The Italians have arrived. Breathing fire. A team of 18 drawn from churches across Italy have come for four days of street evangelism. We have immediately clicked with these warm (and typically expressive!) young Italian sisters and brothers in Christ. The programme started on the morning of their first day, in spite of a 2 day journey from Poland and four hours sleep due to their late arrival the night before.
We went to the Roma 'colony' on the outskirts of town, next to the council rubbish tip where many of the Roma work. It was very hot - 40+C.
For an hour and a half, 'we' did games, singing, and circus type entertainment with the fifty or so children who quickly gathered.
Jan taught this shy, beautiful 4 year old to clap. Jan says: "she finally smiled when I declared 'Bravo!'"
I wilted in the heat and sought some cover in the shade of a minibus, along with some of the parents and older relatives. Again, in my very limited Albanian, I tried to share something of my love of Wolverhampton Wanderers - as well as my love for Jesus and his love for them, particularly one young man whose T-shirt sported the Union Jack. They were polite and patient with me!
We were twice interrupted by a horse and cart. The team eventually headed back to the cool of the church building, where they are based, and after lunch some tried to catch up on sleep while others practised for the evening performance. We retreated to our air conditioned apartment and I slept for two hours. While I slept, there was thunder, lightning and rain - and the temperatures dropped by almost 20C. Phew.
We gathered in one corner of the main square in the middle of town.
With loud music, miming, juggling, spoken word (translated from italian) and creative use of fire, the team performed a fantastic programme which lasted an hour or so.
At the end they made an appeal for those in attendance to know more of the love of Jesus - and dozens of people responded. And then they did it all over again with more responding to the appeal at the end. Many were prayed with. Our struggle, as always and like the Italians, was the language and the demand for translators exceeded supply. It was such a privilege to be part of all that God was doing. Then it was a two minute walk back to church where various people from the fellowship took team members to their homes for a shower. We enjoyed talking with three members of the team as one by one they used our bathroom. Hearing their stories of faith and passion for Jesus was inspirational.
Earlier in the day I heard the story of this wonderful 28 year old young man. His name is Manuel. Like many young Italians he sought work elsewhere in Europe and ended up in Geneva, Switzerland, in the catering industry. He suffered from the darkness of depression and, in a particularly dark period and in desperation, he cried out to Jesus. He immediately felt God warm his heart with love and hope - and the depression left him, along with the desire to continue smoking 40 cigarettes a day. This young man has dedicated his life to Jesus in the service of others. Of all the Italians, I feel a special bond with Manuel - and he with me.
For some of our friends I expect that all this God-talk sounds a bit over the top. I've never met Manuel before and the chances are, after Sunday, I won't see him again, so how is it that we are suddenly drawn together in a close and loving relationship? And, why are we banging on about 'the love of Jesus' all the time? Well, once you know it, you just want to share it! And when we find other people with this in common, it's magnetic! I wish I could share the depth of loving acceptance I am experiencing and sharing during this sabbatical - wish I could put it in a bottle and send it home! But I can't. All I can do is to use this very inadequate blog to try to help you appreciate this extraordinary, supernatural power that gets right in to the deepest place of my life, in spite of my many failures and shortcomings, and simply loves me.
