Rome.. (If You Want To...)

We made it down to Rome for the Easter weekend.  What an amazing time to be in Rome.  With all the Christian history there and the many martyrs that gave their life for the faith---it was very awesome to be in that location for Easter.  Italians are spontaneous, so lo and behold I learned that not only would I be speaking at the Saturday night meeting about the challenges facing Christianity in Europe, but I would also be speaking at the Easter service.  Well, when in Rome...it was an unexpected honor actually.

The Church of God in Rome (not that one, but the Church of God (Anderson, IN), was started 39 years ago.  In fact, this coming Spring, they will be celebrating their 40th birthday and I plan to attend this special celebration.  The church was started by Franco Santonocito.  His son Danielle is not the pastor.  The church has recently experienced some growth after committing to a much more intensive prayer plan, which is great.  As in most places in Europe, the church does not grow as fast as it does in other places for a number of reasons.  Being located in the heart of Catholicism certainly doesn't help either if you are Protestant.

They have a thriving youth group and they have a wonderful worship leader named Marco who is a talented singer/songwriter.  We listened to his CD as we drove across Italy.  The church has a nice spectrum of ages represented and is mostly Italian, with a few Latin Americans as well.  It is located in the city of Ostia which is on the Mediterranean Coast.  It is called the port of Rome.  Although Rome is actually located a bit inland (on the famous Tiber river), modern Rome has grown and made Ostia ( a very old town that goes back to the days of Ancient Rome) a suburb.  So it's all connected now. The church is located in a tough section of Ostia.  On the train, it takes about 35 minutes to central Rome.

We visited some of our favorite sights in Rome to introduce 8 year old Marco (as opposed to 2 year old Marco) to this great city.  His favorite stops were the Colisseum (Ted Nugent was doing a sold out concert......that's a joke people) and the Vatican.  They were setting up for the Easter Service and preparing for the sainthood of John Paul II.

The CHOG in Rome is very well-connected to the Evangelical Community throughout Italy due to its involvement in Rick Warren's programs.  Twice each year, Evangelical leaders from throughout the country come to the Rome CHOG for key meetings.  The CHOG in Rome is currently helping the new Church of God in Arco as best as they can, but there will probably be need for assistance in the future.

On Easter morning, we had a special sunrise service in the park in Ostia.  It was very lovely as Dannielle led us through a service.  It was great to be in Rome on that day and Marco enjoyed his first sunrise service.  We are very much looking forward to connecting with the church there and having our 3W team support our friends throughout Italy.  Already, the Simpsons (Bulgaria) will be visiting the church in the very near future.  We are using our 3W missionaries to visit various locations to build up the inner-connectivity which is a core part of Three Worlds overall goals in Europe and the Middle East.  Thank you Arco and Ostia.  And thanks to all of you for supporting us.

The Leaning Tower of Pizza (I mean Pisa)

On our drive down to Rome, we had to drive through Pisa, Italy so we decided to stop and see the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa.  The tower is indeed leaning.  At one point (I think in the early 90's) it was in danger of collapse, so it was covered up for a long period of time as engineers tried to figure out how to keep it from falling down.  Behold the amazing pictures.  See, in one of the pictures I am leaning against Marco.  Get it? I'm leaning against him.  I'm such a card.  I amuse absolutely no one.

Canada Theologue 2011

I'm off today to beautiful Calgary, Canada.  I will be in Alberta for about a week as I am serving as the guest speaker for the Theologue 2011 at Gardner Bible College in Camrose, Alberta and visiting a church and some friends in Edmonton. I will be giving 10 sessions based on my third book Mosaic on May 10-12th.

The three main areas to be covered are:

The Church of God in Crisis :

The Quest for Health and Purpose:

Is the Church of God Relevant in the 21st Century?

Quite a bit of time will be focused on explaining the Three Worlds of Christianity as well as systematic organizational problems in the Church of God and how districts, churches, and regions can remedy those issues.  Sounds boring doesn't it?  But it won't be, because ultimately, it will be about how the global landscape for Christianity is changing very rapidly.  It will be very relevant for the students at the college, and the administrators and pastors that attend. I don't want to put anyone to sleep.

I'm looking forward to seeing Alberta.  I've never been to this part of Canada.  I'm completely in love with Vancouver, BC, and have a special fondness for Prince Edward Island (East Coast) and Toronto.  But I've never had the chance to see the Canadian Rockies and plains.

