi promossi dalle chiese sono più preoccupati a creare amicizie che non superino un livello superficiale, radunandole regolarmente in gruppi, senza però mai preoccuparsi di creare con loro e tra di loro relazioni più profonde. Può darsi che, rincontrando la stessa gente ogni settimana potremo ingannarci nel pensare di aver una buona relazione con loro, senza però accorgerci che trascorrerebbero degli anni non vivendo mai con loro un briciolo di un’autentica relazione. Se è vero che questo succede, allora sarà necessario che la chiesa lotti per diventare qualcosa di più che una semplice riunione amichevole di estranei dove però la nostra ospitalità non assomiglierà per nulla a quella biblica.

In chiesa invece di ripetere a noi stessi, “speriamo di andar subito via da qui”, dovremmo dire, “ come tutta questa gente può aiutarmi a crescere in Cristo e cosa posso fare io per loro?”. Invece di considerare se, “ devo lasciarli entrare nella mia vita”, dovrei decidermi a rispondere con fermezza a “COME dovrei farli entrare nella mia vita?”.

L’ospitalità nei riguardi dei non credenti

L’ospitalità può e dovrebbe essere estesa agli estranei, sia essi facciano parte o no della comunità cristiana. Ciò che abilita una persona a ricevere ospitalità non è la fede ma l’umanità, proprio perché tutti siamo stati fatti alla stessa immagine di Dio. Quando invitiamo i nostri vicini a casa nostra, allo stesso modo stiamo invitando loro ad entrare nel nostro mondo ed a vedere all’opera nella nostra casa la Cristianità, pregi e difetti inclusi. L’ospitalità è intrinsecamente legata al concetto di evangelizzazione e di missione, proprio perché l’invitare a fare un’esperienza alla presenza di Cristo nelle nostre case rappresenta una parte di vitale importanza nella teologia riguardo all’evangelizzazione ed al fare discepoli.

Il capitolo 25 secondo Matteo è un inno al Regno di Dio che ha come motivo centrale il tema dell’ospitalità:

Individuiamo alcuni punti cardine, quali:
1) Gesù si identifica con gli stranieri.
2) Servire gli stranieri/estranei è servire allo stesso tempo Cristo stesso.
3) L’ospitalità assume dei significati eterni reconditi.

La richiesta sostanziale che Gesù ci fa è quella che l’ospitalità agli estranei debba essere considerata l’elemento caratterizzante della vita di un credente salvato, il giusto contrassegno di una persona che fa parte del Regno di Dio e che è fedele al suo Regno. Gesù può essere quindi definito l’eterno Straniero.

OSPITALITA’ 2

2010-09-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

Cenni storici sull’Ospitalità Biblica

Secondo il pensiero ebraico, l’ospitalità è considerata radicata sia nel concetto per mezzo del quale Dio “ama lo straniero” (Deut. 10:18), che in quello della storia israelita nel quale Dio dice, “ Non dovete maltrattare lo straniero o sopraffarlo, poiché anche voi eravate degli stranieri in terra d’Egitto” (Esodo 22:21).

Il Vecchio Testamento è zeppo di esempi riguardanti l’ospitalità elargita anche agli stranieri onorati come ospiti, come ad esempio quello in cui Abramo riceve i tre Angeli (stranieri) in Genesi 18, o quello in cui il prete di Madian ospita Mosè in Esodo 2, o ancora quello in cui Raab nasconde in casa sua gli esploratori di Giosuè in Giosuè 2, ed infine quello in cui Neemia protrae l’ospitalità ad uno dei trombettieri in Neemia 4.

Il Nuovo Testamento non è differente dal Vecchio. La donna samaritana invita Gesù straniero a restare presso la sua comunità, che Lui conobbe (Giovanni 4). Paolo (Saul), che in un primo momento era un nemico del movimento cristiano, entra a far parte del gruppo degli apostoli in Atti 9. Più in là nello stesso capitolo, si racconta che Pietro soggiornò presso un conciatore di pelli chiamato Simone durante la sua sosta a Ieppa. Forse, tutte queste informazioni immateriali, apparentemente somiglianti, figurano nella Sacra Scrittura perché sono risultate rilevanti dagli autori biblici. Questi sono soltanto alcuni esempi fra i tanti che si trovano disseminati nella Bibbia.

Pietro nell’insegnare il significato dell’allenare i doni spirituali in quest’epoca remota, raccomanda al popolo di Dio di “offrire ospitalità gli uni agli altri senza brontolare” (1 Pietro 4:9). Questo è un precetto che calza a pennello per tutti i Cristiani. Paolo si rivolge a tutti i credenti in Romani 12:13, quando dice che dobbiamo “prefiggerci come scopo l’ospitalità”. Alcune interpretazioni risultano molto blande nel tradurre il verbo come “praticare”. Questo verbo, in greco dioko, suggerisce l’idea di un arduo sforzo compiuto dopo un qualcosa. Dobbiamo, quindi, prefiggerci come obiettivo quello di trovare opportunità per offrire ospitalità.

L’atto dell’offrire ospitalità deve costituire le fondamenta dell’identità e della messa in pratica della Parola di ogni Cristiano. Per gran parte della storia della chiesa, i Cristiani collocavano il concetto di ospitalità in una tradizione vibrante secondo la quale la gente era accolta e, a volte, persino trasformata. L’ospitalità fa riferimento a bisogni fisici, quali quelli del vitto, dell’alloggio e della protezione. Ma la nozione di ospitalità afferma anche in modo radicale il grande valore ed il senso di umanità della gente. Le tavolate in compagnia di amici rappresentano una maniera importante, persino oggi, per ribadire l’eguale valore e dignità della gente.

Oggi dovremmo sentire un senso di avversione alla forte enfasi riposta sul valore di ospitalità, proprio a causa dell’estremo bisogno incontrato nei tempi biblici a tale riguardo. La gente che non riusciva a farsi accogliere, poteva andare incontro alla morte perché in quel tempo non esistevano alberghi o comunque centri ricettivi. Le condizioni nelle quali si viaggiava all’epoca erano differenti rispetto a oggigiorno. Tuttavia, forse, se troviamo tali intimazioni nella Bibbia, non semplicemente è dovuto al fatto che sono la risultante di un ordine pratico, ma perché hanno soprattutto ricoperto un ruolo spirituale all’interno della comunità cristiana.

OSPITALITA’ 1

2010-09-25T13:25:00.000-07:00

Una tra le cose che più amo della vita qui nel sud Italia è l’ospitalità. Quando vengo invitato a pranzo, mi è impossibile mangiare e bere tutto quello che mi viene presentato a tavola. La gente onora e offre tutto ciò che ha di meglio al proprio ospite. Mi è veramente piaciuto il modo in cui gli italiani danno il loro benvenuto ai loro ospiti.

C’è un abisso in questo senso tra l’ospitalità alla quale assistiamo nei paesi del medio – oriente rispetto forse a quei paesi in cui questa non la si percepisce, come in Nuova Zelanda ed i paesi occidentali. Nei prossimi giorni ho intenzione di investigare sul concetto di ospitalità e sul significato centrale che dovrebbe assumere nella fede di oggigiorno.

Nella società contemporanea occidentale, il concetto di ospitalità è di solito associato a quello di cerimoniale e di intrattenimento. In passato, in particolar modo presso i greci ed i romani, l’ospitalità rappresentava un diritto divino. Si pretendeva che l’ospite si sincerasse che non fossero trascurate le sue necessità. Wikipedia menziona che i greci col termine xenia volessero esprimere questa relazione fra ospite – amico al quale viene ad aggiungersi un ulteriore termine, quello di teoxenia attraverso il quale in questa relazione si chiama in causa un dio. Mi domando se, in effetti, teoxenia non sia il termine appropriato da utilizzare nel momento in cui diamo ospitalità a qualcuno. Magari nell’ospitalità riusciamo a fare entrare Dio in quella determinata situazione. Può, in definitiva, l’atto dell’ospitalità equivalere in certo qual modo all’atto supernaturale che porta la presenza di Dio nelle nostre vite di ogni giorno?

Jason Foster sostiene che l’ospitalità Cristiana, così come ci è insegnata nella Bibbia, è un processo sacro per mezzo del quale “riceviamo” estranei e tramutiamo loro in ospiti. Durante questo processo sacro, Cristo è presente.

Kiwi Visitors from the UK

2010-08-25T06:31:00.000-07:00

We love having visitors! Recently, Kushla and Laura (friends from New Zealand, who are living in London) came and stayed with us for a week to have a taste of Italy.

We visited Polignano, Ostuni, Alberobello, spent a couple of days at the beach and looked around old Bari. We ate giant pizza's, espressino freddo's, apperitivo's and of course pasta.

Here are some photos of our time together.

Polignano

Ostuni

Dinner in old Bari

Hospitality Part 5

2010-08-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

An Example of Middle Eastern Hospitality

Friedel Rother, an ex-journalist has been riding a bicycle around the world with her husband. She shares an account of the hospitality she faced in the middle east which serves as an encouragement for us to show hospitality to sojourners and in general. Her blog is here.

If there is one thing you can count on in the Middle East, it is that you do not need to seek out hospitality. It will find you. Standing on a street corner in Iran, looking confused or lost, is impossible to do for more than a minute before a helper will arrive and declare themselves to be at your service. In Syria, we ruled out accepting tea more than twice a day. Otherwise we would never have made it beyond the border post. Invitations flow freely from the smallest village to the biggest city.

The key to enjoying this warm welcome is simply to be brave enough to accept the offers that will come your way. Most of us were taught to beware of strangers, and suspicions are quickly raised when someone appears out of nowhere with an offer that seems too good to be true.

“Is this for real?” you will wonder as the man you asked for directions jumps in a cab with you and insists on paying the fare to the train station. It is so far removed from reality in many countries that it's almost unbelievable you will not be the victim of some scam. We cannot promise it will not happen, but in the hundreds of instances that we have accepted the help of others, we have never been disappointed.

