tomaureen's Xanga

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:27:25 GMT

Maureen had a long time friend, Sue Ransom, from Georgia return with her to Italy to visit and see our ministry first hand. They enjoyed some sightseeing as well as the Medieval Festival. It is always a joy to have people from back home come for a visit. Tom is happy to report that he passed his first Italian physical with flying colors. It seems that he is healthier than a horse. PTL!

October Schedule

Tom will be traveling to the U.S. for 12 days with our director Sam Spatola visiting several universities that send students here to Saints Bible Institute. The purpose of the trip is to sure up relationships and enlist more students for the winter semester. As we mentioned, the economy is adversely affecting enrollments here at S.B.I. Maureen begins the ESL semester along with four other teachers. They've been busy passing out flyers for the course. She is also hoping to begin another Ladies Bible study this time on the Book of Ruth.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 16:54:26 GMT

Maureen has been traveling around the U.S. this summer visiting churches, supporters, family and friends. In June, she was able to spend some time with her mother in Florida and her brother and his family in California. She is now in Pennsylvania spending some time with our daughters and their families, and of course our beloved grandsons, Colby and Parker. She got to watch Colby play a couple flag football games...a lot of laughs!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:00:51 GMT

Our daughter Brittney and her husband, Stephen, came to visit us in May. This is the first time family has been here and we had a great time! Our son-in-law is an avid soccer fan and attended 2 AC Milan games. Brittney enjoyed the shopping and the beach but most of all she said she loved Valvasone. We picked them up in Milan and spent the day sightseeing. The rest of the week we spent in our region traveling from Venice, to the mountains, and to the beach...all within an hour's drive of Valvasone.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:20:50 GMT

We finally received are Italian health cards and just in the nick of time as Maureen had a bad sinus infection. She went to the doctor and got 2 prescriptions. Total cost? $13.50 Ahhh, we love Italy! Our daughter Brittney and her husband, Stephen, are coming to visit us in May. This is the first time family has been here and we are so excited! Our son-in-law is an avid soccer fan and plans to go to two AC Milan games while here. Brittney plans to enjoy the shopping. And we will enjoy watching them!

Monday, April 06, 2009

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:48:37 GMT

We must brag about God else the Rocks will cry out!

We started a Ladies Bible study on Esther a month ago. We have 4 women coming every Monday. Initially I told them that it would be a 4 week study as I was afraid they wouldn't commit for longer. After week two, they started asking if I would extend it as we do a chapter a week and Esther has 10 chapters. So, of course I agreed. (Ha, Ha!) Today we did chapter 4, an amazing chapter. I print out 1 chapter every week, so they don't know how the story ends. They are chomping at the bit for the next chapter each week. Amazzzzzing! God is so at work in this group. I could write a three page email if I was to share it all. Suffice it to say that I'm enjoying watching God do his thing! The most exciting thing that happened today was at the conclusion of the Bible study, I had the courage to ask them if someone other than me would close in prayer. After a minute of silence, Clara said she would pray....and she did an awesome job. This is major. They have no idea how to pray other than the rosary.

My prayer for this Bible study is that at the conclusion these women will know and feel comfortable praying directly to "The Great I Am". Will you pray with us?

Friday, March 20, 2009

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 07:10:30 GMT

It has been a busy week. On Monday we began a women's Bible study of Esther. Three Italian women attended which is a huge success. They said they enjoyed it and will be back next Monday. We're excited!

Tuesday we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with our ESL students sharing the history of St. Patrick, the symbol of the shamrock, and scripture verses. We served them cabbage with bacon and taught them the Irish Jig. It was a lot of fun!

Thursday night we held a Christian concert at Saints Bible Institue. A group of high school students from North Carolina sang, shared testimonies, and performed mimes. A clear gospel presentation was presented at the end. We had 27 ESL students attended. We now prepare for the many questions that will be asked in class next week and pray for wisdom in our interactions. Above and below are pictures from the concert. We praise God as we see him moving in our midst.

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 10:57:40 GMT

Beginning March 16th, Maureen will be holding a weekly Bible study on the book of Esther. She has been inviting specific women in the ESL classes that she hopes will have an interest in learning something about the Bible. Please pray that some of these women will attend with open hearts.

Chiara, our local librarian, has been meeting with Maureen and helping her translate a Bible study, "Apples of Gold" into Italian. Progress has been very slow as the Lord has used this time for many sidebar conversations into different aspects of the Bible...all good stuff. Chiara has recently been asked to be a curator at an art show of paintings depicted the common theme of fire and religion throughout Biblical history. She has asked Maureen to help her as she has very little knowledge of the Bible. It is amazing to us how God uses 'all means' to draw someone to himself. We are so excited to see the end result of all these conversations. Please pray for wisdom! Below is a picture of Chiara in the library.

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:34:37 GMT

Maureen and Cheryl Fullen, a friend visiting from Texas, went to the local kindergarden in Valvasone and made American brownies for 14 five year olds. We also taught them a few songs and how to count in English. Lots of fun!

Thursday, February 05, 2009

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 20:03:55 GMT

We have just completed 4 days of registration for English as a Second Language. Praise the Lord, we have 120 adults registered in Udine and Valvasone. By next week, we should have over 150 including children. Our God is an awesome God. The picture is at our registration table in Valvasone.

Monday, February 02, 2009

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:24:34 GMT

We had our first night of ESL registration tonight in Udine. 24 for the first night. 3 more nights to go. Also, did our first day of training with our new instructors. Here is a picture of them doing a teambuilding activity where they had to change things about their appearance. Too funny! We did the training at our church plant.