More pictures of Italy coming up.

Cinque Terre, Italy

On the way to Rome, we stopped on the Northeast Coast of Italy (the Italian Riviera), so that I could show Marco and Jamie Cinque Terre.  Cinque Terre are 5 little towns built on ocean cliffs.  They are old traditional villages connected by a path that hugs the coastline.  You can walk from village to village along the cliffs.  The cliffs drop a few hundred feet straight down and the hills and mountains are a couple of thousand feet high in the area.  We visited Manarola (the best one in my opinion) and Corniglia.  Manarola is an example of a town set near the bottom of the cliffs (touching the ocean) and Corniglia is an example of one of the five on the top of the cliff.  It is mind-blowingly gorgeous here.   Once again, enjoy my ultra-terrible photos of gorgeous places.

Church of God (Arco, Italy)

The Church of God in Arco, Italy is brand new.  Very few people know of it's existence, but we are planning to change that.  The pastor is N. Lovaglio.  He and his wife Bertha had been living in Venezuela (where she is from) for many years and working with the Church of God there.  Pastor Lovaglio is originally from Southern Italy and after many years in Venezuela, they moved back to Italy.  They spent a few years in Rome attending the Church of God in Ostia, Rome (which you will read about later). But recently, they moved to an Italian city not far from Venice, Italy.  A fellow Evangelical hurch in the Dolomites (that's a mountain region on the cusp of the Italian Alps) had a property that was not needed or used, but which could be used for starting a church.  So the Lovaglio's agreed to take over the facility and start a Church of God.  Thus the Church of God in Arco was born a year ago.  It is a small facility, but very nice and newish--and located on the main road that runs through Arco.  They currently have about 10 people, which, in Europe, is good for a new church.  Real good.  The Lovaglio's speak Spanish, Italian, and Bertha speaks English.  I spoke in Spanish during the Sunday service.  There are Italians, and a few South Americans.

Arco is a small town located by the shores of Lago di Garda not far from Verona, Italy.  Lago di Garda is a tourist magnate as the beautiful blue lake is surrounded by mountains that go straight up 2,000 or 3,000 feet.  This is the kind of place that George Clooney buys property (like Lake Cuomo).  Aside from the mountains, people can sail, hike, ride bikes in this area of lakes, crystal blue rivers, and heavenly vistas.  It is absolutely gorgeous.  The church building is on a main road of Arco.  As we approached the town, we went through windy roads and had one of those breathtaking moments as Lago di Garda opened up before us.  Lord of the Rings kind of territory.  My lousy pictures don't do it justice.

We encouraged the church people and assured them that there will be many people that know about them now and are praying for them as they get started.  I plan to regularly write and call them when in Berlin, and we will make regular visits to them as we do to our other fields (boy do we have the gorgeous fields or what?).  Would you like to help?

Back Home Safe: Oberammergau, Germany Photos

Wow!  We are back home in Berlin!  And the city has changed.  It is back to its ultra-green, beautiful old self.  The trees are full and we live in a forest again.  It's 70 degrees with a light wind. What a nice sight.  And I hate sunshine and blue skies--but even I gotta admit--this is lovely. Well, this was an incredible trip.  I'm not sure I remember a trip where everything was so consistently gorgeous from start to finish (since New Zealand which is Heaven on Earth but unfortunately as far away as heaven from Earth).  I will try and start posting photos regularly to catch you up.  We had internet for very limited amounts of time on this trip and usually needed it for work related issues, so, there's lots of emails to respond to, and of course, diary entries to write.

We'll start with yesterday (Oberammergau) and then go back to the beginning of the trip with the Church of God in Arco, Italy.  It was great meeting these churches for the first time, and it was great having a little vacation there at the end, even though Jamie hurt her foot.  She's feeling better, but still limping around and sore.  Thanks for your concern.

It was also very wonderful to have some concentrated family time.  With our busy, hectic schedules, it was nice to have the 3 of us together for 15 days.  I can tell that Marco really thrived on this time together.  We all shared our 3 favorite things about the trip today on the final drive back.  We all had different things, but I know the best part was being together.  Cue the cheezy 80's music.  Rick Astley's "Together Forever" perhaps?  Maybe 70's would be better.  "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge?  That song was written by Nile Edwards of Chic fame, by the way.  A little 70's/80's trivia for you from the 80's master.