“Why are you doing this?” we asked Talal as he arrived at our Damascus hotel to take us on a city tour and out for dinner. “It is my duty. You are a guest in my country,” was the reply. It was a commonly repeated response when we put the same query to others. “Travelers are a gift from God,” answered one young man.

I reckon this attitude would significantly alter the lives of people we meet, and our own.

Hospitality Part 4

2010-08-23T05:49:00.000-07:00

The Impact of Hospitality

Christian hospitality was a subversive act that obliterated societal barriers involving gender, race, economic condition, and citizenship status. The extension of hospitality was a moral statement with moral overtones that offered a dramatic and often effective witness to the world and was crucial to the growth of the early church.(1)

The book of Acts is an extended historical account of the growth of Christ's church, and episode after episode shows hospitality as integral to this growth. Hospitality was at the centre of the critical meeting of Cornelius and Peter. It was also central to the discipleship of Apollos by Priscilla and Aquila. Hospitality enabled the transmission of the Gospel in the early church. Nothing has changed. We should be asking if our own loss of understanding and practicing hospitality as a means to spread the Gospel is one reason why the Gospel is not spreading in our culture the way it did in Acts. (2)

Hospitality emerges from a grateful heart; it is first a response of love and gratitude for God’s love and welcome to us. It will not occur in any significant way in our lives, homes, or churches unless we give it deliberate attention.(3)

When we develop a lifestyle of hopsitality we allow room for the serendipities of God. In Hebrews 13 we are told not to forget being hospitable to strangers, because some have discovered that they were actually entertaining angels unawares. This idea almost certainly draws from the Genesis 18 account of Abraham being visited by angelic strangers. Hospitality allows for supernatural surprises. These could include unexpected divinely arranged friendships and timely fruitful connections , provisions of food and clothing, or even changes of perspective on people. Put simply, God shows up in hospitality settings, and the miraculous occurs in our midst.(4)

Hospitality can also transform our lives by forcing us to remove self form the centre, and focussing on others.

1. Jason Foster, Christian Hospitality: A Way of Life. Online at http://faithepchurch.org/files/Documents/Discipleship%20Resources/Hospitality.pdf accessed August 2010, 4.
2. Ibid, 21-22.
3. Christine D. Pohl, ‘Hospitality, a Practice and a Way of Life’, in Vision Spring 2002. Online at http://www.mennovision.org/Vol%203%20No%201/Pohl_Hospitality.pdf accessed August 2010, 37.
4. Jason Foster, 25.

Hospitality Part 3

2010-08-21T10:53:00.000-07:00

Hospitality Towards Other Believers

The agape (unconditional love) that we are to show to others always implies hospitality (filozenia).(1) Another type of love that we are to exhibit is referred to as “love for each other” (filadelfia). The connection between filadelfia (love for each other) and filozenia (hospitality) is striking and is a reminder that although a particular Christian might be a stranger to us, he or she is still a brother/sister and should be treated as such.(2) This is not a recommendation to host people at our homes who we know (although that is a good idea) but to host fellow believers who we don’t know. When was the last time you opened your home to such a person?

We might hear an objection to strong emphasis on hospitality today because of the extreme need for hospitality in bible times. People who failed to receive hospitality could face death because of a lack of hotels/hospitals and so on. Travelling conditions were quite different. However perhaps there are such clear injunctions in the bible, not simply because it was practical, but because it had spiritual value in its own right.(3)

There is a significant problem in both the church and wider culture today of shallowness in relationships. It is often difficult is getting past the surface-level friendliness and engage people on a deeper, more meaningful level.(4) Perhaps church services pander to such surface level friendships by bringing us together in short bursts regularly but without demanding any deeper relationship. Maybe, by seeing the same people each week we can be fooled into thinking we are in a good relationship with others, but years can go past without real relationship. If this is the case then the church will struggle to become anything more than a group of friendly strangers, and our hospitality will not resemble biblical hospitality.

Instead of saying to ourselves in church, "How quickly can we get out of here," we should be saying, "How can these folks help me in my growth with Christ, and how can I help them?" Instead of pondering, "Will I let them into my life," we should resolve to answer, "HOW will I let them in?" (5)

Hospitality Towards Non-Believers

Hospitality can and should be extended to the stranger, whether or not s/he is part of the Christian community. What qualifies a person to receive hospitality is not their faith, but their humanity - they are made in the image if God.(6) When we invite our neighbors into our homes, we are likewise inviting them to enter our world and see Christianity in action in the home, warts and all. Hospitality is inextricably linked to evangelism and mission precisely because the invitation to experience the presence of Christ in our homes is part of a robust theology of evangelism and making disciples.(7)

Matthew 25 is an anthem for Kingdom conduct with hospitality at its centre:

Several points of application can be gleaned:
1) Jesus identifies himself with strangers.
2) Service to strangers is equated with service to Christ himself.
3) Hospitality has eternal overtones.

The radical claim of Jesus is that hospitality to the stranger is a defining mark of a saved believer – an essential characteristic of one who is part of God's Kingdom and is loyal to its King, Jesus the divine Stranger.(8)

(1)Orchard Keeper, http://cbumgardner.wordpress.com/2007/11/25/christian-love-and-christian-hospitality/
(2)Ibid.
(3)Ibid.
(4)Jason Foster, Christian Hospitality: A Way of Life. Online at http://faithepchurch.org/files/Documents/Discipleship%20Resources/Hospitality.pdf accessed August 2010, 53.
(5) Ibid.
(6) Stephen W. Sykes, Making Room for the Other: Hostility and Hospitality in a Christian Perspective, online at http://www.elijah-interfaith.org/uploads/media/Hostility_and_Hospitality_in_a_Christian_Perspective.pdf accessed August 2010, 62.
(7) Jason Foster, Christian Hospitality: A Way of Life. Online at http://faithepchurch.org/files/Documents/Discipleship%20Resources/Hospitality.pdf accessed August 2010, 5.
(8) Ibid, 10.

Hospitality Part 2

2010-08-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

Background of Biblical Hospitality

In Jewish thought, hospitality is seen as rooted in both a concept of God who “loves the sojourner” (e.g., Deut 10:18), and in the story of the Israelites, to whom God said, “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt” (Ex 22:21).

Whether it is Abraham receiving the three angels (strangers) in Gen. 18, the Midian priest taking in Moses in Exodus 2, Rahab allowing Joshua's spies to stay with her in Joshua 2, or Nehemiah extending hospitality to a random trumpet player in Nehemiah 4, the Old Testament is full of examples of hospitality being extended to strangers who become valued guests.

The New Testament is no different. The Samaritan woman invites Jesus the stranger to stay with her community, which he does (John 4). Paul (Saul), who had previously been enemy of the Christian movement, is taken in by the apostles in Acts 9. Later in that chapter, it is said that Peter stayed with a tanner named Simon during his time in Joppa. Perhaps all of this seemingly immaterial information is included because it is actually quite significant to the biblical authors. (3)These are just a few examples of many of a practice that is found thoughout the bible.

Peter when teaching about what it means to exercise spiritual gifts in this last age, tells God's people to 'offer hospitality to one another without grumbling' (1Peter 4.9). This is given as a command that is applicable to all Christians (4). Paul speaks to believers in general in Romans 12:13 when he says that we are to “pursue hospitality.” Some translations are too bland in translating the verb as “practice”(5). The verb here, dioko, connotes an earnest striving after something. We are to pursue opportunities to give hospitality.

The act of offering hospitality must be basic to Christian identity and practice. For most of the church's history, Christians located hospitality within a vibrant tradition in which people are welcomed and even transformed. Hospitality addresses the physical needs of food, shelter, and protection. But hospitality also radically affirms the high worth and common humanity of all people. Table fellowship is an extremely important way, even today, of affirming the equal value and dignity of people. (6)

We might hear an objection to strong emphasis on hospitality today because of the extreme need for hospitality in bible times. People who failed to receive hospitality could face death because of a lack of hotels/hospitals and so on. Travelling conditions were quite different. However perhaps there are such clear injunctions in the bible, not simply because it was practical, but because it had spiritual value in its own right. (7)

3. Jason Foster, 2.
4. Ibid, 2-3.
5. Orchard Keeper, http://cbumgardner.wordpress.com/2007/11/25/christian-love-and-christian-hospitality/
6. Jason Foster, 4.
7. Ibid, 53.

Kaira has turned 2

2010-08-17T23:08:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Kaira's second birthday last week, we called the Grandparents in the morning so they could speak with her and then went to a friend's place for an afternoon tea with a group of our friends.

We can't believe that she is 2 already. The time has flown by. she is very much a little girl now.

Here are some photos from her special day.

Opening her presents

All ready for her party

Kaira's Cake

Dancing with Papa

Hospitality Part 1

2010-08-17T11:52:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I love about living in Southern Italy is the hospitality. When invited out for lunch it is impossible to eat and drink everything that is presented to you. As a guest they honour you and give you their best. I have really enjoyed watching the way the Italians welcome guests.

There is a depth in this hospitality that is prevalent in the middle east as well that is perhaps missing from New Zealand and other western countries. Over the next few days I want to explore the idea of hospitality and the sense in which it should be central to daily faith.

In the contemporary West, hospitality usually associated with etiquette and entertainment. In the past, especially for the ancient Greeks and Romans, hospitality was a divine right. The host was expected to make sure the needs of his or her guests were seen to. Wikipedia mentions that the ancient Greek term xenia, expressed this ritualized guest-friendship relation and adds a further term theoxenia when a god was involved (1). I wonder whether theoxenia is an appropriate term for when we offer hospitality. In engaging in hospitality perhaps we bring God into the situation. Can the act of hospitality actually amount to perhaps a supernatural act that brings the presence of God into our everyday lives?

