so i said i would give the deets about what avanti italia is, and what exactly we will be doing in italy. the truth is...i don't completely know.
the last 2 weeks of august we are going to searcy, ar for 2 weeks of missionary, evangelism, culture, etc training. i know we'll learn all we need to know then, but for now all we really know is that we are going to italy for 2 years to learn italian, use our italian and the bible to teach english, do work in the community in the name of the church there, and probably a lot of other awesome stuff. i love not knowing, that's the most fun part of the adventure.
i do know that for at least the first 3 months (language school) we'll be living in this city...
florence, italy. my favorite city in the world at this point in my life. i'm sure spending a semester there in college makes me a little bias, but i don't care. bias or not, this city is splendid.
there's a chance that after language school we could be sent to another city in italy and work with the church that is established there. fine with us, we told them that we would do whatever they needed us to do. of course, my brother and cousin will be doing their semester in florence the spring of '11 and we would love to be there for that, but we'll see.
that's really all the details i know so i'm just going to copy some info on here from the avanti italia website, and i'll leave you with that.
"Our main method of outreach is teaching private Bible lessons in the English language. In advertising, we are completely up-front about our purpose. Our team members teach an average of 15 Bible lessons a week, and we often have to place names of interested persons on a waiting list. We have developed our own curriculum, which includes basic grammar lessons, a set of "bridge" lessons that span the gap from grammar review to English conversation about the Bible, our own editions of the Shawn Daggett "English Using the Bible" books, and advanced studies in the core Gospel message.
Besides our private lessons, we organize an evangelistic study in Italian at the Bible School on Tuesday nights. We also have a weekly women’s Bible Study. On Thursday nights, we attend another Bible study at the church building for discussions among Christians. In addition, we strive to serve the members of the churches of Christ throughout the entire country by hosting seminars with guest speakers and sending invitations out to all of the Italian congregations. In August, we help with a yearly retreat sponsored by the Florence congregation. At this lectureship we meet Christians from all over the country who often invite us to help with their projects.
Much of our work could be described as friendship evangelism. We make friends with people and share God's saving message with them. To get to know our students better and to help them get to know each other and the members of the Florence congregation, we often organize evenings of games, music, food, or a video. Sometimes we help with summer camps for young people from the Italian churches. Whether we are having friends over, going to eat at someone's house, or taking an excursion together, we're never lacking opportunities to share the love of Christ with our friends.
Each team member is committed to finding ways of using his or her individual talents to contact more and more people for God's glory. For example, some have become members of the Scandicci band. As a result, several of our students have come from the band, and two have been baptized. Other A.I. members have coached boys' basketball, taught music in the public school system, helped with a local ambulance service, and volunteered at the local hospital. Each member tries to find his or her niche."
Besides our private lessons, we organize an evangelistic study in Italian at the Bible School on Tuesday nights. We also have a weekly women’s Bible Study. On Thursday nights, we attend another Bible study at the church building for discussions among Christians. In addition, we strive to serve the members of the churches of Christ throughout the entire country by hosting seminars with guest speakers and sending invitations out to all of the Italian congregations. In August, we help with a yearly retreat sponsored by the Florence congregation. At this lectureship we meet Christians from all over the country who often invite us to help with their projects.
Much of our work could be described as friendship evangelism. We make friends with people and share God's saving message with them. To get to know our students better and to help them get to know each other and the members of the Florence congregation, we often organize evenings of games, music, food, or a video. Sometimes we help with summer camps for young people from the Italian churches. Whether we are having friends over, going to eat at someone's house, or taking an excursion together, we're never lacking opportunities to share the love of Christ with our friends.
Each team member is committed to finding ways of using his or her individual talents to contact more and more people for God's glory. For example, some have become members of the Scandicci band. As a result, several of our students have come from the band, and two have been baptized. Other A.I. members have coached boys' basketball, taught music in the public school system, helped with a local ambulance service, and volunteered at the local hospital. Each member tries to find his or her niche."
"Most of our work is centered at the Florence Bible School in Scandicci, which has a living/dining room, kitchen, large classroom, library, offices, and living quarters. We also teach some Bible lessons at the Florence church building located in Florence proper, and occasionally we travel to other cities to help out with special projects or seminars. After sufficient orientation and language study, A.I. members may be assigned to work full-time with congregations outside of Florence. In such cases, the workers are closely supervised by the local church leaders and by the Woodroofs on a regular basis."
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