German Alps--Oberammergau

Hello friends.  We are writing to you from the German Alps.  We are half-way home from Tuscany, Italy in the town of Oberammergau, Germany.  This is one of Jamie's favorite places in Europe--and by coincidence, it turns out to be exactly half way back to Berlin from Tuscany...to the minute.  So we are here to rest overnight, before the final push back to Berlin.

It's been an amazing 14 days.  Gorgeous scenery, new church friends, and a burnt foot.  Jamie's in a little more pain as her foot goes through the healing process.  She's limping quite a bit, and her foot looks awful--but I guess it's part of the healing process.

Our final days in Tuscany were uneventful.  We tried to take it easy on our vacation and spent the afternoons usually visiting the various mountaintop castle towns.  But mostly, we just felt wiped out--and in Jamie's case, gimpy.  Tuscany was gorgeous and we were deep into the nature.  Marco said he's really digging this nature thing after nearly 10 years of concrete jungle in Hong Kong.  As we drove through the German Alps, Marco said, "I'd like to live in a place like this one day with all this nature everywhere."  We also drove through the Italian Alps and Austrian Alps today.

For those that are interested:  Driving in Europe

Driving in Europe is not the same as driving in the United States.  Driving in the USA is so easy.  Especially across the USA.  When I was in college it was 2,300 miles home on vacation and 2,300 miles back to college.  I would drive from Indiana to Portland, Oregon doing 12 hour days.  It was no big deal.  It was relaxing and mostly boring.  Of course when we are on home-assignment, the same thing applies.  Long drives--uneventful--easy, relaxing and sometimes boring.

Here in Europe, however, it's a different story.  We find that 6 to 7 hours is the maximum limit that we like to drive because driving is a lot more exhausting in Europe than in the USA.  Here are a few reasons why I think that's the case:

1) Speeds: You are traveling at high speeds (especially on the autobahn).  It's a lot different driving 6 hours at 65 mph. than it is at 135 mph.  Especially when you are constantly having to get out of the way of someone going 180 mph and slowing down for someone just doing 100 mph.  You have no room for error.  You can't space out at the wheel like you can driving across Nebraska.  You have to pay attention because a few seconds of daydreaming can cost you your life at these speeds.  So it is much more taxing on you mentally and physically.  Make sure you slow down for that exit ramp from 140mph down to 40 mph or you'll be a splatter on the wall.

2) Smaller freeways: For the most part, the freeways are a lot less spacious than in the USA so once again, the room for error is small, especially when you factor in the higher speeds.

3) Windy highways and roads: Most of this trip, we were on very, windy roads--often at high altitudes.  I'd say only about 8 hours of our driving time in Italy was on straight roads over the course of 2 weeks.  Most all of the time, we were driving on curvy, two lane roads or windy small freeways.

4) Signs in different languages: Unlike driving across the USA, here you have to deal with the language factors and figuring out exits, toll booths, and other things in different languages.  The GPS helps, but you still have to pay close attention.

5) In case of car problems---you are probably in a remote area where people don't speak your language. In the USA, it seems like there's a gas station, AAA service, a McDonalds, and probably a Target every 2 miles just about everywhere.  Not so in Europe.  The towns are small, quaint, and charming...and often far apart with few stores and many closed much of the day.  So if car problems arise, it's going to probably be a long, complicated ordeal.  For that reason, we don't like to drive at night.

So we got into Oberammergau at 5pm after leaving around 9AM and I'm totally beat from driving.  But we got here with enough time to look around the town.  An interesting thing:

The Uniqueness of Oberammergau

Oberammergau is the sight of a Passion Play that is put on every 10 years.  This has been going on for nearly 500 years in this town.  The whole town is involved in this multi-hour play of the final week of Christ's life. People from all over the world come to watch this re-enactment of the betrayal, trial, and crucifixion of Christ.  Jamie saw it ten years ago.  This past year 2010, our missionaries to Bulgaria, Dave and Kathy Simpson, saw it as well.  Perhaps in 2020 you can see it.  But get your tickets early.  It's a big, big deal.

The whole thing started back in the 1600's when Bubonic plague hit the town.  The town made a commitment to God (we saw the signed paper in the town's church today) that they would put this play on every 10 years.  It's an amazing story.  Walking through the town, the houses are painted with scenes from the life of Jesus and the church inside is gorgeous.  On the large mountain hanging over the town is a cross.

