Fri, Oct 21st - 10:57AM

Weekend Posts - Ramblings of a Language Learner.

I have tried to learn to speak Italian on a previous occasion and have failed miserably, so it was with some fear that I thought about giving it a second go. 

The problem that I have with language learning is that it is hard to put into practice what you are learning in the textbook.  I also found it difficult to commit to memory the material that I was learning, so apart from the usual problems with studying a subject - like committing oneself to learning for a short time each day and finding some good study material etc - finding someway of using the language or at least experiencing the new language in a real situation was also a problem.  So over the weekends I will just ramble on about my learning experiences; trying to be as honest as I can about the frustrations and also the joys of learning the language.

Firstly I have had the good fortune of finding one of the greates assets that a language learner can ever have - a penpal.  If you can find a patient penpal who is willing to show you your mistakes you have done a good job.  In my opinion it is worth more than 10 lessons at college.  So lesson number one from my language learning journal - FIND A PENPAL. (to be continued)

Taken from D. Massimiliano Lorenzini's 'My Italy Webpage'

Another great need in Italy is for doctrinally sound Italian pastors. There is much false teaching in Italy. The only Protestant theological seminary in Italy is rank liberal. Ecumenism is very strong. Many liberal Protestants, along with some Charismatics and Pentecostals, are seeking to unite all Christians, including Roman Catholics.

Thu, Oct 20th - 9:44AM

Thursdays - Glimpses into the Spiritual Condition of Italy

On Thursdays I want to try to provide a glimpse into the spiritual condition of Italy and the Italian people.  I will also try to find out about gospel works and missionaries who are working in the country so that anyone who is reading will be encouraged to pray for particular christian fellowships.

Last night I received the latest newsletter from Scott and Sharon Maclean who are trying to help to establish a christian community in the North of Italy, in a city called Domodossola.  This city is situated within the Ossola valley and for the whole of the valley there is a population of about 100,000 people.  Listen to what Scott and Sharon have to say about the spiritual condition of this area.

"From what we have heard there are about 100,000 residents who live in these valleys, about 20,000 of whom live in Domodossola.  As best we can tell, there are less than 100 professing Christians.  It is almost overwhelming!  Over the past couple of months, in addition to moving, settling in and getting to know our co-workers, we have been praying and thinking about how we can reach these people with the Good News of Jesus."

This is the sort of desperate situation that many missionaries face as they try to spread the gospel in Italy.  I hope that by posting little snippets of information like this that many who read these pages will begin to think about praying seriously for the gospel workers in this land who are seemingly spreading the light of the gospel in a very dark and dismal place.

If you want to find out more of the Maclean's work in this part of Italy, take a look at their website.  The url is given below:

http://www.snsmaclean.net/index.htm

Don't forget to keep stopping by to find out more of God's work in Italy.

For the youth of the nation, the God will protect them from the temptations of drugs, sex and damaging entertainments and lead them to Christ, the only source of "abundant life".

Wed, Oct 19th - 7:07AM

On Wednesdays we look at the Italian People and their Culture.

It is difficult for Christians to have to think about the culture of any group of people, because the culture of any nation is usually offensive to our Christian standards.  However, I want us to have an understanding of the Italian people so that we can better pray for them.  Please join with me to pray for this needy nation.

Convivio

It is almost impossible to translate this word into English.  We do use the cognate 'convivial' but that does not adequately convey the full meaning of convivio.  When we talk of convivio we are speaking about the kind of hospitality that centres around food, family and friends (and wine) that is known disinctly to Italians.  Most of us will have seen films and plays on the television and the cinema showing a typical scene during an Italian meal.  People are grouped around a long table talking and gesturing to one another while passing dishes of food, eating bread and drinking wine.

When people are entertained in an Italian home, the most important thing is for them to be made to feel at ease.  This is at the very essence of convivio.  It has nothing to do with how fanciful the table cloth is, or how expensive the cutlery, but it is about taking pleasure in being together and enjoying one another's company while the group of you take a long time while eating some wonderful food.  It's about being surrounded by people who love and care for you.  If you want to think of the opposite of convivio then think about a fast food store.  Most Italians would resist the idea of fast food.

The word is derived from the Latin convivere, which means to live together.  In Italian the word means specifically to eat together, and to do it with great enjoyment and pleasure.  I guess that one way of defending the idea that Italians are best at this is to look at how they thrive in the restaurant business.  People do not return to restaurants unless they are made to feel comfortable while they are eating.

One way that you and I could try to understand this concept is to invite people who we best love over to our homes one night and spend time with them enjoying good food, conversation, their company generally, laughter and to know the warmth and love that you experience during such a time together.  It is a tradition of hospitality in the home that seems to be distinctly Italian.

(From "101 Reasons to be Proud You're Italian". Frederico & Stephen Moramarco.)

Against the occult powers of witchcraft and freemasonry, that they may no longer influence the political and social life of the nation, and for the deliverance of all those who are in their grip.

Tue, Oct 18th - 3:18PM

Tuesday is the History Lesson.

The Colisseum in Rome

Sometimes it can help to understand a people when we find out where they have come from.  I don't know much about the history of Italy, so this will be informative to me too.

476AD Barbarians & Middle Ages.

I don't know what people think when they hear the word 'barbarian'.  We usually associate it with uncouth murderers or whatever.  During the times of the Roman Empire, anyone who wasn't a Roman was considered to be a Barbarian.  During the 15th Century the main Barbarian tribes who the Romans knew about were the Celts, Saxons, Angles & Jutes from what we know refer to as the United Kingdom.  There were Danes, Alemanni, Burgundians, Goths, Ostrogoths, Heruli & Vandals from the Continent and the Huns from Asia.