Jason Foster suggests that Christian hospitality, as given to us in the Bible, is a sacred process of 'receiving' outsiders and changing them from strangers to guests. (2) In this sacred process Christ is present.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospitality
2. Jason Foster, Christian Hospitality: A Way of Life. Online at http://faithepchurch.org/files/Documents/Discipleship%20Resources/Hospitality.pdf accessed August 2010, 1.

Kieron Williamson, Painting Prodigy

2010-08-16T05:26:00.000-07:00

I love this story in the NZ Herald article on Kieron Williamson, an 8 year painting prodigy.

He's Britain's most talked-about young artist. His paintings fetch hefty sums and there's a long waiting list for his eagerly anticipated new works.

It has all happened so quickly - he's still getting used to the spotlight - and Kieron Williamson fidgets a little when he's asked to share his thoughts on art.

"Cows are the easiest thing to paint," said Kieron, who has just turned 8. "You don't have to worry about doing so much detail."

Horses, he says, are "a lot harder. You have to get their legs right, and you have to make their back legs much bigger than their front."

Paintbrush prodigy Kieron - dubbed "mini Monet" by the British press - is a global sensation. All 33 of the pastels, watercolors and oil paintings in his latest exhibition sold, within half an hour, for a total of 150,000 pounds (NZD$330,000). Buyers from as far away as the United States lined up overnight outside the gallery, and there is a 3,000-strong waiting list for his Impressionistic landscapes of boat-dotted estuaries, snowy fields and wide marshland skies.

Here is his website. I think I will buy Kaira some paitbrushes this week.

Future Trends in Evangelicalism

2010-08-14T04:20:00.000-07:00

Ed Stetzer makes some interesting points about the future of evangelicalism. These are two of his thoughts that I think are really pertinent to the church today:

First, evangelicals must learn to navigate what I call a "post-seeker context." When I use this term, I do not mean that seekers no longer exist. Rather, churches that once targeted seekers from the Boomer generation are finding that large portions of subsequent generations do not have the same religious memory. "Seeker churches" thrived when they could create new expressions of church that related to a population with at least some Christian memory.

I believe that all seeking is in response to the work of the Holy Spirit. In practical means, then, I believe the Spirit often uses the religious memory latent within a culture to pique the interest of the unchurched. For evangelicals to reach seekers in the decade ahead, they will need to develop new models and other means of communication to deliver our message into the cultural destination of an increasingly post-seeker context. When religious memory is gone, we can no longer rely on those outside of the faith to be interested in what it means to be inside of the faith.

Fourth, evangelicals must address our shallow definition of discipleship. LifeWay Research published a book called The Shape of Faith to Come by Brad Waggoner. Based on a study of 2,500 regular Protestant church-goers, we found the statistics revealing. Only 16 percent of participants said that they read their Bible daily, and another 20 percent said they read the Bible a few times a week. Only 23 percent agreed strongly with the statement, "When I come to realize that an aspect of my life is not right in God's eyes, I make necessary changes." In the past six months, only 29 percent said that they had shared with someone how to become a Christian twice or more, and 57 percent said they had not done so at all.

Perhaps most disappointing, however, was what had happened when they were srveyed again a year later. There was very little change in the actual data, but over 55 percent indicated that they had grown spiritually in the past year. The area of discipleship is definitely the elephant in the room for evangelicals and must be addressed going forward. Beliefs must become practice in order for evangelicalism to thrive in future decades.

Tourists for a week - Part 5

2010-08-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

Alberobello is famous for its beautifully kept trulli. A trullo (plural, trulli) is a traditional stone dwelling with a conical roof. The style of construction is specific to Itria Valley. There are plenty all around the area but Alberbello provides a concentration of fully restored ones housing shops offering a lot of local delicacies. There are some that also offer a hotel room.

Traditionally they were built without any cement or mortar, probably to avoid taxation.

At the top of a trullo's cone there is normally a pinnacle, that may be one of many designs, chosen for symbolism. there are often symbols painted on it as well such as planetary symbols, the malocchio (evil eye), the cross, a heart, a star and crescent, or a few others.
33

Tourists for a week - Part 4

2010-08-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

Ostuni, about 1 hour from Bari, is also know as the "white city" because all of the buildings within its fortified walls are painted white giving it a classic Greek island feel. Standing on top of a hill the town is prominant from miles away and has commanding views over the sea about 12 kilometres away.

The region around Ostuni has been inhabited since the Stone age. The town is reputed to have been originally established by the Messapii, a pre-classic tribe, and destroyed by Hannibal during the Punic Wars. It was then re-built by the Greeks, the name Ostuni deriving from the Greek Astu néon ("new town").

Ostuni was acked after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, in 996 AD the town became part of the Norman County of Lecce.

In 1539 the town had towers built along all the shoreline, as protection against anticipated attacks from the Turks who controlled the Balkans. These towers (still existing, including Pozzella Tower, the Pylon, Villanova and others), were permanently garrisoned and communicated through fire beacons.

Main Road

City Wall

The region is well know for its olive oil which is quite outstanding. We purchased a bottle but it only lasted a week. So good for slalds and bread.

Community: Blinded by love

2010-08-11T03:13:00.000-07:00

Here is part of an interview with Shane Claiborne on community. We are looking at concepts of community here at Bethel Church over the next month. He psoes a fascinating challenge that a myopic love for our family or our nation (perhaps our church, city, friends, job as well) could cause us to lose sight of our God given call. The rest of the interview is here.

Let's talk about "doing life together." We have a nuclear vision of Christian community, where the church is divided up into families, and the families come together now and then but otherwise live their lives apart, sealed off behind the four walls of their separate homes. Does this make it more difficult to recover something resembling the community of the early church?

Without a doubt there's some deep wisdom in the scripture that says that we're not to conform to the patterns of the world but be transformed by renewing our minds. We're to have a new way of thinking about things, including family. Jesus really challenges the notions and even the idol that we have made of the nuclear family, when he says, "Unless you hate your own father and mother, you're not ready to be my disciple." I know that Jesus is not shunning a love for our family. He loved his mother, and as he was dying on the cross he encouraged John to take care of her. But he's pushing the boundaries of where our love stops.

A lot of times a love for our own family or our own nation creates a shortsightedness. This is my people and my family. But Jesus says, actually, you're born again. That means that if someone is in prison, it's like your own kids are in prison. If someone's suffering injustice, it's like you're suffering. I really love the line, "A love for our own people is not a bad thing, but our love doesn't stop at any border."

We are born again into a terribly dysfunctional family. If we're going to take our rebirth seriously, it should keep us up at night. It should allow us to be disturbed by the pain and the suffering that is happening around the world and even right next to us.

Tourists for a week - Part 3

2010-08-10T07:47:00.000-07:00

Polignano is positioned on a steep sea cliff dotted with caves. A lot of the old town is perched quite pecariously on the cliff face with stunning views over the bautiful azure colours of the Adriatic.. It is quite spectacular.

Apperitivo - one of my favourite things about Italy. A light lunch before lunch..hmm..more food.

Polignano was the birthplace of Domenica Modugno who sang "Nel blu dipinto di blu" ("In the blue, painted blue"), also known as "Volare". You will know it when you here it.

Tourists for a week - Part 2

2010-06-29T06:39:00.001-07:00

This is a bit late, but here is some tourist related activity from Steven and Bec's visit. We have Kushla and Laura with us this week so we get to be tour guides again.

Trani is a sea port of Pulgia on the Adriatic Sea, about 30 minutes north of Bari. In the middle ages it was a key port for the crusades, with many leaving for battle from there. There is still a Templar Knights Church in Trani which was the last stop for many befroe embarking on the hazardous sea journey.

Trani at sunset

Selling fresh fish

Dinner overlooking the boats

Cathedral - dedicated to St Nicholas. This is St Nicholas the Pilgrim (not Santa Claus St Nick from Bari), a Greek assassinated at Trani in 1094 and canonized by Urban II. It is in such a beautiful spot overlooking the sea.

Emperor Frederick II built a massive castle in Trani in the early 13th century which juts out onto the sea.

Trani has had a strong Jewish population. By the 12th century, Trani housed the largest Jewish community of Southern Italy. Jews were originally brought to Trani as salves during the time of the crusades and later began to thrive. Vica La Giudea (Jew Road) and others still exist in the Jewish quarter.

At one point there were four synangogues in Trani. The Jews were soon persecuted. The Scolanova Synagogue survives and, after many centuries as a church, has been rededicated as a synagogue.

On the sign outside the synagogue it mentions in Italian that the it was transformed into a church towards the end of 1400. In the English version it adds "(after the fall of the Jewish community)" which is no doubt a euphemism in itself. The road the synagogue is now called Via Scolanova but the old name which is still visible was Strada Stregatezze - Witchery Rd, which probably highlights the local attitude towards the Jews in those days.

By 1380 all of the four synagogues in Trani had been converted to churches and the 310 Jews remaining in the city forcibly converted to Christianity. The talmudist Rabbi Moses ben Joseph di Trani (1505–1585) was born in Thessaloniki, three years after his family had fled there from Trani due to antisemitic persecution.

The church of Sant'Anna is another medieval former synagogue which now houses artifacts from the Jewish history of the area.

Tourists for a week - Part 1

2010-06-12T04:19:00.000-07:00

Our friends, Steve and Becs, from New Zealand came to stay with us for a week.

It was great having them here with us and to be their tour guides.

We showed them around the old part of Bari, went to Trani, Polignano, Ostuni, Alberobello, and Castellana. So here is our best impresson of being tour guides.

Firstly Old Bari, Bari Vecchia.

Rebekah & Andrea - waterfront Bari

In the Old City

St Nicolas' Basilica

Inside the Basilica

Suffering for Jesus

2010-06-11T08:43:00.000-07:00

Italians, particularly in Southern Italy are big on hospitality. (Actually, as a side note, the idea of hospitality as Christian ministry is something we may have a lost a little bit. I have been doing a bit of thinking on this lately).

