Busy weekend
We were kept busy over the weekend by various activities. First of all, the local cooperative bank had its Annual General Meeting on Saturday, and the band was invited to play at a refreshment afterwards. Unfortunately, as AGMs tend to do it finished late, so we waited around in a big tent under the rain from 5pm to 6pm, when everyone came out. Usually it is exciting to play to a crowd of 1500 people, but they were all interested in eating the refreshment rather than listening to us, so the “concert” seemed a bit flat. The crowd did leave a little bit of food for us (although a lot had been finished off), so I filled up on that before going home, and discovered that both Stefania and Daniele had collapsed in bed – very strange for them so early. So instead of the whole family going, I went by myself to a special praise and singing night at the church, with the help of half a dozen Americans who were visiting. It certainly attracts; the hall was almost full and about half of the people were not from the congregation (some I know were friends who were invited, I’m still not sure where the rest came from).
Then this morning there was the usual church service, after which Pinuccia had a small meeting with the Sunday School teachers about the changes in September after the summer break. (More on that later, when we have some more information and have been able to decide exactly what will be happening.) So I took the children home and prepared lunch for us all, whilst Pinuccia got a lift and came home later. Then at 5pm there was the presentation of the Rovereto Church Planting Project in a hall in that town, which was good for giving people an idea and a vision for what will be happening, and for reminding people that the project itself won’t achieve anything, it is what God does that counts, so we need to be praying. There were two immediate effects of having that meeting. The direct one was that someone else from the mountains above Rovereto will try to come to the Bible study on Tuesday. The other indirect effect was that on the way home we stopped to eat a pizza at a restaurant at Rovereto, and discovered that one of the waiters was someone who used to come to the church, but having worked in hotels and restaurants for the past few years he hasn’t been able to come lately. But he was missing the fellowship a bit, and although he can’t come to the Tuesday night meetings (as he works), I will arrange a lift for him to church on Sunday, and who knows maybe in the future he will be able to contribute more to the planting of a church at Rovereto where he lives.
Tomorrow will be busy in another way: Pinuccia’s school will be having an excursion to the local library, and the morning teachers will need all the help that they can get. So instead of just going in the afternoon, Pinuccia will be at school all day, and I will be looking after the children the whole time as well. That will certainly keep me busy.