Little blessings

Ok, short and sweet.

I was at home doing more of the same emailing, phone calling, and searching for used cars online when an opportunity came up to meet with someone within the half hour. That meant I needed to leave my house ASAP to get to the appointment. Unfortunately the power was out at my home at this point. I had borrowed my sister's car for the day and decided to park it in the garage. (do you see where this is going?) I was ready to leave, walked out the door, pushed the button for the garage door and.... nothing. Now, I know how to manually work a garage door, but it didn't seem very pleasant at that moment. So I shot up a prayer to God - "Lord, please let the door work, please" Basically I was pleading with God for Him to miraculously turn back on the power at that moment. Just as I was about to climb up on the car to release the garage door, the power came back on and I was able to open the door automatically. A quick thanks to the man upstairs and I was off (and on time) to my appointment.

thanks God.

Back in America

Readjustment to life in America is different than I thought it would be... I expected culture shock with the large stores, hearing lots of American slang, and a strong desire to be back in Italy. Instead, I've faced smaller awkward moments known only to me - be it feeling overwhelmed while surrounded in a room with talking women, feeling like I just don't fit in anywhere, or having the desire to seek God but not taking advantage of the time I have to be with Him. More than anything, it's been a spiritual battle. I've begun re-raising support for the '08-'09 school year and it's been a struggle. (Not that support raising's ever been easy.) It's such a time of lies creeping into your mind. Transition periods are dangerous like that. A couple weeks ago I was lying on my mom's bed talking with her about how I felt useless and had no purpose. She was quick to point out that I was believing a lie. Every day I have a purpose. I live to glorify God. Recently, though, I've struggled to have joy in that knowledge. I want to rejoice in what God has for me, specifically the plan in the next year at UCF. I do not want to be distracted by circumstances out of my control or lies that the enemy has been feeding me (ie: my car wreck last week and the lie that God doesn't want to provide for my needs).

I thank God for people close to me that remind me of my passion for the lost. People that remind me of the harvest that is at UCF, of the students desiring discipleship and partnership in the Gospel. The people that speak my support presentation back to me, that remind me why I do what I do.

Please pray that God would renew my joy in Him daily, that I would overflow and go out in confidence that He will provide. He is faithful to continue to shape me into the woman He desires me to be - shaping can just be painful sometimes.

Father, my hope is that each person I meet would be encouraged by you in me. Be glorified in me.

First tears

It's been a week of goodbyes, beginning with Wednesday night. It's been a bit of a whirlwind because my sister and friends were in town for part of the week, along with trying to meet with as many students as possible. This generally meant late nights and early mornings. Wednesday night we celebrated one year of the "capella universitaria" (the evangelical chapel near the university) being open for one year. This also coincided with goodbyes to my friends Emiliana, Annamaria, and Maria Teresa. For the first time, things were starting to sink in... that I was leaving. The next day we spent the afternoon trying to figure out how to handle bills and spending time with our friend Anto. Hoping to see her the next day, I suppressed any sadness (also because she's planning on coming to Florida in August!!!). Friday I met with a friend early in the morning and was able to pray with her - that she would be a light on campus to her friends and classmates. That night I told Andrea I would be praying for him as he travels to Malawi for a month with Agape Italia.. Saturday we made our way to the small town Oliveto where our friend Renzo lives. He showed us everything from the olive trees to the water buffalo used to make the famous mozzarella di buffala. Back in Salerno, we went out with friends Matteo and Vinesa. More goodbyes. A trip to the boys' place to say goodbye to Nico Zanzara and a stop by our favorite pub (Easyriders) to see Andrea Mandato and others one last time started putting things in perspective...
I am actually leaving. I actually had an impact. It's amazing how much you don't even realize it while you're "doing ministry". These people have been a huge part of my life here. They are why I came...
This morning we went to my last day at church. The pastor asked us to come up and say something. One of my team leaders, Rick, thanked the church for being so encouraging and supportive this year. The pastor asked the rest of us if we wanted to say something. I simply signed to him that if I spoke, I would cry - it got me off the hook. I lasted through church, but with another goodbye to Guiseppe and other MLK students, I lost it. It took me until goodbyes were finished at church, but I regained control of my emotions.