Italian Churches like to treat their guests to a good meal featuring local specialties.

Here was our meal with some of the leadership team at Bethel:

Course 1

Course 2

Course 3

Course 4

Course 5

Course 6

Course 7

Course 8

Course 9

Sorbet

Desert

Coffee

Local Wine

Visit by Ken and Mark

2010-06-10T07:59:00.000-07:00

We had a great week with Pastor Ken and Mark Hutchinson. Ministry included:

Alphacrucis block course on Leadership
Sunday Ministry (Ken at Bari, Mark at Carato and Andria)
Leadership training with the Leaders from Bethel Church
Strategy Development meeting with the Leaders of the movement.

It was a really fruitful time and Andrea and I were really encouraged to have them her. Kaira loved it too as she kept getting spoiled!

Pastor ken ministering at Bethel Church on Sunday

Bethel Leaders

At Alphacrucis block course

At Polignano. In the background is where the cliff diving event takes place.

This is a Knights Templar Church in Trani. It was were a lot of the crusaders stopped before heading off towards Israel.

Tomorrow's post will show you the suffering we go through as missionaries in Italy!

Irony From BP

2010-06-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

Three weeks of Visitors

2010-06-09T11:04:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a busy few weeks. Firstly we had our pastor, Ken Harrison and Mark Hutchinson from Alphacrucis with us for a week. We had a Leadership block course for Alphacrucis as well as some strategic meetings with the leadership of the movement here.

Then we had our good friends, Steve and Becs Dass with us for a week. We became tour guides for the week which was a nice change of pace.

This week we have Jeff Fountain with us. He was the YWAM leaders for Europe and now has started the Schuman Centre in Holland, which aims to promote biblical perspectives on Europe’s past, present and future. He is a fascinating guy and a great teacher. It has been great to hear from someone with a European focus.

We will put up some photos and more info about these three weeks of visitors over the next few days.

Is the Bible Fact or Fiction? Archeology's Evidence

2010-05-22T02:18:00.000-07:00

There is an interesting article in Time on Archeology and the Bible.

Here are some highlights, but it is worth a read as it notes some of the methods of various archeologist as well.

A series of crucial discoveries suggests that some of the Bible's more ancient tales are also based firmly on real people and events.

In 1979 Israeli archaeologist Gabriel Barkay found two tiny silver scrolls inside a Jerusalem tomb. They were dated to around 600 B.C., shortly before the destruction of Solomon's Temple and the Israelites' exile in Babylon. When scientists carefully unrolled the scrolls at the Israel Museum, they found a benediction from the Book of Numbers etched into their surface. The discovery made it clear that parts of the Old Testament were being copied long before some skeptics had believed they were even written.

In 1986 archaeologists revealed that several lumps of figured clay called bullae, bought from Arab dealers in 1975, had once been used to mark documents. Nahman Avigad of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem identified the impressions stamped into one piece of clay as coming from the seal of Baruch, son of Neriah, a scribe who recorded the doomsday proclamations of the prophet Jeremiah. Another bore the seal of Yerahme'el, son of King Jehoiakim's son, who the Book of Jeremiah says was sent on an unsuccessful mission to arrest both prophet and scribe — again confirming the existence of biblical characters.

In 1993 Avraham Biran of Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion and Joseph Naveh of the Hebrew University announced they had found an inscription bearing the phrases "House of David" and "King of Israel." The writing — dated to the 9th century B.C., only a century after David's reign — described a victory by a neighboring King over the Israelites. Some minimalists tried to argue that the inscription might have been misread, but most experts believe Biran and Naveh got it right. The skeptics' claim that King David never existed is now hard to defend.
Last year the French scholar Andre Lemaire reported a related "House of David" discovery in Biblical Archaeology Review. His subject was the Mesha Stele (also known as the Moabite Stone), the most extensive inscription ever recovered from ancient Palestine. Found in 1868 at the ruins of biblical Dibon and later fractured, the basalt stone wound up in the Louvre, where Lemaire spent seven years studying it. His conclusion: the phrase "House of David" appears there as well. As with the Tel Dan fragment, this inscription comes from an enemy of Israel boasting of a victory — King Mesha of Moab, who figured in the Bible. Lemaire had to reconstruct a missing letter to decode the wording, but if he's right, there are now two 9th century references to David's dynasty.

Ninja's to the rescue

2010-05-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

Cool story about Ninja's. I like Ninjas.

Quattro Applicazioni di Luka 4:14-30

2010-05-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

Quattro Applicazioni di Luka 4:14-30

Questo passaggio prevede quattro settori chiave di applicazione per la chiesa di oggi. Il primo verte sul concetto che Dio ha lavorato ad un piano per la salvezza del popolo. Gesù ha annunciato con attenzione lo scopo del suo ministerio. Il discorso alla sinagoga rappresenta la comprensione che Gesù stesso aveva della sua missione (1). La comunità della Chiesa deve basare la propria attività su un piano dato da Dio. Spesso possiamo “fare chiesa” e pensare che lavorare verso un piano sia “non spirituale” e in questo modo perdere del tutto la missione.

Il secondo pensiero è che abbiamo bisogno di mantenere i tre aspetti centrali del ministerio di Gesù al centro della nostra attenzione. Cioè, l'annuncio del Vangelo, il sostenere la giustizia, ed il mostrare compassione. Una componente fondamentale della sfida che questo testo presenta alla chiesa è quello di sforzarsi insieme per questo pacchetto olistico. Ciascuno è significativo, ma solo insieme nel loro contesto cristologico raggiungono il loro pieno potere di guarigione (2).

Il terzo è quello di assicurare che noi formiamo comunità in cui sia le forze centrifughe che quelle centripete della missione siano evidenti.

Il quarto pensiero è la necessità di non esistere per la comunità interna alla Chiesa, ma di essere concentrati verso l'esterno, in particolare verso quelli che sono emarginati. E' molto facile per le nostre Chiese diventare molto auto-ossessionati e anche se mentalmente concordiamo con l'idea che il Vangelo è per tutti, possiamo vivere la nostra vita, e organizzare i nostri programmi, come se quelli fuori della chiesa non siano importanti.

1. D.L. Bock, ‘Gospel of Luke’ in Green J.B. et al. (eds) Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (Downers Grove: IVP, 1990), 407.
2. Kenneth E. Bailey, Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes, (Illinois: InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 2008), 160.

Contesto di Luca 4:14-30

2010-05-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

Contesto di Luca 4:14-30.

Questo discorso nella sinagoga della sua città natale, Nazareth, rappresenta la comprensione che Gesù stesso aveva della propria missione. Gesù legge un estratto dal libro di Isaia e annuncia che il suo ministero adempirà la visione di liberazione descritta dal profeta. Sulla base di questa rilettura delle Scritture e della spiegazione che il popolo di Nazaret non sarà l’unico beneficiario della sua opera, alcuni di loro cercano di ucciderlo.

Contesto

a. Autore

Il terzo Vangelo e gli Atti non identificano direttamente il proprio autore. Le antiche tradizioni1, sostengono che il Vangelo di Luca è stato scritto da Luca, un compagno di Paolo (1). Non vi è un notevole dibattito su questo, anche se molti studiosi concordano sul fatto che Luca era un gentile.

Luca non dichiara di essere un testimone oculare del ministero di Gesù, ma di aver attinto dalle migliori fonti di informazioni che si potevano avere(2). Il greco elegante che viene espresso nel prologo suggerisce che è una persona colta, uno scrittore professionista. Il greco espresso nel resto della sua introduzione suggerisce un proposito che unisce interessi storiografici ellenistici con una narrazione nella tradizione e nello stile biblico(3).

b. Contesto storico

Il destinatario degli scritti, Teofilo (4) o era un cristiano, oppure stava pensando di diventarlo, anche se probabilmente Luca scriveva per un pubblico più ampio del solo Teofilo. Il suo prologo emula quello di molti storici contemporanei, il che indica che voleva pubblicarlo(5) Le motivazioni di Luca sembrano essere sia storiche che apologetiche(6).

Luca scrive in un momento in cui c'era tensione tra i cristiani ebrei e quelli Gentili a causa della questione dell'inclusione dei gentili nella Chiesa primitiva. Mentre Luca sembra scrivere a Teofilo e ad un pubblico gentile, il quale si sentiva estromesso da un movimento di origine ebraica, sembra anche che offra agli Ebrei la saggezza nel saper riconoscere come Dio voglia ancora operare attraverso di loro(7).

c. Temi del libro

Luca presenta Gesù come il Figlio dell'Uomo, respinto da Israele e offerto per i gentili. Gesù è visto come il Salvatore universale (8). Sottolinea la simpatia di Cristo per le donne e i bambini (9) e il Proposito Universale della Buona Novella, trasversale rispetto alle condizioni sociali, geografiche, di genere ed etniche(10).
Si concentra anche sulla questione della teodicea (ndt.:la giustizia di Dio contrapposta al male che persiste). Luca ha bisogno di mostrare che, seppure le promesse di Dio sembravano essere riservate alla discendenza di Abramo, mentre ora sono anche per i gentili, comunque Dio rimane fedele. Questo passaggio ad un attento esame (11) presenta il Piano di Dio per la Salvezza. Nel momento in cui la missione di Gesù viene annunciata, Dio è rivelato come l’Iddio dei disegni(12)

d. Contesto biblico

Il quadro drammatico attorno alla lettura di Cristo delle Scritture è attentamente formulato. Le idee di “nella sinagoga”, “si alzò in piedi”, “dato il rotolo” e “srotolava il rotolo” nella prima strofa sono ripetute in ordine inverso nella terza strofa. L’apice al centro di tutto è il testo di Isaia. Questo testo ha inoltre una retorica strutturata. Nel Vecchio Testamento, le idee sono spesso presentate e poi invertite, con una parabola/metafora al centro. Tali strutture retoriche appaiono in entrambi i Testamenti e possono essere chiamate “parabole incassate.” (13)

Il testo da cui Gesù ha letto (14) era un passaggio significativo in quanto nel primo secolo si pensava che l’adempimento di questo passaggio sarebbe stata l'alba del tempo escatologico(15). Tuttavia, la registrazione di Luca non è una interpretazione esatta del passaggio. C’è stata qualche modifica accurata, o da parte di Luca o da parte di Gesù, quando ha letto il passaggio. È plausibile che Luca abbia ricostruito il testo in base ai suoi interessi, o che queste modifiche possano essere attribuite ai testimoni oculari che Luca elenca come sue fonti(16) Tuttavia, le norme relative alla lettura delle Scritture nella sinagoga, contenute nella Mishnah,(17) ne includono una per la quale, da una parte la Torah deve essere letta come è scritta, d’altro canto è permesso di tralasciare qualche verso dei Profeti e aggiungere i versi di altri libri Profetici(18). È possibile, pertanto, vedere Gesù come l’autore e ad affermare che Luca registra l'agenda di Gesù(19) Il motivo di questa modifica sarà esaminato di seguito.

e. Genere

Luca è una narrazione storica. È in stile ellenistico, ed il suo scopo non era solo il riportare i fatti, ma di persuadere e di essere apologetico in natura. L'autore fa uso di sintesi narrative, discorsi e viaggi per unire le storie di Gesù (20).

