Ordinary

Ashley Howell
Sep 26, 2017
4 min read

Update

Ciao friends! Nathan and I are so excited to let you in on what we've been doing this month. I think it's safe to say that this month has been jam-packed with things we've been doing! Every time I sit down to write, I have to make sure my planner is near by. You'd think remembering the last 30 days would be easy, but it's not! I look back and am surprised that something was JUST a month ago! Sooooo let's get started. After camp ended, we went straight into the Florence Convention where many churches in Italy came to hear about the history of the church. The amount of information that was covered from Friday to Sunday was CRAZY! Paul to Italy to America and back to Italy! It was so encouraging being able to hear about people I know who've worked in Italy, spreading the word of Jesus!!! I'd say it was a hit, and I can't wait to see what next year's topic will be!

We then had some down time, so our amazing directors, Zak and Aleece, planned an Avanti Italia retreat in Bologna (bu-lone-gna)!!!! (Yes, this is the city were bologna comes from and yes I had some). The food was aaaaaamazing! Nathan says his favorite part was finding the Italian's version of alfredo sauce. I'll vouch for him in saying it was delicious. (if anyone wants to come try it, we have an extra bed!) Anyways... we also visited some amazing churches. Consult Facebook soon for the pictures! We had a back to school party for our students! James, another Avanti member, sold us on the theme of a Hawaiian luau! And let me tell you, he picked well! It was a hit. We had flower necklaces, tiki torches, bamboo boats full of fruit, a shark made of watermelon, punch, and grilled chicken skewers with pineapple. They all LOVED it. Especially the skewers. We were making them throughout the party and every time a tray came in from outside, you could see everyone staring down the tray to make sure they got another one. We had many returning students join us, along with new ones who want classes! Saturday morning we sat down to divide up students. I think I got the best ones ;) Okkk we all have great students. We started classes Monday the 11th! I'm not going to give details about our students on here, but we have quite a few one-on-one classes, an advanced English class at the church building, and a children's class. I am doing a survey with a few of my students: creation to Christ! It's going amazing so far and I can't wait to see what other awesome discussions we have. Nathan and I have also decided to work at the church two days a week. We are hoping to start having some classes here to draw people in from around the church building. We are also there to just be there! To have the doors open and flyers by the door so people can stop by. We are really enjoying it so far and hope our advertising goes well! Please be in prayer about our time here at the church building.

This past weekend, Nathan and I along with our friend Becca traveled to Naples to visit a young lady named Marta who is in the church and practically does all the behind the scenes work there! She is awesome and an amazing servant of the Lord. We were blessed to stay with her, her twin sisters, and her mom and dad. They were all so sweet and hospitable to us. Please keep them in your prayers. We also got to meet a few of her friends who were also very kind to us and showed us around the city a bit. It was very encouraging to attend their service on Sunday. Much like Florence, they have an Italian/English service because of several couples who work on the US Navy base in Naples. We also visited Marta's aunt in the hospital. She had a pacemaker put in a few days ago. She started crying when 6 people came to visit her! We sang for her in Italian and English. You could just see the spark in her eyes light up again after having some hard days lately! Sadly, we had to head back to Scandicci on Sunday afternoon in order to teach classes Monday morning. Weekend trips are long, but so rewarding! We have some more church visits coming up soon, so make sure you keep up with our blog!

thoughts I really think these thoughts help me more than anyone else. Putting my thoughts into words can be a hard process, but I really enjoy it. It makes me narrow down how I'm really feeling. This month, I've been feeling normal. Ordinary. Not in a bad way at all! Most of the time, ordinary has such a bad connotation. But for me, here in Italy, it feels good. Sometimes I wish it could go back to being new, exciting, and scary. I guess, sometimes it is, but not so much the living in Italy as a missionary part. Now it has become normal. While we are doing AWESOME things and having AMAZING conversations with new friends, we are also doing laundry, washing dishes, making dinner, going to the store, reading, studying the word, and spending time with each other. All of these things, I did in America. You do them too! They aren't extraordinary, just ordinary. And it FEELS GOOD that our overseas missionary lives have become that way. All I can say is, thank you Lord for making Italy feel like home.

Thank you to all our supporters. We love you and couldn't be here without you!!! Enjoy some pictures below! If you click on them, it should have a description. Sorry for so many pictures of food. Italy knows how to do it right ;)

Ciao for now brothers and sisters in Christ,

Ashley