475AD

In 475AD, Romulus was made the Emporer of the Roman Empire.  He was deposed the following year by the Barbarians.  This year, i.e. 476AD marked the end of the Roman Empire.

The Grandeur of the Roman Empire.

At the pinnacle of its success, the Roman Empire strectched from Britain to Persia and from the Rhine and the Danube to the Sahara desert.  It succeeded mainly because of the discipline of its military machine, the efficiency of its administration, its Roman law and the glorious multi-directional highways that were built throughout its lands.  Rome was the capital of the Empire.

The Wealth of the Roman Empire.

All peoples who were invaded and conquered by the Romans paid tax to Rome.  Tributes and gifts came to the city from all over too.  However, it was the wealth of the Empire that eventually brought its decline and eventual downfall.

The Decine of the Empire.

As the Empire grew more and more rich and powerful, the middle class decayed and eventually disappeared.  This left a two class society.  The very rich and the very poor. By the start of the 5th Century one half of the population were slaves.  As the decay of the Empire began to set in, the Barbarians saw an opportunity.

Enter the Barbarians.

Odoacer (436 - 493AD) was the King of the Heruli who were a tribe from the Germanic people.  Odoacer served the Roman Empire, but the day came when he rebelled against his masters.  He eventually managed to overthrow the Empire and Romulus was deposed as the head of the Western Empire.

Empire Subdivided.

During these times the Roman Empire was, in fact, split in two.  Romulus had ruled the Western portion but had been deposed by Odoacer.  The Eastern Empire was ruled by Zeno from Constantinople.  Zeno reluctantly accepted the authority of Odoacer and gave him the title of 'patrician'.  Odoacer carried on administering the Eastern Empire.  Finally Zeno sent Theodoric (King of the Ostrogarths) to expel Odoacer.  Theodoric succeeded and became the master of Italy.  Theodorac reigned long and well until his death.  When he died Justinian I began to rule the Eastern Empire.  Justinian I expelled the Ostrogarths and the old Roman Empire was united again.  The Byzantine rule collapsed when the Lombards (another Germanic tribe) invaded the land.  (To be continued...)

For evangelism and revival. Only the conversion of millions of Italians to a true faith in Christ can produce a deep, lasting change in Italy.

Mon, Oct 17th - 2:20PM

On Monday's we study Italy - The Country

The Boot - Lo Stivale (loh-stee-VAH-lee).

The Italians call their peninsual 'The Boot' - Lo Stivale.  When you look at the map of the country is not too difficult to understand why.  On all three sides it is surrounded by the waters of the Mediterranean and the north of the country is annexed by France and Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia are it's neighbours to the West.

The Population.

58,000,000 people live on Italy's 116,334 square miles.  Italy's largest cities are Rome (2.8 mil) Milan (1.4 mil)   Turin (962,000) and Naples (1.1 mil).

Sicily & Sardinia

Sicily covers an area of 9,926 square miles.  It has a population is over 5,000,000.  Sicily has been raided and plundered more than any other part of Italy. People who have invaded Sicily include the Siculi, Sicani, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Saracens, Normans, Aragonese, Catalans, French and Spanish.

Sardinia is the other major island.  It covers 9,301 square miles and its population is 1,647,000.  It is a very mountainous island and lies 115 miles to the west of Italy and 7.5 miles south of Corsica.

Politics

Italy is a Republic and has a President as its head of State and the Prime Minister as its head of government.  The country is split up into regioni (regions).  Each of the regions have some autonomy.  The regions are divided into 95 provinces.  The laws of the land are written by Parliament.

Pray for the planting of new churches and fellowships in the least evangelized regions of the nation. (From Intercessors for Italy).

Sun, Oct 16th - 5:08AM

Snippet - Spiritual Condition of Italy

While most Italians consider themselves Roman Catholic, less than 10 percent attend mass even once a month. Their "religion" is more tradition and convenience than a life-changing personal choice. In 1984, the president of Italy declared that Catholicism would no longer be the "state religion" and that all faiths would share equal rights and privileges. This formal political declaration opened many doors for different religions. Protestants no longer endure persecution. Jehovah's Witnesses are the second largest religious group after the Catholic church, and Islam is the fastest growing religion. From Mormonism to Zen Buddhism, Italians are open to all forms of religion. Even television broadcasts programs dedicated to fortune telling and card reading. Italians who decide that the Catholic church cannot meet their deep longings turn to superstition and other forms of "faith in God." For others, the Catholic church still provides for their needs from the cradle to the grave with little effort on their part. They tend to view other religions with indifference.

While there seems to be an openness to other religious faiths, evangelicals make up less than 1% of the population. Of the more than 35,000 cities, towns, and villages, less than 1,500 have an evangelical church. To better understand how many of these communities have no gospel witness, imagine you wanted to visit each one for just one day and then travel to another town to visit the following day and you did this every day of the year until you had visited each one. It would take you 92 years before you visited each city or town without a gospel witness for just one day. There is only one trained pastor for every 350,000 people. The evangelical church continues its task of breaking through the invisible barriers to present the gospel to the millions of Italians yet to be reached

Please note that this snippet was taken from D Massimo Lorenzini's 'My Italy' website. (Link given below)

http://www.angelfire.com/nm/massimolorenzini/italy.html

Sat, Oct 15th - 5:50PM

Welcome to My Blog!

Welcome to my blog. My family originated from Italy. I have never taken the trouble to find out about the country before, but now I have some time during the day. I have decided to educate myself in the Italian language and culture and most importantly find out about the work of the gospel in the country. Anything I find out I will record in this journal. Italy is a needy place and my prayer is that other Christians will become interested in the country and begin to pray with me for lost souls in this part of the world.

God bless and keep coming back.

Anthony.