Versi dal 25 al 27

Dal verso 25 al 27 Gesù richiama due storie, una relativa ad Elia e l'altra ad Eliseo. Il tema comune era che nessuno ha ricevuto aiuto ad eccezione della vedova e di Naaman, che erano gentili. Essi sono posti da Gesù come modelli di fede gentili(21). Egli presenta anche i due lati della teologia della missione. Questo è dimostrato da Elia, che lascia Israele e va dalla donna di Sarepta di Sidone (missionario) e da Eliseo che attirò Naaman il Siro al Giordano per ricevere la liberazione dalla lebbra (di attrazione). Queste due forze si possono chiamare la forza centripeta e centrifuga della missione (22).

Queste storie insegnano al lettore sulla natura della fede autentica. La fede ha tre componenti principali: adesione intellettuale, ed un cammino quotidiano di fiducia e di obbedienza (23).

1. F. B. Craddock, ‘Luke’, in Mays, J.L. et al. (eds) Harpers Bible Commentary (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1996)
2. ‘Gospel according to Luke’, in Bible Encyclopedia, Online at http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/lukegospelaccordingto.html, [accessed September 2009]
3. William S. Kurz. S.J Westminster, Reading Luke-Act, Dynamics of Biblical Narrative, (Kentucky: John Knox Press, Louisville, 1993)
4. Luca 1:4
5. D.B. Wallace ‘Luke; Introduction, Outline, and Argument’ in Bible.org, Online at http://bible.org/seriespage/luke-intoduction-outline-an-argument [accessed September 2009]
6. Idib
7. J. Nolland,, Word Biblical Commentary: Luke 1-9:20, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1989)
8. D.B. Wallace
9. Gospel of Luke’, in Bible Encyclopedia.Net, Online at http://bibleencyclopedia.net/index.php/Gospel_Of_Luke, [accessed September 2009]
10. Ben Witherington, The New Testament Story, (Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 2004), 244
11. Luca 4:14-30
12. D.L. Bock, ‘Gospel of Luke’ in Green J.B. et al. (eds) Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (Downers Grove: IVP, 1990)
13. Kenneth E. Bailey, Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes, (Illinois: InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 2008), 148.
14. Is 61
15. D.L. Bock, 407.
16. Luca 1:1-4
17. La Mishnah è stata scritta nel 200 DC con scritti provenienti sin dal 100 AC
18. Kenneth E. Bailey, 155.
19. Ibid. 156.
20. L.T. Johnson, Sacra Pagina: The Acts of the Apostles, (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2006) 9.
21. Kenneth E. Bailey, 164.
22. Ibid166.
23. Ibid.

Busy!

2010-04-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

I had two of the busiest weeks. 9 days of lecturing (at a YWAM DTS and for Alphacrucis), preaching twice, and a three thousand word essay. It has been challenging and tiring time, but really rewarding too. I met some great people at the DTS in Pescara and got to know some of the Alphacrucis students who have so much potential. The topics for the lecturing have been interesting for me as a teacher. I taught on the fear of God for the YWAM school which I found fascinating to prepared and I found a fresh appreciation of God's presnce, His grace and soverignty. I will blog some thoughts from that over the next few days.

Unfrtuantly we also had a friend from Carato die during the week in a car accident. Enzo was a really wonderful, friendly guy. We feel quite a loss and feel so much for his fiance, friends and family.

Gazzarella

2010-04-15T14:12:00.000-07:00

Mozzarella is not just made from the milk of buffalo according to Blog From Italy. In the southern Italian village of Rosaneto in the Basilicata region of Italy, they have cats, lots of them. An enterprising local entrepreneur, Franco Latitante, had a bright idea. Why not use cat’s milk to make mozzarella?

Putting his money where his mouth was, in a whisker he had set up Italy’s first, and so far, only cat milking facility where the cat’s milk is transformed into creamy mozzarella cheese

Federico Fantozzi is also a happy chap, seeing as he now has a new job as Rosaneto’s official cat catcher and milker. “Yesterday,”, he purred, “I caught seventy three strays. Most of them were pregnant females, and were attached to the cat milking equipment in Latitiante’s new dairy facility.” He loves his new work, but, as the scratches on his arms attest, it can be a little hazardous at times.

Latitante has even coined a name for this new mozzarella, he calls it “Gazzarella” (The Italian for cat is “gatto”)

Doctrinal Pride

2010-04-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

If your Calvinism or Arminianism or dispensationalism or views concerning the end times or your disdain for all doctrinal beliefs causes you to feel doctrinally superior to those who hold other views then you are probably guilty of the sin of doctrinal pride.
Jerry Bridges in "Respectable Sins - Confronting the Sins We Tolerate', p92.

Buffalo Mozzarella

2010-04-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

It was my birthday the other day so as a treat we had Buffalo Mozzarella with prosciutto! Buffalo mozzarella is my favourite cheese in Italy. It is a mozzarella cheese made from the milk of the domestic water buffalo rather than from cow's milk. It is not like anything you can get in New Zealand and is best when freshly made.
It is a fresh, stringy textured cheese with porcelain-white colour, it has an extremely thin rind and delicate taste. Pearls of milky whey should seep out when you cut into mozzarella; upon tasting, you should notice the liquid separating from the solid, almost as if the mozzarella had been soaked in milk. And, of course, good mozzarella should melt in your mouth. Apart from its typical round shape, it is also produced in small bite-sized shapes and plaits.

The highest quality buffalo mozzarella is the "Mozzarella di Bufala Campana" and there is a shop just around the corner from our apartment!

There was bit of a scandal earlier this year when it was found that some buffalo mozzarella was being watered down with cows milk!

Easter Weekend - Rome

2010-04-08T06:21:00.001-07:00

Over Easter weekend we went to Rome for the National Conference. We went by bus which took 6 hours with about 50 others from Bethel Church in Bari.

It was a great weekend where we were able to build on many of the relationships and connections that we have made over the last year.

There were three speakers, from France, Germany and Austria. Our favourite speaker was Gianni Gaeta from Austria. He spoke to the youth stream and also to everyone on Monday morning. He spoke a great message on having courage.

Braden was also presented with a Pastors credential with the Italian A/G, which is a great recognition and honour for him.

New Apartment

2010-04-08T06:14:00.000-07:00

We arrived back in Italy to a new apartment. It is in a great location for us, being only a five minute walk to the small church, and only a 20 minute walk to the city. It has taken a while to sort out things with the place, (we had no hot water for a couple of days, no heating for a week, no toilet seat for 2 weeks, and still no internet!) but everything is coming together.

We are on the third floor. One of our neighbours has a cat which Kaira loves.

We are in a gated community with about 7 other buildings. We have met about 10 people in our building and they are all very kind and make a big fuss of Kaira. Most importantly there is a cafe accross the road!

Thailand

2010-04-08T03:04:00.000-07:00

On our way back to Italy we stopped in Thailand for 10 days. It was nice to visit there without the pressures of a team, and to catch up with all our friends there.

We spent time with the Potters, missionaries from Cromwell, NZ. They have been there for about 10 years and are an amazing couple doing great things. They took us to Mae Chaem for the day to visit the youth hostel that Harvest Church has invested a lot into. The team are doing an awesome job there with all the young people. It was great to see all the buildings completed. We also saw Panya (who came and spent 6 months at Harvest Christian Church) and his wife Blah. They took us to a hot springs park where we cooked eggs in the hot water, had lunch and then went to an elephant park. it was the elephant annual holiday so there was a big festival for them including a buffet dinner!

We also spent 4 days at Kata beach in Phuket, which was very relaxing.

Kaira making friends in the Airport Plaza

Braden having a fish spa

Kaira making more friends in Starbucks

Braden, Kaira & Panya at the hot springs

Bla & Andrea

Boiling the eggs for lunch

Kaira meeting everyone at the youth hostel in Mae Chaem

Braden & Pastor Jirapong

The beautiful sunsets on Kata Beach, Phuket

Kaira & her new favourite drink - pineapple juice

Palmerston North

2010-02-26T00:10:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we spent time with Pastor Russell and his team at Salt Church in Palmerston North. Braden shared with the youth on Friday night, with the young adults on Saturday night and to the Sunday morning service. It was a great weekend with the team there and there was a great feel of community.

We had a great time catching up with the youth leaders, Kent & Div, the young adults leaders Brad & Ruth and the Pastors of Salt. They are all doing an amazing work in Palmerson North.

