Going away, and (maybe) moving
It is now Friday morning, time to start packing as we will be leaving at 4.30pm for three weeks in Sicily with Pinuccia’s family (and a wedding). We were wondering if Stefania would be able to cope with such a long trip, but it turned out to be irrelevant. We found out that Pinuccia can’t stay seated in the car for more than a couple of hours in her state, so like last year the girls get to fly whilst I drive. So first stop this afternoon will be the airport at Verona (an hour south of here). The second stop will be another hour and a half to the south, where I will be picking up Pinuccia’s cousin and aunt who will travel with me (they are going for the wedding as well, the aunt in fact is the bride’s mother). Then after dinner we will be leaving and travelling all night, with an estimated arrival after midday on Saturday. A long trip, but I will have company and driving help.
The other big news and prayer point at the moment is the possibility for the church to rent its own place. This is getting more and more urgent, as using a public hall creates some problems (we can’t leave things there, neighbours, etc), and as the church grows it is outgrowing the hall we use. Prices usually are exorbitant at Trento, but recently we found a space in a very central location (look at “via Lampi 10, Trento” in Google Maps if you want to find it; it is about 2 minutes’ walk from the train station) that we can rent at a price we could afford with an increased commitment by the church. It would need some restructuring work, and we also need to get the required permissions. But there is a friend of the church who is an architect and on the town council who is helping us with that. Then it would need to be approved by the church, and we hope that we could begin work on it in June. So pray for this in the next few weeks, that we can find our own meeting place that will help us in our witness at Trento.