Rome Mission Team                                                     October 1-15, 2003 Front row left to right: Rita Salo, Eleanora Larson, Louise Bennett, Leslie Reavely  Back row left to right: Justin Wilder, Lee Bennett, Pastor Scott Reavely The Team will be assisting New Life Church missionaries Dan and Alice Simmons in their church planting and evangelism ministry in Rome.  The Simmons, whose current ministry focus is leadership training, have served in Italy since 1980.  They say that one of the most rewarding aspects of their ministry is seeing Italian leaders taking a greater role in the training and pastoring of their own people.     Latest Trip Update:   All the Photos from the Team  Saturday, October 11, 2003  7:00am PST  (4:00pm Italy time) Hi, As I write this Dan is practicing his violin for the service tomorrow. I've begun my preparations to preach. It will be our final day of ministry here in Rome. We have a couple days to see this great city and then we are on our way home. It has been a full and blessed ten days or so. We have seen a couple people pray to receive Christ. Many have taken our testimonies with gratitude. Even this morning Alice and Rita called on someone who'd received a testimony earlier in the week and she was reading it when they walked up. A few have even taken New Testaments. Each person has made a unique contribution on our team. Eleanora and Leslie have been the biggest hits of all. Eleanora has had more requests for appointments than any of the rest of us. No one here can understand why a woman her age would care to come to Rome and not be on vacation! There is a significant contrast between her and the Italian women her age. Leslie has been a favorite, singing and visiting with children. Today she is clowning and making balloons at a children's outreach. The church here is very impressed that our church could send a group with such diversity in ages and abilities. Lee has been 'worked like a mule' according to Justin. He's been in charge of several projects. We stripped wall paper off the Simmons living room walls. They will have it painted next week. We built a storage room in the Ostia church and recovered the platform of the main meeting room. Lee and Justin are good with remodeling and construction projects. It has been fun to see how God uses what gifts people have. Lee and Louise have had exciting follow up to their ministry here last year. People remember and love them. A return visit communicates much more love than you think it might. Both of them have modeled a servant's heart behind the scenes in order to make our stay here successful. Rita has had a wonderful ministry of encouragement to Alice and to women at the church. You might be amazed at the difficulties that overwhelm women and families in Italy. God has used her recovery from cancer and other things in her life to speak hope to many women here. Justin is out right now with a young man he's had really special ministry with. He's getting an insider's tour of Rome, but more than that he's encouraging a new Christian to live as a Christ-follower in a family situation that is very difficult. Justin has such an encouraging spirit. All of us have benefited from having him on our team. Dan and Alice have been wonderful. As you may know we have stayed in their apartment, eight people in a space that normally serves two. They have not only been wonderful hosts but have modeled a servant spirit for all of us. Their ministry meets quite a few hard hearts that are satisfied with religion instead of God himself. But the Simmons have a great deal of joy in it nonetheless. It has been a privilege for us to spend time with them and share mutual encouragement in our savior. I don't know and may not know for a long time if or how lives were changed here. I do know that seven lives have been changed. I hope and pray that when we get home we will see clearly the greatness of the need for Jesus in those who live close at hand. You can't miss it here because of the size of the city and the uniformity of the Roman Catholic influence. It’s easy to forget that people are just as lost even though they live in a suburb and though they don't believe in much of anything. Thanks again for your grace in sending us and praying for us. God's blessing has gone both ways, from us to them and them to us, and I trust will overflow to you, too. Love and Blessings from Rome, Pastor Scott P.S. – We’ve had some fun, too. But you’ll have to ask about that. Friday, October 10, 2003  11:00pm PST  (8:00am Italy time) Saturday afternoon we will be in the park across from the church. (from 3-5 pm)We will be doing face painting, games, Leslie will be a clown and make balloon animals. Julio from the church has it all planned as to what else we will be doing. Please pray that we will be up and full of energy. The goal is to get more children and families to the church. We have had a renewed strength and we can feel your prayers. It is clear that some hearts are soft and open to God's love. We have spoken to several people that are very interested and want more. Pray that these will respond to the Lord's prompting. Pray that the words that they hear are from the Lord and we step out of the way and allow only Him to reach out to them. In His Service, Your Team Wednesday, October 8, 2003  8:45am PST  (5:45pm Italy time) On Sunday Alice, Justin, Louise & Lee took the train to Ostia while the others rode in the car. We walked from the train station to the bar to get cappuccino. As we were leaving the bar we met Calogero, who is not a believer. He is a man that Lee & Louise met last year. Lee had promised to bring back a specific gift to him. That morning Lee put that gift in his backpack hoping to see Calogero at some point during the day. Calogero's daughter, Ciara and sons Mathew, Marco, and wife AnnaMaria go to the church there in Ostia. He does not usually attend. He is very busy in his law practice and finds little time for much else. It was providence that we would run into him on our way to church. Lee was able to give him the gift and rekindle the relationship. They made an appointment to meet later on that day .  