Wanganui

2010-02-24T23:51:00.000-08:00

We spent a weekend ministering in Wanganui at Pastor Iliafi & Fia's Faith City Church. We were at the youth camp on Friday night with Ben and his team and also on Sunday morning in both services.

It was great to be a part of what they are doing in Wanganui for a weekend.

In our down time we took Kaira to a park where there were slides, swings, and water fountains that she could run through. She had a lot of fun and got more and more confident with the water.

We had a great time everyone there and were looked after very well.

The Olympic's Dirty Secret

2010-02-22T17:36:00.000-08:00

The 2010 Winter Games are on at the moment in Vancouver and are a bit of fun to watch. I particularly enjoy the double men’s luge which is a minute and a half of adrenaline and intimacy that takes on a new twist in spandex.. The Olympics are usually a time when countries compete in friendly bouts of athletic tests and citizens cheer them on. Even when countries might bicker politically (or militarily), the Olympics is a place for peaceful coexistence through sport. Believe it or not, the Olympics is actually a hot-bed for human rights violations. Here are some highlights from article in Relevant.

Recently groups have begun to highlight a dark side to the Olympic Games. Sex trafficking rises exponentially at international sporting events like the Olympics. The number of human trafficking victims almost doubled in Greece the year of the 2004 Athens Games, and still hasn’t returned to pre-2004 levels.

International sporting events are particularly insidious in the sex trade industry, as it makes it easier to bring visitors into the country who may be unwilling victims of the sex trade. This coincides with an increase in demand for prostitution and “other forms of sexual exploitation” by attendees. Though a disturbing truth, it is inescapable in a year that will see both the Winter Olympics and the World Cup. (Already, a couple in Wales was arrested for running an expansive prostitution ring of young Nigerian girls, an operation they intended to move to South Africa in time for the World Cup.)

Roughly 800 are enslaved in Canada’s sex industry at any given time, the majority of which are young women between 12 and 25 years of age. An estimated total of 8,000 females become victims of this inhumane system every year in Canada alone, a number that is expected to grow in 2010."

There are some organizations that are combatting this mentioned in the article.

Here is another article that mentions for the last Football World Cup in Germany an estimated 40,000 prostitues brought in for the sporting festival! While prostitution is legal in Germany, many women (and girls) do not choose this as a prfession.Every year some 500,000 people are smuggled illegally into the European Union (EU). Nearly 90 percent of them are trapped into sexual exploitation agaisnt their will.

A Picture of Faith from Charles Blondin

2010-02-21T14:57:00.000-08:00

I like this picture of faith that comes from the life of Charles Blondin.

Blondin was born Jean François Gravelet-Blondin 28 February 1824. He was a French tight-rope walker and acrobat who performed amazing feats around the world that always attracted large crowds of people.

He was especially famous for his crossing the gorge below Niagara Falls on a tightrope. This he accomplished, first on 30 June 1859.

The rope was 1100 feet (335 m) long, 3¼ inches in diameter, 160 feet (50 m) above the water. Carried out the crossing a number of times in front of huge crowds, always with different theatric variations: blindfold, in a sack, on stilts, carrying a man (his manager, Harry Colcord) on his back, sitting down midway while he cooked and ate an omelette.

On one occasion at the Niagara Falls Blondin trundled an empty wheelbarrow across the rope, and all the spectators cheered. He then placed in the wheelbarrow a sack of potatoes and repeated the feat. Then he asked the crowd, “Do you believe I could wheelbarrow a person across the tightrope.” Everyone cheered and shouted that he could. He then asked for a volunteer, “Who will be that person?” The crowd went silent. No one offered to get in the wheelbarrow. Nobody put their belief in Blondin to the test.

Faith requires action. Intellectual belief in God is not faith. Real faith means that we will act out our faith on a daily basis. Faith is getting in the ‘wheelbarrow’ and trust in God completely.

Faith

2010-02-13T02:49:00.000-08:00

I have been speaking recently about real and active faith. For those who have heard these messages, the following are some more references and thoughts to follow on from my preaching:

Abraham
Genesis 11:27-32 ‘This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren; she had no children. Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.’

We know that Abraham is an example of great faith. According to Genesis 12 he leaves his home, in obedience to God and just goes, towards a land that is yet to be revealed. Howvwer, in the previous chapter we learn that Abraham’s father terah was also supposed to go to the same place, Canaan. Did he have the same opportunity as Abraham to be the father of a great nation and fall short of this? Did he fail to walk into everything that God had for him?

In fact it is an interesting question to ponder. Was Abraham the father of a great nation because he was the only one chosen, or because he was the only one who responded? Will we respond to whatever God has called us to do, or will we settle like Terah?

What caused Terah to settle? Here are 3 possible reasons for camping at Haran

1.Fear
Gen 12:6 "The Canaanite was in the land".
We can settle where it is safe.
2. Sorrow
Haran had died. Perhaps Terah’s sorrow meant he no longer wanted to continue.
3.Satisfaction
Maybe it was the fullness of Terah’s home, that made him content with partial obedience whereas Abraham was prepared to abandon everything because he was not satisfied with Sarah’s barrenness.

Hebrews 11

The eleventh chapter of Hebrews gives some ideas of what constitutes faith:

Faith Is Rational
By faith we “understand” that the universe is not self-existent; rather, it was designed by the Creator (v. 3). The notion that one cannot be intelligent without being anti-religious is a myth propagated by those who hate God. Logic and faith are companions.

Faith Depends upon Revelation
The Lord speaks to us (Heb. 1:1).

Faith Involves Trusting Our Maker
When Noah was warned of God, though he had never seen a flood, he prepared the ark (v. 7). Abraham left Chaldea “not knowing whether he went” (v. 8). Clearly, trusting the unseen God is a vital component of true faith.

Faith Is an Action Word
Faith is not merely intellectual assent, faith must have action. By faith Abel “offered” a sacrifice (v. 4), Noah “prepared” an ark (v. 7), and Abraham “obeyed” the Lord (v. 8). Faith, divorced from obedience, is dead (James 2:26).

Faith Chooses
It chooses the spiritual over the material, the eternal over the temporal. Moses chose heavenly riches over the treasures of Egypt (v. 26).

Nightline debate on Satan

2010-01-20T14:55:00.000-08:00

There is an interesting debate from ABC's Nightline. Dan Harris moderates a debate that questions the existence of Satan. Participants in this debate are: Annie Lobert, Pastor Mark Driscoll, Deepak Chopra and Bishop Carlton. Here is the link for the first video. It is worth watching to hear different points of view. Bishop Carlton was discipled by Oral Roberts and had a church of over 5000 in Tulsa until he altered his views to universalism and saw most of his congregation leave. Deepak Chopra is a new age guru. Mark Driscoll is a Pastor and Annie Lobert is an ex prostitute who encountered Jesus and started a ministry called Hookers for Jesus.

In video 6 Driscoll hits his groove.

My highlight is this question in the below video.

Travel Part 8

2010-01-17T14:23:00.000-08:00

Hong Kong

We had five days exploring Hong Kong, and loved it. It is such an exciting multi-cultural city. Here are some scenes from our time there.

At an Indian restaurant Kaira is off with the waiters entertaining them.

Down at the Stanley markets they have a very clear terrorist policy. I felt so much safer!

There is a life size replica of Noah's Ark in Hong Kong. Why Not!? It has displays about creation and the flood, replica animals, a resort accommodation, and restaurant. Pretty impressive and a little odd. My highlight was the short movie about the flood which included the seats shaking, wind blowing and white smoke.

Travel Part 7

2010-01-16T14:11:00.000-08:00

Kaira had a chai tea latte at Starbucks, Heathrow. She loved it!

Travel Part 6

2010-01-16T13:54:00.000-08:00

A Roast in London

We went from Paris to London and stayed the night with Andrea's brother Chris. Kaira enjoyed spending time with her uncle and he made us a beautiful roast meal, our first in a year. It was so good!!

Travel Part 5

2010-01-10T07:48:00.000-08:00

The Tastes of Paris

Kaira meeting new friends in a cafe:

Kaira eating snail:

Kaira eating snail shell:

"Did Dad just make me eat a snail?"

Party time at a Greek restaurant. This included Kaira being the centre of the party. One of the waiters would ring a bell and clap and Kaira stood in the middle of the restaurant and danced.

Kaira getting free pastries:

Travel Part 4

2010-01-10T07:29:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve at the Eiffel Tower

Kaira relaxing before the big event:

Travel Part 3

2010-01-10T07:09:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of us exploring Paris.

Kaira relaxing up the Eiffel Tower:

Kaira's new Italian friends at the Sacre Coeur:

Travel Part 2

2010-01-10T06:47:00.000-08:00

We found an incredibly cheap apartment about 30m from the Champs Elysee. It was in a nice little courtyard on the third floor. It was great because we were really central and the Arc de Triumphe was just around the corner.

It was pretty cold, about 2-5 degrees most days. It didn't rain but we had a snow shower on New Year's day.

Travel Part 1

2010-01-08T23:03:00.000-08:00

We left Bari on Tuesday to head for Paris, farewelling the Caito family at the airport. We stopped in briefly at Milan airport, where Kaira saw snow for the first time.

Kaira made lots of friends at the airport, including a 5 year old girl Davina, who insisted on sitting next to us on the plane to Paris.

Youth Conference

2009-12-28T15:16:00.000-08:00

We had a great time at the national youth conference earlier this month. It was held in Monopoli, just south of Bari in a really nice resort complex. The meals were all amazing.

I did two teaching sessions each morning and a Pastor from Naples spoke in the evening. The theme was 'faith can move the mountains' and I ministered on the idea of an authentic, active faith where we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in an adventure of faith!

Here are some photos.

Christmas

2009-12-28T01:11:00.001-08:00

Christmas was a little different for us this year, but we had a great time with friends.

Christmas Party

2009-12-24T11:05:00.000-08:00

We had a great pre-christmas party with some friends.