We will post some pictures in the coming days.  We've all really appreciated having this time as a family.  I know it has been really good for Marco to have focused time with his parents.  He and I played a lot of ball on this trip.  We worked on learning how to throw a perfect spiral with an American football and he learned to play catch with a real baseball on this trip too.  That was very fun.

Back to Berlin tomorrow and Canada on Thursday or something like that.

High Drama in Tuscany

We left Rome on Sunday after a big Italian Easter dinner that was lovely.  We then headed for Tuscany (Italy's famous wine country) for a 4 day vacation. We are staying in a little B & B on top of a mountain with great views of the vineyards and hills.  The roads are windy and the drops are 2000 feet in some places as you drive around the beautiful fields.  All the towns have buildings that look like The Olive Garden--except the real thing.  It's picture postcard beautiful.  It's amazingly under-developed.  These are hilltop medieval towns that look like the classic postcard italy you would expect.

Unfortunately, yesterday we had a bit of a dramatic incident.  After we checked into our B & B, late in the evening Jamie dropped some boiling water on her foot.  She got burned.  She was in a lot of pain, but tried rapping it up in ice and tried going to sleep.

But before long, we could see that the pain was too much and that perhaps this could be more serious than we think.

Marco was totally asleep, but around 11PM, we woke him up and told him we needed to take Mom to the hospital.  He was incredibly cooperative and helpful and in his PJ's, we got in the car and headed into the dark, windy roads of Tuscany to find the nearest hospital.

Thank God for GPS, which gave us directions to the nearest Emergency room about 40 minutes away.  We tried to get there as fast as we could since our aspirin were not helping Jamie much.  So, we made our way down the hills and found the emergency room.

It wasn't too busy, and within 10 minutes, the Italian nurse had bandaged it and put on a cream that stopped the pain.  Within 1 hour, Jamie had seen the doctor.

Marco---I'm not kidding here---kept me awake by telling me the difference between Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Protestantism.  He talked and talked and talked and it kept me awake because we had had a long day as it was and both J and I were exhausted.

Eventually, we got out of the hospital--and this being Europe---there was no charge.

It was about 3AM when we got back to our room and Jamie felt much better.  We all fell right to sleep.  The next morning (today) we went to the dermatologist at the Hospital and made the trip down there again.

Once again, all the Italian doctors and nurses were extremely helpful and friendly to the foreigners trying to navigate the big hospital.

When it was time to go, ....once again....there was no charge.  Jamie said the nurses and doctors laughed because the expression of Americans receiving free medical care is always priceless.

So Jamie's in the room resting and hobbling around.  Marco's being patient with all the upheaval, and we are here for another day before we start the long drive back toward Berlin.

Thank God it all came out okay and that Jamie wasn't seriously hurt.  It was first degree burns and she said it was the worst pain of her life---but she hid it, because she didn't want to freak Marco and me out.  We are both basket cases when Jamie gets hurt.  She's our lifeline.

Italy continues to be unbelievably gorgeous.  And now we'll remember the nice people that helped us when we needed them to.  Much more later.

When in Rome...

Hello from Italy!  I am currently writing from Rome where we are spending the Easter Holiday with the Church of God here in Ostia (suburban Rome).  Wow!  What a country.  This is our first time DRIVING across Italy and what an incredible experience that has been.  It's like adding a 3rd dimension to this country as opposed to flying into places or taking the train. The mountains have been beautiful and cover this country from North to South.  Different kinds of mountains with different terrain.  The various regions of Italy are so different from each other--yet all beautiful.  I'll be sharing more later about the churches we have visited, but it has been breathtaking to see different regions of Italy.

Our drive down was thankfully uneventful.  Germany was lovely.  We stayed in a town we had never been to on the way down.  Austria was gorgeous---all one hour of it as we made our way across the Alps into the Italian Dolomites (Alps).  We drove along the coast after spending time with the Northern Italy Church (more later), and that was just ridiculously out of this world.  Small medieval towns hugging massive cliffs.  It was hard to believe they are real places and not sights created by Disney.

I've always said, pound for pound, Europe is the most beautiful continent in the world.  Every few miles brings a different geography---perhaps snow-capped mountains, or sharp steep hills with castles built in hard to reach places.  There are too many sights to even stop and see.  It would be overwhelming.

And the people have been consistently kind and lovely everywhere we have gone.  Not just in the churches but all around.

