Italian worship services

On Sunday, Ann & Titus met us outside the chapel gate to the base and took us to church. It is in a small building downtown (I think). The Italian Church of Christ has about 40 Italians, 2 from Venezuela and one from Peru plus 7 Americans (including us). There is also a congregation of about 80 Ghanans who meet for services right after Sunday School. Normally the entire service is conducted in Italain - though Ann did tell us that the first couple of weeks she came Titus translated in English as well. We were fortunate that Abraham from the Ghanan congregation was the guest preacher. In the Ghanan congregation their services are conducted in Twee but most also speak English. So Abraham preached in English while Titus translated into Italian. During the song service Titus also sat behind us and told us the song numbers. The Italian song book has a little area at the bottom of the page that tells what the song is in English - very helpful because many were tunes we knew - Standing on the Promises, I Love you with the Love of the Lord, etc. We did our best to follow the Italian but I must admit that a couple of times I sang the song in English. (another lucky bonus for us is that this coming Sunday Dan Reeves who was the American missionary here for 10 years will be there for combined worship services -both Italian and Ghanan - so one way or the other the lesson will be in English and Italian) After church we had bible classes. The boys went to theirs and James and I stayed in the adult class - their were about 7 people in class. I sure wish I understood more Italian because there was a very heated discussion going on about divorce. Much like our bible classes their at Columbus Avenue we only covered 2 verses for the day. Franchesco, our teacher, who spoke a little English said that it may take 2 years to finish Ephesians. We told him that wasn't a problem we were used to studies like that. (No offense Gary or Barry ;>)) James and I and the boys all see this as a great way to encourage us to learn Italian. Very exciting to be in this situation and what a great way to step outside our box and grow. Particularly since the entire Sunday school class was taught in Italian - though Franchesco did tell us where to turn in Ephesians and Matthew for the current study.

Maybe this coming Sunday we will be able to take some photos of the church. Although with both congregations coming together for joint services it will be very cramped and probably standing room only. Glory to God! Standing for Christ!

I did find some good material at the library to use for learning Italian in addition to the Italian language CDs we already had. One of them has written work as well so the boys and I use it for part of our homeschooling day. Hopefully, we will learn to speak and understand Italian fairly quickly. I know the immersion technique works best so having our worship services and bible class in Italian should spur us on. And we have already spoken to Titus and Angie about getting together for a mid-week English speaking bible study. Now we just need to advertise and see if we can get more people together. Of course, if the English speaking portion of our congregation grows there is also talk of adding an English service to the church services on Sunday. I don't mind going to the Italian service though. That is a great incentive to learn the language so I can better fellowship with the people.

Ciao for now!