Here are some photos.

Babies

2009-12-04T05:46:00.000-08:00

I saw this on my brothers blog. looks like a grewat documentary with amazing imagery. It made me smile.

Church Math

2009-12-03T04:51:00.000-08:00

Some great thoughts from Tony Morgan

more staff = fewer volunteers

lack of planning = financial challenges

more meetings = less ministry

unclear vision = packed ministry calendar

packed ministry calendar = volunteer burnout

more announcements = less ministry engagement

more ministries = more announcements

fewer people inviting friends = smaller crowds

lack of added value = fewer people inviting friends

fewer constraints = less creativity

same methods = same results

For some good feedback and comments on these topics chek out his blog.

Bring the best out in others

2009-11-28T08:05:00.000-08:00

I firmly believe that my job is to walk around with a can of water in one hand and a can of fertiliser in the other, and to make things flourish.

- Quote from Jack Welch

The Children of Evolution

2009-11-25T10:56:00.000-08:00

Recently many people celebrated the 200 year anniversay of Charles Darwin's birth. I came across an article in the UK Times linking his teachings of natural selection with mass mudering. Here are some excerpts:

You wouldn’t know from the celebrations of Charles Darwin’s life this year that the amiable Victorian gent portrayed in those TV drama-docs pottering around the garden of his home in Kent has been fingered as a racist, an apologist for genocide, and the inspiration of a string of psychopathic killers.

The conclusion of dozens of lectures, articles and education packs for schools has been that Darwin wasn’t just a brilliant scientist, but a thoroughly good egg.

With hardly a mention that his name has been associated with some of the most infamous crimes of modern history, it is as if there has been an unspoken agreement to accentuate the positive.

In America, where Darwin’s writings on morality and race have come under particularly intense critical scrutiny because of the enduring creationist debate, he has been accused of fostering moral nihilism and scientific racism, and even of promoting an ethic that found its ultimate expression in the Holocaust. Most startling of all, a connection has now been drawn between Darwin’s theories and a rash of school shootings. In April, 1,000 people gathered at sunset in Littleton, Colorado, to commemorate the victims of the Columbine high school massacre, 10 years on. Darrell Scott, whose daughter Rachel was the first of the 13 children to be murdered, and whose son Craig narrowly escaped being shot, cannot understand why so little attention has been paid to the motivation of the killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, and their interest in Charles Darwin’s ideas. “Harris wore a ‘Natural Selection’ T-shirt on the day of the killings.

They made remarks on video about helping out the process of natural selection by eliminating the weak. They also professed that they had evolved to a higher level than their classmates. I was amazed at the frequent references to evolution, and that the press completely ignored that aspect of the tapes.”

Darwin would no doubt have been horrified by all this, but it’s easy to see why some of his ideas might appeal to the disturbed adolescent mind. One conclusion implicit in evolutionary theory is that human existence has no ultimate purpose or special significance.

Darwin looked forward to a time when Europeans and Americans would exterminate those he termed “savages”. Many of the anthropomorphous apes would also be wiped out, he predicted, and the break between man and beast would then occur “between man in a more civilized state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon; instead of as now between the Negro or Australian and the gorilla”.

For many years after his death, Darwin’s racial theories remained the consensus position of the international scientific community. In 1906, the director of the Bronx Zoo decided to give New Yorkers an object lesson in human evolution by putting a 23-year-old Congolese pygmy on public display in his monkey house. The pygmy, Ota Benga, shared his cage with an orang-utan. The spectacle drew enormous crowds. Before long, they were asking the questions the exhibitors hoped they would: was Ota Benga an ape or a man? Or, as the zoo-keeper himself speculated, was this perhaps a transitional form between the two, the elusive missing link?

When a group of African-American clergymen objected to a human being being put on show, they were told that Darwin’s theories were now accepted scientific facts, that the “lower races” were psychologically closer to pigs and dogs than to human beings, and that a different value should be put on their lives. Truths that the founders of the United States had held to be self-evident — that all men are created equal and had certain inalienable rights — were being denied by the promoters of Darwinian science. By the end of the first world war, it was not only blacks who were deemed genetically inferior by many of America’s top geneticists and biologists, but Italian, Greek and Jewish immigrants too.

Nowhere was the toxic doctrine of racial superiority more enthusiastically taken up than in the Third Reich. The Nazis believed that the Aryan race was already the most highly evolved, but could evolve further if defective genes could be eliminated. To purify the German gene pool, they decided to exterminate all the physically and mentally handicapped.

Darwin summed up his moral philosophy by saying that a man could “only follow those ideas and impulses that seem best to him”

You can read the full article here.

New Apartment

2009-11-10T12:26:00.000-08:00

We moved apartments a couple of weeks ago. We are in a really nice area, and the apartment is lovely.

Kaira Walking

2009-11-10T07:58:00.000-08:00

Kaira is getting more and more confident in walking now.

Justin's Visit

2009-11-08T07:34:00.000-08:00

Justin Lane has just left after spending 2 weeks with us. We had a great time catching up with him and introducing him to our life here in Italy. Kaira loved his company.

He also brought Cornflake with him and did shows for children and youth in Rome, Napoli and Bari. He seemed particularly partial to the pizza and mozzeralla.

Alphacrucis Old Testament Course

2009-11-02T07:12:00.000-08:00

We have just held an Alphacrucis Old Testament Course here in Bari. Jacqui Gray from Alphacrucis Australia came over and spent 4 days teaching to about 40 students. We had students from Bari, Modugno and Rome.

We are praying that these students and more, go on to study when we launch the 'Local Church Certificate' from Alphacrucis College in January 2010.

Switzerland

2009-10-01T06:09:00.001-07:00

Vienna

2009-10-01T04:08:00.001-07:00

Prague

2009-10-01T03:39:00.000-07:00

Kaira's car

2009-10-01T03:16:00.000-07:00

Before we left for Switzerland in September, Kaira did not enjoy being on this car. But now she does not want to hop off it. She can move it along by herself but can't steer it yet. So often she goes straight into walls and then complains because she can't go anywhere else.

Youth Pastors and Leaders Seminar

2009-10-01T03:13:00.001-07:00

We have just had Ben Hoyle from Wanganui and Paul White from Levin in New Zealand come up and spend 2 weeks with us to do a Youth Pastors and Leaders Seminar in Castellammare and Bari.

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My Big Fat Swiss/Austrian Wedding

2009-10-01T02:55:00.000-07:00

Two weddings in two weeks! One in Italy, the other in Austria.

We went to Switzerland for 1 week for the wedding of our friends Tabea and Jonathan. Tabea is from Switzerland and Jonathan from Austria.

We arrived in Switzerland on Thursday evening and were picked up from the train station by Nat. He took us to Tabea's parents home where they were celebrating Tabea and Jonathan being married by law. They had signed the papers that afternoon as they need a representative at the wedding from the office so all couples get legally married prior to the wedding ceremony.

On Friday we went to Tabea and Jonathan's home for lunch, it was great to catch up with Tabea after 4 years.

We found out that the bride and groom had a few of their friends help them organise their wedding, and they did not know what was happening on their day.

The ceremony was on Saturday about 1 hour drive from where we were staying, in Austria. The ceremony was in a beautiful old church. The bride walked in with a song sung by Nat and bubbles blown by various people down the isle.

We were all welcomed by the couple and had songs and a short message from their pastors.

After the ceremony we had a bite to eat and each person spoke with the bride and groom. After about 1 1/2, two guys in balaclavas came and kidnapped the bride and drove off in a car. (Apparently this is a wedding tradition - it is then the job of the groom and guests to go and 'rescue' the bride.)

The groom and everyone attending the reception were put on a bus and taken to Lake Constance. We walked to the pier on the Lake and saw the bride in a paddle boat with the two guys. After maybe 10 minutes, the groom was seen on the water on a surfboard swimming to rescue his wife. He saved his wife and then they had to get a whole lot of envelopes off the pier that were put there prior.

We all hopped back on the bus and taken back to the church where we jumped in our cars and made our way to the reception. On arrival, we were all ushered up on to the stage of the hall and were taught a Swiss and Austrian love song.

After about 1 hour we were told the couple were to arrive, so we went outside, all given a hellium love heart shaped balloon and as they arrived on a horse and cart we sung them the love song. At the end we let our balloons go.

We then ate the 3 course meal, but during the evening there were many items by various people. A Phillopian dance (done by family members), an auction to raise money for their honeymoon, a play, photos and stories, dancing. The envelopes were opened and vouchers were read out, they were vouchers from various people saying what they can do for the couple. It went until 2am. When it was time for the couple to leave, we all went outside and lit candles in the shape of a heart, when the bride and groom came out we lit sparklers. They came into the middle of the heart and someone shared how they loved and appreciated the bride and groom and were so grateful that they were in each of our lives.

A truly beautiful day, and one that the bride and groom will remember for all of their lives.

My Big Fat Italian Wedding

2009-10-01T02:40:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of September two of our friends Samuela and Deborah got married. Weddings in Southern Italy are an extravagant affair.

The service went for 2 hours, we then went to the reception which started with drinks, followed by photos with the bride and groom. It was in quite a magnificent place with a beautiful garden and fountains.

We were then seated in a very large room for our first course, which was a buffet and had various types of great Italian food, after which we were pretty full. This howver was just the start!

After about 1 hour we were taken upstairs to another room where we were served 5 more courses. Pasta, pasta, meat and vegetables, fruit, desert, cake. This was of course over many hours with a fantastic live band and dancing.

We then went into another room for coffee and after dinner drinks, to the sound of a man playing a grand piano.

After this we went downstairs again for the cutting of the cake where behind the couple was a firework fountain and let into the sky were mini hot air ballons.

We progressed inside for more cake then for more photos with friends and to say goodbye to the newly married couple and receive a beautiful gift from them.