My biggest fear right now: coming to the realization that my time in Italy has ended halfway across the ocean and having a sobfest next to strangers.... Hopefully God will help me through it.
In the words of Rosita today "Non vai solo. Con Gesu." I'm not going alone. I'm going with Jesus.

History and Culture

Last week we had the priviledge to visit a winery with our friends, Nico (that's right, there's two of them). Viticoltori De Conciliis is the name of the producer, located just south of Salerno in Paestum. Their Donnaluna is found in practically every wine shop in the region and is available in NY and Cali. First, we received a tour from the owner of the winemaking facilities then had a quick tasting of light bubbly wines (because it was so darn hot outside). It seemed like a normal day at a winery, but Nico had more in store for us. He then took us to a buffalo farm where we had buffalo milk gelato - so good! We played with some kittens then headed off to our next destination - where, we weren't sure. We pulled up into this long dirt driveway stopping in front of a home... Nico's grandparents' home! When we exited the car, his grandparents led us to a worn-down shelter near their garage. They explained to us that it used to be a caffeteria for the American soldiers during World War II. Still showing on a couple of the walls are paintings of airplanes used during the war. The couple then told us we are most likely the first Americans to be back in the building since the war.
Following the short tour, we sat down at the kitchen table for some home made snacks and limoncello - excellent! It was simple munchies that you would find around Italy - but they were scrumptous and had just a bit more wonderfulness to them!
We wandered outside to discover their land was a small farm, growing everything from cucumber to apricots. Not to mention Grandma had every flower ever created by God in her garden.
My favorite moments in Italy have been full immersion in culture and hospitality of the Italian people. It's not the food, it's not the atmosphere, but the people that make Italy truly amazing. We were welcomed like family and Grandma and Grandpa showed off their home and land with pride. I know even the southern region is very different than the northern, but if it means giving up days like that, I'm never want to leave south Italy.

Looking back

Yesterday we spent the day packing up our apartment... a strange feeling when you have 2 weeks left in the country. Two of my teammates leave Friday to return to America. How has the end of our year come up so quickly? It seems like yesterday we were in language class figuring out how to say "I work for a Christian organization called Agape Italia".
In fact, I found a slip of paper while we were cleaning out everything that said "Posso ordinare tre turcini per la data 22 di Novembre" - "Can I order 3 turkies for the 22nd of November?"
That's right, the three HUGE turkies from Thanksgiving. What struck me as strange is that I had to write down the sentence and take it with me to the butcher! Seeing how far we've come in our language ability shows me just how much I've learned this year without even realizing it. I talked with a girl on campus today, going through the Gospel and then discussing the Holy Spirit - I never would have been comfortable discussing these things in Italian 8 months ago, now, it's completely normal. I've really settled into life here. I was given the opportunity to go to Florence with Summer Project for the weekend, which helped me to process part of the year with my boyfriend, Richie. As we sat on a bridge over the Arno River, we discussed how normal it was for me to be in Italy, and how it will be strange now for us to see each other in Orlando. He asked me my favorite and worst parts of the year and so began my individual "debriefing" - my time to process through all that's happened in the past year. I wanted to let you in on some of this debriefing. Throughout the next few weeks I will be posting thoughts on ministry, life, and random events that have made my year. Enjoy the journey.

God works in amazing ways.