Today we spent time taking Marco around to the major sights of Rome:  The Coliseum, the Vatican, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain etc.  He's been there before, but he only remembers the Sistine Chapel.  He loved that place as a small child.  Always attracted to those Biblical images.  Today we spent a lot of time talking with him about the differences between Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Rome was in full gear this weekend as the Pope's Eastern message is tomorrow.  We saw that the stage and video screens are all set up for his big annual speech.  I'll be speaking at the same time on Easter, but there will probably be a lot less people showing up and it won't make the news.

Tonight I spoke at the special Saturday service on "the Challenges for Christianity in Europe."  Tomorrow we have a 7AM Sunrise service, followed by the main service at 10:30Am and then a big Italian easter meal.

By the way....it's been non-stop pizza and pasta on this whole trip.  It's like there are no options but that.  I mean....I know Italian food is good--and it is my favorite--but...don't they want some Thai or Chinese or something else from Thai to Thai.  I can't believe the amount of restaurants that really do serve Italian food like we eat back at home.  I'd never noticed that before.  I mean, if you don't want lasagna, ravioli, or pizza--good luck trying to find something to eat.  Not complaining, just found it kind of surprising.

On our way down we visited the leaning tower of Pisa for Marco's sake.  It was just a 20 minute detour off of our route.  It's leaning still....and it's very, very white.  And Marco's enjoying seeing his name everywhere.  He was named after Marco Polo and the name Marco is very, very Italian.  So it's "Marco" everywhere down here.

We're looking forward to Easter tomorrow.  We hope you have a great Easter wherever you are celebrating it.  We are very happy to be spending Easter in Rome--the sight of so much important Christian history.  It was amazing to be at the Colisseum in Rome today on the day before Easter.  And then to head to St. Peter's and see these massive concrete structures that cover a span of history between when Christians were a small minority being persecuted to when they conquered the Roman Empire---well, that was just amazing.  It's a profound thing to be celebrating Easter in Rome.

More soon.  And hopefully the photos will load properly in my next post.

3W Emerging Leaders: Interview with Darren Adwalpalker Part 2

We continue with Part Two of our interview with 3W Emerging Leader Darren Adwalpalker.

Were there any surprises for you guys regarding international cross-cultural work as opposed to cross-cultural work in the United States?

The main difference is that the post-Christendom world is a much larger part of the scene in Europe than in the United States (although it is rapidly growing here).

6. You were able to see some great sights.  Do any stand out?

I absolutely LOVED Fritzlar. It is one of the most amazing towns I’ve ever seen- so quiet, quaint and peaceful. And what can compare to London?

[editor's note:  "Uhm..absolutely nothing except Paris."

7. How was your experience with the 3W crew (Varners, Philips, Nachtigalls)

The team was amazing! Kind, gracious, generous. Being at the Nacthigalls felt so comfortable. Great cooking, hosting and a great layout for us and our children to stay. They were so accommodating and took us around to see different sights, too. The Varners were incredible. We couldn’t have done all the traveling without them. Aaron was an especially helpful culture and language guide in our travels. It seemed as if he never ran out of patience. The Varners were our ‘angels’ on the trip as they cared for our kids during our sessions at Fritzlar. The Phillips were very gracious hosts to us and our children. We appreciated the dinner and conversation at their house. Kelly was also very helpful in our travels back from the airport and on our trip to Wittenberg. Doing the trip with a 2 and 5 year old was especially challenging, but the whole team was extremely accommodating, patient and helpful with our kids. That made all the difference.

9. Any final thoughts and comments?

I am SO thankful for this opportunity. It has opened my eyes to see the reality of the Three Worlds in Europe, and has been incredibly enriching for our church here in Los Angeles. Thanks for making this trip possible!

Unfortunately, I was unable to stay for the remainder of Patrick’s session with the Tottenham Church. Our kids were on overload at that point and needed to be rescued (I should say, the children’s workers needed to be rescued!).

One thing I would have loved to have seen/ participated in if time permitted would be a time of allowing the participants to process their learning and begin to make applications to their contexts. I love facilitating people making connections from their learning to their specific situations. My fear is that by overloading them with too much information and then not being with them as they process, the chance for implementation might be less. But then again, that’s what Patrick and the Three Worlds team are there for, to help be a resource as the groups wrestle with applying the material in their own settings.