Kaira's First Birthday

2009-08-14T02:00:00.000-07:00

We were really blessed by a group of friends who organised Kaira's first birthday for us. It was at a childrens theme park with all sorts of activities for the kids. Kaira did not get to go on many of the things, but the other kids loved them.

She was very spoilt and got a lot of attention. The theme was 'Madagascar' because she got vey excited seeing pictures of the animals from the movie. A cake was made for her with animals on it and all the plates and cups and table clothes were from the movie. She had some wonderful balloon creations. A big '1' with her name on it and a giant fish, as well as a big monkey.

It was a special night with some great friends, and even though family and some friends were missing we felt really blessed by some wonderful people who made an effort to give us a memorable event for our daughter's first birthday.

Bored at a mall

2009-08-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when a group of guys get bored at a mall.

One guy falls asleep.

Other guys put a hat next to him to collect money...

And a sign on him explaining that he is poor and blind.

The highlight was a group of kids who were waving in front of him to see if he was blind. He din't move of course as he was asleep!

Total funds raised - $0!

Kaira’s New Toys

2009-08-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

Kaira has been blessed with many new toys in the last month, gifts from friends. They play many tunes (although Braden reckons they all sound like the same tune) which she dances along to.

The Moon

2009-08-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

The Moon

The moon has intrigued and mystified people since creation on the 4th day God placed it in the sky.

Distance From Earth: 225,745 miles
Length of a Day: 27.3 days
Weight: 81 Quintillion Tons
Surface Temp (Day): 123°C.
Surface Temp (Night): - 233° C
Driving time by car (@100 kph): 166 days (aoout 120 for an Italian - they go faster and don't stop at lights!)
Flying time by rocket: 60 to 70 hrs
No. of Men Who Have Walked on Surface:12The moon is actually moving away from earth at a rate of 1.5 inches per year.
The surface area of the moon is 9.4 billion acres.
The moon is not round, but egg shaped with the large end pointed towards earth.
When walking on the moon, astronaut Alan Sheppard hit a golf ball that went 730 metres!

The moon appears in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Big, small, bright, half moon quarter moon.
Why?
Its appearance is determined by the way the sun reflects on it.

There is a lesson in this for us.

As Christians, the way people see us is determined by the way the Son is reflected through us.

Isaiah 60:1-5
Arise and shine.

The moon arises and shines because the sun shines upon it and the moon begins to radiate light.

We can arise and shine because the Son shines upon us and we too can radiate the light of Christ.

This means to bring light into the darkness. There will be darkness in the world, but we do not need to be distracted by the darkness. To fight darkness, turn on the light.

So how do we shine the light?

Love life. Celebrate the little things. People are attracted to those who are passionate about life.

Put a “10” on every persons head. Think the best of people and let them live up to your expectations. Appreciate others and help them achieve their potential.

Give hope. Hope is the greatest gift you can give another.

Share yourself. Share your time and resources with others.

If you are looking at the sky at night your sight will gravitate towards the moon. Also, if we a reflecting the love of Christ, people in darkness will find us and Him irresistible.

Whenever I look at the moon I do a spot check….How am I reflecting the love of Christ to others at the moment.

Parenthood

2009-08-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

If you have the chance at parenthood, look upon it with a sense of mystery and awe. You are given the joy of watching life afresh, and the chance to help another being take flight into the riches and mystery of life. The very clay of which our world is made is for a brief moment placed in your hands.

Kent Nerburn, Simple Truths

Polignano

2009-08-07T07:12:00.000-07:00

The other night we went with a group of friends to visit a town called Polignano, about 30 minutes from Bari. It is a beautiful old town nestled onto cliff tops overlooking the sea. The Old Town is wonderful and we even got a bit of an outdoor opera while we were there. A couple of weeks ago they had cliff diving competitions there.

Here is a video from the diving

Lungomare

2009-08-07T06:50:00.000-07:00

Last week we took Kaira down to the water front in Bari to have dinner. On the way home we treated ourselves to a gelato. The man also gave Kaira one, which she thoroughly enjoyed. I think we have unleashed something as she ate all of Andrea’s when we were at the beach and screamed when Andrea licked the ice cream.

The Park

2009-07-23T12:26:00.000-07:00

We took Kaira to the park to have dinner. She ended up not eating much as she was too interested in the people walking and playing soccer.

2009-07-22T04:00:00.000-07:00

While visiting Castellamare last week I climbed up Mt Vesuvius with Brian Weaver from Virginia Beach and Nicholas Girard who is a missionary based in Sorrento. It is only about a 40 minute walk from the car park to the top. The views are great, despite the haze, and it was cool to be up a live volcano (it was on my life goals list – so I can cross that one off!)

Mt Vesuvius, on the coast of the Bay of Naples about nine kilometres east of Naples and a short distance from the shore, is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years.

Mount Vesuvius is best known for its eruption in AD 79 that led to the destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and the death of 10,000 to 25,000 people. It has erupted many times since and is today regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of the population of 3,000,000 people living nearby and its tendency towards explosive eruptions. It is the most densely populated volcanic region in the world.

There have been many documented eruptions since the one that deestroyed Pompeii. The eruption of 1906 was particularly destructive, killing over 100 people and ejecting the most lava ever recorded from a Vesuvian eruption. Its last major eruption to date came in March 1944, destroying the villages of San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, Massa di Somma, Ottaviano, and part of San Giorgio a Cremano, as well as all 88 planes in a U.S. B-25 bomber group as World War II continued to rage in Italy.
From 6 January to 23 February 1944, lava flows appeared within the rim and there were outflows. The activity paused on 23 February and resumed on 13 March. Small explosions then occurred until the major explosion took place on 18 March 1944.

Over the past few centuries, the quiet stages have varied from 18 months to 7½ years, making the current lull in activity the longest in nearly 500 years. While Vesuvius is not thought likely to erupt in the immediate future, the danger posed by future eruptions is seen as very high in light of the volcano's tendency towards sudden, extremely violent explosions, and the very dense human population on and around the mountain. There are emergency plans to evacuate 600,000 people in the case of another eruption. Unfortunately the plan requires 20 days to carry out and the hope is there will be 3 weeks warning of such an eruption.

Henry Trumbull

2009-07-21T03:30:00.000-07:00

"Unless a man is ready to work for the salvation of others, it may be questioned whether or not he himself is saved. He who wants only enough religion to save himself is not likely to have even that much" Henry Trumbull

Castellamare

2009-07-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

We spent last week at Castallamare, about 40mins from Napoli. We have been doing some work with Chiesa Emmanuel. Pastor Giuseppe has a great team with great dreams.

At the moment they are doing an 8 day outreach by the seaside. Braden spoke at the outreach at on Tuesday evening.

We stayed with the Cuomo family who looked after us so well. Kaira loved Nunzia!

We talked trhough church structures and strategies with Pastor Guiseppe. As we are in the middle of summer our meetings were at the beach, which was great.

we put together some plans to start an Alphacrucis centre in Castellamare and met with several potential students.

Trani

2009-07-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

Recently we travelled to a picturesque town called Trani, about 40 minutes from Bari. It is quite a nice, laid back town.

The main monument of Trani is the Cathedral, dedicated to St. Nicholas the Pilgrim, a Greek assassinated at Trani in 1094 and canonized by Urban II. It lies on a raised open site near the sea. Emperor Frederick II built a massive castle in Trani which we visted.

Kaira enjoying a visit to the castle!

In the Park

2009-07-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

We have a nice little park down the road where we can enjoy a nice afternoon in the sun.

French Pranks

2009-07-11T09:05:00.000-07:00

Rémi Gaillard is a French prankster. He gained attention in the French media after performing a well-documented series of pranks, including a famous appearance disguised as a Lorient football player in the 2002 Coupe de France final match where he took part in the celebrations and even greeted the then president of France Jacques Chirac.

Have a look at these videos:

Rugby Imposter

Urban Gymnastics

Going the Extra Mile

2009-07-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed this piece by Paul Holmes in the New Zealand Herald recently. It is an article about an awards ceremony for Air New Zealand. There are a number of awards given, but the ones of interest are some special awards in which Air New Zealand honoured staff members whose service to the company and its customers went beyond the call of duty. They called these the "We're Impressed" awards. The people nominated had no idea they were being nominated. Their nominations came from colleagues.

The awards went to people who went out of their way to help others. There was the customer liaison specialist who volunteered to fly to America, to Fiji and back to NZ (without stopping to enjoy the places) to escort a young boy who became separated from his grandparents because of ticketing difficulties. She did it over New Years, using her holiday time and bought the boy toys to keep him occupied.

There was another lady who worked in customer services in Wellington who met a blind passenger at the airport. On her way home she saw the passenger at a bus shelter waiting for a 45 minute ride to get to her destination followed by a considerable walk. She decided to give the lady (and her children and guide dog) a ride. First she had to go home and drop of some gear, then returned to accompany the passenger to her destination.

Then there was the guy who worked at the Wellington airport. He organised for some expensive medical equipment that had been left on a plane by a passenger to be returned the following day to Auckland. For some reason the gear was not sent. Embarrassed at the mistake of a colleague, this man, on his day off, paid for his ticket and flew to Auckland with the gear, then took a taxi at his own expense to drop off the gear.

These are some pretty cool stories about people going the extra mile and making a world of difference. They sort of remind me of some of the parables Jesus might tell today regarding how we are to work and treat others.

Kaira Sleeping

2009-07-09T09:38:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about having a child is seeing how many different positions she gets into when she is asleep!

Consulting at Biscelgie

2009-07-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

We have gone sveral times to a town called Biscelgie to consult with a church leadership team there. We are talking about church structures, leadership and ministry pathways, growth strategies and so on. The pastors,Fabrizio and Lucia, pictured below, are a great couple who are really keen to learn and to grow their church.

Please pray for these pastors and leaders and the church as we engage in a process of change with them.