Today there was the first morning service of the church at Rovereto. Having 15 out of about 70 adults leave the church should have left quite a few holes in the hall at Trento for our service, and maybe a feeling of emptiness. But quite a few new people have started coming in the meantime, so although the numbers were a bit down on the average, they were not much lower. So there was not much of an empty nest feeling at all.

Another highlight of the week was participating this afternoon in the anniversary celebrations of the federation of the bands in the province of Trento. Not all the bands could come, but in any case being a part of a parade of 60 bands dressed in various colourful uniforms was fun. And then the final concert all together of well over 1000 people in the main square of Trento was spectacular. It made me dream of a future event, when all the 60 churches that will have been planted in all the small towns spread out in the province, will come together at Trento one Sunday for a celebration together and to worship as one.

This week about half of the church groups will be restarting, including for us the Wednesday night group and the Sunday School. Pinuccia is also running a Sunday School teachers’ meeting tomorrow night, and I will have a meeting for the Youth Group leaders later on. So pray for this restart of activities as well.

The next few days will be continuing the transition, with a bit more holidays until Daniele and Pinuccia return to pre school on Thursday. There will also be a couple of preparation and planning meetings to go to, before the church activities begin. And then the following week the groups I lead will be starting up.

Pinuccia was offered and accepted one job doing the week, at a school that is fairly close, although in the afternoon which we want to avoid if possible. Then at Lavis, where we live and where she hopes to work, the teacher before her on the list took the last available job. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it means that Pinuccia will be first on the list for the second wave of offers, after some who have already accepted a job get offered something better and change their mind. This is what happened last year. There are also a few other schools which will be offering jobs this week, so we are still unsure where exactly she will be working this year. But we should know by this time next week. So keep praying for the perfect job!

Next week will be another historical moment for the church, as the Rovereto church will be beginning weekly services in the morning. We will suddenly find ourselves at Trento with twenty less people, including the children. I’m sure it will be a bit of a shock to everybody, even me, even though we have been preparing ourselves for it for months. The exciting news at Rovereto is that they have found a room that they are able to rent for all their meetings. Having a permanent place where they can be easily found should be a great help in getting themselves known and for their witness. It would be great to have our own place at Trento as well, although a lot harder since we need a larger (and so much more expensive) place.

It is also celebration time for us, with Daniele having a long weekend of parties for his fourth birthday tomorrow. On Saturday afternoon he got taken out by his uncle, and that evening there was the extended family party. Today he was given a cake by the church that we were visiting. Then tomorrow there is our family time, and then a small party in the morning with a rent-a-crowd of party goers. Since Daniele’s birthday is always when we are away, either in Sicily or in Australia, he never celebrates with his friends, but just as we do in Sicily we have managed to get together some children and other people that he knows for a party. Now we just have to figure how we are going to get the presents into the suitcases to take back to Italy.

With 10 days to go until our departure, we have finished our major meetings now. However, there are still 6 small groups where I or we will be talking at during this coming week. Then we will have finished all our presenting. You could also pray for Reachout, an important missionary conference next weekend. I will be going on Saturday to help out at the ECM stall, to talk to people who are considering missionary service.

Another highlight this week for them was the four days of prayer for the mission that we went away to. Usually such a time would be difficult for them, as they would have had little to do and their parents would have been busy most of the time. But there was another family of small children present, and that made all the difference. Because for all the time that they are in Australia, they do not have any friends their own age. They meet lots of children, but going to a different Sunday School every week, and visiting lots of people once, means that they do not form any decent relationships with them. So four days for almost all of the time with other children was just right for them. It was also the first time I have heard them speak English to someone who is not a member of my family, as the friendship formed with the children was enough to overcome their shyness. We are all looking forward to going to visit the other family again whilst we are still in Sydney.

An important meeting to pray for this week is at Sydney Missionary and Bible College on Tuesday morning. As I talk about church planting in Europe, it is an important time to contribute to the students’ reflections on where they might serve God after they finish their studies. And who knows, maybe to do some recruitment as well. Then on Sunday there will be a long day to Newcastle and back to visit friends. There are three other meetings during the week to speak at as well.

Since we will be in Australia this (northern) summer, we will be missing our trip to see Pinuccia’s family in Sicily. So we will go instead this Christmas for two weeks. Since it is a shorter period than in the summer, we will be taking the aeroplane instead of the church. So that trip got booked this week as well. All these trips certainly made a dent on my credit card… I also checked in for my flight to Madrid next Monday, but more in my next message.

In the meantime, Daniele started to go to preschool full time this week, which meant also having a sleep after lunch. Like Stefania before him, he has not slept during the day for a long time, but at school enjoys have a little siesta in the afternoon. And naturally he has no intention of having a nap on the weekend whilst he is at home. He is also starting to learn that he will have to vary his diet, because if he does not want to eat what the school provides (which is often the case), he won’t eat anything. But gradually he is getting more varied tastes, just like Stefania did when she started eating at school.

Daniele has been accelerated at pre-school, and will be able to go from the start of the school day from Monday, instead of starting at 10am for a few more days like the other new children. This is because he has fitted in so well. Instead of crying when he has to leave me or Pinuccia to go into the classroom, he pushes us away to run in as fast as he can. And cried the first day when he had to come home. Of course, it has helped that he has been to the preschool almost every day for the past two years, to pick up Stefania with me. So he knows the school and the teachers. It was also because the teacher had a bit of pity on us, having to make 4 trips a day. So this week we will only have to make three – take them both at 8.30/9am, pick up Daniele at 11.30, then Pinuccia will bring Stefania with her when she leaves school at 3.30pm. Pinuccia has really been enjoying working close to home, and it has helped her to become a part of town life here at Lavis. It helps that she is the teacher of Stefania’s best friend at school, and of the grandson of someone in our apartment block who is also the nephew of one of Stefania’s teacher. (Lavis is a small town!) So she already knew quite a few people, and will no doubt know a lot more by the end of the school year.

Anyway, there were some events I asked prayer for. One was the end of year trip to the lake for the Saturday cell group, which was a pleasant time with others in a similar situation to us (ie all with small children). And the friends from outside of the church that came kept our focus outward looking as well. On the other hand, I have heard on the grapevine that no-one from outside of the church came to the evangelistic afternoon at Rovereto. It will be interesting to hear in the next few days from those that organised it how they will respond.

Two major events to pray for this week:

• On Saturday evening there is a singing worship meeting for the church (although open to everybody), also to learn to sing better and to learn a few new songs.
• On Sunday there is a baptismal service, with seven people being baptised. I think that is the most we have ever had in one year, although they were not all converted in the last 12 months.

There was one little highlight this evening however. Daniele is just starting to learn to pray, mostly incomprehensible prayers, but he prayed three times tonight, of which the last one was, “Thank you for sticky tape and the fridge” (since Pinuccia had just stuck one of his pictures to the fridge door).

We are now however already towards the end of our trip. On Friday afternoon we will be taking the plane home, so pray for our farewells and the long journey with the children.