Sunday service was wonderful. Singing and praising God along side the believers in Ostia is a great experience! The painting and constructing of the storage box along with the new vinyl make the little church look so nice. The folks there are so appreciative of our help and you all had a part in it. After the service, Leslie, Alice, Louise and Lee went to lunch at Nunci Rita's and Felipe's home. The meal began with a big bowl of pasta. Then the meat. The salad and bread come next then the vegetable...this comes in courses and we don't get it ourselves. We need to wait till everyone is done with one before the next one begins. Also, when you have your bread don't set it on the plate, set it on the table cloth! That way you are saying the table cloth is as clean and usable as the plate. If you use the plate, they feel you are saying the table cloth is dirty. After dinner we talked alot about Oregon, it's people and the land. Then Lee and Felipe (non-believer) moved outside and Lee was able to share his testimony brochure with him a bit. Yet Felipe was more interested in asking Lee questions about his childhood than he was in going thru the brochure. He did keep it and promise to read it and go over the questions. Lee felt like it was a very good time of communication and bridge building. Leslie spent time with their 2 daughters playing Uno and soccer. Louise and Alice helped Nunci Rita in the kitchen after much coaxing from Alice. There was some thoughtful sharing with her as she is the believer here and wants to be the wife & mother that God wants her to be. Justin and Rita went to Emma's home. Emma's son, Marco, who speaks English, lives with her. A young man named Chris studying at EBEI (a Bible college) was there with another young man from the church, Valerio. Of course, they had a wonderful meal and a great time sharing. Emma spent her childhood in Italy during WWII and has quite a story to share about that. Marco is in nursing school and Emma is also a nurse. Rita gave her testimony here among fellow believers.  Eleanora, Pastor Scott & Dan had their lunch meal at Anna & Michele Gandolfo's home (the pastor and his wife). Another student from EBEI joined them and the conversation between the student & Dan was so deep that Scott & Michele had a nice nap on the couch! It is a bit hard to take part in the conversation when it is in Italian! At 5PM we all met back at the church and Alice drove the girls back to Rome.The men went to meet with Calogero and Lee shared his testimony with him. He went through the questions and prayed at that time to receive Christ as his savior! It was obvious that he was ready...it almost seemed too easy. Leslie, Louise and Eleanora stayed in Rome. Alice and Rita headed back to Ostia after a bit of a rest. They picked up the guys and drove to Anna and Valerio's home for another big meal after the big meal at lunch. Pasta, chicken legs, salad and of course bread with brie. The meal was enjoyed under very humble circumstances. God is so good. Heading back to Rome, Lee was sitting in the back of the station wagon. Justin stepped into the car as the rest climbed in. He thought he smelled that someone had stepped in something! Everybody checked their shoes and the culprit was Justin! Lee gave Justin a plastic bag to put his shoe in. Justin wanted to put it in the back but Lee said 'No Way!'. On the way home Dan was driving and was tired. He drifted over to the bumps on the white line in the middle of the road and someone suggested that they use the bag in the shoe as a stimulant to keep Dan alert!! This was just the beginning of the hysteria that helped them all relax and release the stress of the day. Back at the Simmons' we all share the days events with excitement and laughter! We try to do some journaling to get down on paper the days events. The excitement keeps us up later than we should be and we finally fall into bed.  As you may have noticed, this is all in just one day and this is not all of it of course. We are all here in one apartment, sharing everything and getting along. God's spirit is so evident in our attitudes. His love is flowing and is so precious...it is so hard to explain how it draws us all together.  The time here at the apartment is not without it's practical jokes that don't seem to hit the mark! Things just seem much funnier at 11:45 PM after a long day of being continually on the go. I guess you just have to be there!!! Thank you for your prayers! We will need them more throughout the rest of the week. Pray for open doors and softened hearts. It is evident that the enemy has an influence on families. he is trying to destroy marriages and families. Please pray for strengthening of the body and the families in the church in Ostia. In His Service, Your Rome Team Saturday, October 4, 2003  10:00am PST  (7:00pm Italy time) Buongiorno!   Our trip was smooth and uneventful. Thank the Lord! I think the hardest part of the trip was getting past the security screeners in Portland! The customs area in Rome was closed and we just walked right through. They missed this important part of travel abroad!!! Friday morning Alice gave us assignments to accomplish before we set out for Ostia. Rita and Louise walked to the post office, bought a stamp and mailed a letter. Then they went to the market and bought some dish soap. It was hard to figure out which was for the dishwasher and which was for the sink! On the way back was the caffe bar so they had to stop in and try a cappicino! Leslie and Scott walked to another market and had to purchase beverages for themselves. Lee and Justin went to the bus depot and purchased 10 tickets. Eleanora and Alice went to the home of a seamstress and Eleanora shared her testimony with two of them. Then it was off to Ostia. Dan drove the women to the church in Ostia. Alice, Leslie and the rest of the men took the train. We heard the testimonies and vision of Michele Gandolfo and his wife Anna. Michele is the pastor of the Ostia church. They both have a grand vision of what the Lord wants to do in Ostia. We walked down to the beach and along the pier and prayed for the city and the people of the area. Then back to the church to begin the job of painting. We all worked in the painting along side some of the people from the church. It was great doing this along with them. We had to leave before it was completed for dinner at the Hall's. The men returned today, Saturday, to finish the job. This afternoon we played bocci with friends of Dan & Alice. In the picture, Eleanora is scoring the winning point!! You go girl! In the morning at church Pastor will preach and Leslie will sing. Then good food at a meal afterwards in the church. There is lots of good food in the homes we visit! Buona sera! Louisa