The last few weeks we've had a group called Summer Project with us here in Salerno. It's been great to have fresh energy and more laborers working on campus. But it's the last week that I want to talk about now. My team had our debrief to start wrapping up the year last weekend. While we were there, we received a text informing us that 2 people had accepted Christ! One of them was actually my friend, Ilaria! Fast forward to even more conversations and end up at our barbeque last night. I was able to do ministry alongside my boyfriend, Richie, at the barbeque. We talked with a group of guys he had met at the university and then his friend Vincenzo arrived. Earlier in the day, I had met Vincenzo with some other girls that we had actually met previously in the year. We encouraged them to come to the barbeque and Richie expressed his desire to talk about the Gospel again with Vincenzo. So when he arrived at the barbeque, the two of them sped off on Vincenzo's motorino (vespa) and when they returned, Vincenzo had made a decision for CHRIST! Read more about Vincenzo and the others at http://www.salernoproject08.blogspot.com/.

It's been such a blessing to do ministry with people that I will be working with at UCF next year - seeing their passion for the Lord and their desire to learn how to clearly present the Gospel. Praise God for what He's doing!

America in a weekend

As some of you may know, I did a quick turnaround trip to America for one of my best friend's weddings. After four months of saving up, help from a friend in the airline business, and the grace of God, I was in Orlando Friday night. If your wondering "How does a missionary afford to go to America for a weekend?" the answer is through God's provision. I knew about the wedding for many months and searched every possible way to get there. I looked at discount airlines, set a budget that I was willing to spend, and started saving. While talking to a friend/student that was coming on summer project (6 weeks of Americans being here to help us on campus), I mentioned my financial struggle with the wedding. By "coincidence" her father works for a major airline and had an extra "buddy pass" that would expire if not used in the next month. In order to fly this way, I had to fly standby and had no guarantee I would ever get to Orlando or back. The ticket price was approx. 1/3 what it would have been if I had bought it retail, and thus was within my budget (after saving up).

So I travelled to Rome Thursday night to be at the airport at 7:30 the next morning. There was a flight to Atlanta leaving at 9:45 that was oversold by 25 seats. I didn't think I had a chance, but there's no way of knowing until you try. Also, the next flight to the States wasn't until 11:45. So I waited. They were wrapping up boarding, and I heard a girl talking to the desk agent that she had heard her name called - Stephanie Lynch. She was then informed they were calling Tiffany Lynch. Thank God for listening in on others' conversations - I hadn't heard them call my name! I received the LAST seat on the airplane!

Then in Atlanta, there was a connecting flight to Orlando leaving at 4:30. After talking to an agent, I was informed they downgraded an airplane and left 60 people in need of a flight to Orlando. So again, I thought I had little chance of getting a seat. I was number 6 on a standby list where there were only 4 seats available on the plane. I started to walk away about 5 minutes before they closed the gate, ready to move on to the next flight. Something told me to wait just a few minutes longer - so I turned around. The agent at the desk called names, checking to be sure passengers were not there... the standby list went to 5, then 4, then 3, 2, me. Again, the LAST seat on the plane! The agent even took me and another guy and rushed us into the jetway because if anyone else came with a ticket, he would have to let them on (leaving us without seats).

I arrived in Orlando at 6pm, able to meet the bride and groom at the rehearsal dinner and spend the evening with the bride! God blessed my weekend in town with seeing many friends and my family for breakfast.

Monday was a bit less eventful, but definitely a gift from God. I boarded an early flight to JFK, had 7 hrs to kill, then got on a 5pm flight to Rome. I was a bit nervous about customs in Rome becuase I had left my permeso receipts in Salerno by accident. They could have denied me entry into Italy... if they had checked. The passport control guy barely looked at my passport as he stamped it and handed it back!

The rest of my time traveling from Rome to Salerno was a bit tough because I was transporting 50lbs of flyers for an outreach - not fun on trains and buses while half-asleep with jetlag. But God gave me energy to make it back to the apartment. (I just felt bad for the people who offered to help me get it on and off trains...they didn't know what they were getting into!)

Now, I'm back in Salerno, back on campus, and trying to set my internal clock correctly. I'm excited for the last month of ministry and also to return to America - finally feeling a healthy balance of the two! Thank you for your prayers during this past crazy weekend!!! (Testimony that prayer works!)