USA Visitors

November started off with a bang, as we hosted our first group of visitors since our move.  A team from a supporting church in Ohio, Patterson Park Church, was in France for a mission's trip and asked if their presence might be of encouragement to us for a few days.  We have a long standing relationship with PPC as Jonathan did his internship there in 2001, and they were one of the earliest supporters to our work.  The team leaders, Mike and Dawn, have served on the missions committee over the years and know us well, but nothing gives a person a better idea of how to pray for you than by a personal visit.

Mike, Grace, Becca, Dawn, Amy, Darlene, Chip & Karen

The team's visit was brief as they arrived on November 1st and departed on the 4th.  We housed half of the team, while the other half stayed in a rental apartment 15 minutes away.  They braved the public transportation system by using the train each day to get to our house where their meals were served.

They joyfully offered to serve us anyway they could, even when given the monumental task of stripping, sanding and staining our parisian wooden shutters on the backside of the house.  Jonathan has been having neck problems for the past two months, making the most simple of tasks difficult, so this intense manual labor was a huge help to us in completing the much needed restoration prior to the arrival of the harsher winter weather.  The job was nearly completed in two days as many hands make light(er) work.  What is left to be completed, I can now do much more easily.

The kids were off the wall excited for all the attention and company!  Games were played, walks were taken, nails were painted, and Luca's infamous weekend poem memorization was learned with their help while my hands were busy in the kitchen.

We enjoyed a night out for pizza where they were able to take in the cultural experience of tasting what a true Italian pizza is like.  Someone asked Samuel if he knew what Pizza Hut was and his response was "Yea, it's that place with the greasy pizza".  Truly, there is just no comparison to an Italian pizza!

Then to top off the weekend, we celebrated Emma's 9th birthday with our guests.  (Party post to come later).  For us, their visit came at a great time and was such an encouragement.  Our hearts were full come the end of our time together.  We hope that they too gained a valuable insight and perspective on the great difficulty in ministry and need for the gospel here in Italy.

It was an intense and exhausting weekend, not just because of being in "hosting-mode", making a birthday cake and feeding a crowd, but in addition, Samuel got sick the first night of their stay and was up until 3:30AM.  God gave me strength and kept me out of a fog until Monday when I just crashed.  I loved every minute of it and being able to host in our new home was such a gift to see how the Lord is already using this home to be a blessing to others.

Thank you PPC team for ALL that you did for our family!!