Finally in Catania!

Well we are finally here! We arrive about a week ago in this beautiful little (600,000) city on the island of Sicily. We have been really busy! We had previuosly found an apartment and moved in to our new home only to find that we lacked quite a few things. You never really think much about forks and pots until you go to cook and you dont have any. Its been a fun and exciting week all the same. Alot has happened. We have been spending alot of time with the brothers and sisters here in Catania and it has been intereting to say the least. Quite a few (surprisingly) speak english and so its been great for Kristin to get to talk and relate to quite a few of them. On a GREAT note, weve had two baptisms since weve arrived! We are obviously are excited for these new brother and sister. Both have been studying for a while and just happened to make the decision during our first week here so that we could share in it with them. Last night we were out until 1 am with the new brother eating pizza and simply enjoying our new life here in Catania. There is so much work to be done! Im sorry if this post is a little short but we still dont have internet in our house. Still trying to work out all of the bugs. On a side note, 70 men where arrested across our city last night in a Mafia sting. Hopefully this will continue to cripple the Mafia and its work here in Sicily. I never really new how alive it still was until i moved here. Hope all is well. God bless!
Brandon and Kristin

DESTINATION: CATANIA

On October 23rd Brandon and I headed down to Catania, Italy, a city on the island of Sicily. Our mission was to do a survey trip to visit the church there and meet the rest of the people that couldn’t make it to the August Convegno in Florence. See, the August Convegno is what opened us up to the possibility of working in Catania. In just a matter of a few days during the convegno we developed a special connection with the Catanians. We knew we had to get to know them more. At the time we were juggling what church to commit to at the end of November: Rome, Palermo, Milan, or Catania. After viewing all possibilities, we decided to go to Catania (they haven’t had anyone help them in 20 years) and if the Lord opened the doors for us to find a place then we knew it was meant for us to be there. The second day we were there we found an apartment. Our friend, Georigo Cammarata, was helping us by driving us around and having an appearance as a Sicilian (so we wouldn’t get ripped off) has been looking for an apartment for him and his fiancé for 2 years! He couldn’t believe we found that nice of an apartment for a good price, a great location/zone, and that fast! God was definitely wanting us there. The apartment is a gated community and has a doorman that won’t let anyone in until he has contacted the residence and the general surroundings make me feel really safe. Catania is about the same size as Florence. There is a large grocery store right next door and a fire department two doors down. There’s a hospital across the street and a main post office two doors down from that. We’re in an university zone too. There is a college right across the street from us and we’re just a 10 minute walk from the historic downtown and the coastline. There is also a nunnery behind our building and the best part is the church building is a 3 minute walk from our apartment! We don’t have to invest in any public transportation or worry about not having a car! We were down there for a total of 7 days and twice a day we were at a different church member’s house visiting and eating home cooked meals till our buttons burst. During the times when we weren’t eating (very rare) we were being driven around and seeing the city that they’re so proud of. Thursday was bible study night (similar to our Wednesday church nights) and welcomed us with cheers of hip-hip-hooray and tossing Brandon in the air a few times!! Luckily I was hiding in a pack of girls! Saturday night we went out on the town with 10 other brothers and sisters (it felt just like being back at home) and that following Sunday we had an agape (potluck) and literally stayed all day at the church building just fellowshipping and eating for what seemed like 6 hours! Monday night ended with a celebration dinner at the home of Massimo and Luisa and Tuesday morning we flew back to Citerna where we are now in the process of packing and looking forward to our future home and new journey that lies ahead of us.

Ferie D'Agosto

Dear friends and family,
Its officially AUGUST! Kristin and I cant believe how fast these first three months have flown by. It seems like yesterday that we were stepping off the airplane in Rome getting ready to catch the train up to Florence to begin our work. Now, as we look back, its been a very busy three months. Between Kristin’s language school, a few different students, a couple of day trips, visitors from the states, church potlucks, and more, we have been sometimes overwhelmed. It has been a rollercoaster ride so far! All in all, we are happy and now enjoying a bit of a lull before we begin the next phase of our lives here in Italy.
For those of you who don’t know, Italy literally shuts down in the month of August. Its called Ferie D'Agosto and it basically means "we all go on vacation to the beach for a month". My three students that I have been studying with are all gone. Luigi is on his way to India to see about starting a pizzeria in Bombay. Carlo is on his way to Santo Domingo for business before he heads to Ethiopia on a business trip. Roberto is away with his parents at the beach. I’ve given them some different books to read while away and I hope that it will continue to help them in their spiritual journey. Pray for these men.
Every August in Florence, the church organizes a nation wide get together for study, prayer, encouragement, and fellowship up at the Harding villa. Its called the "convegno" and its quite a bit of planning! It’s basically a miniature Lectureship. Its coming up on August 22-25 and it will be attended by about 100 different Italian Christians. We are really looking forward to making new friends and learning more about the individuals who are keeping THE church alive in Italy. This will provide Kristin and I a GREAT opportunity to get to know two different church groups in particular. This leads me to the next phase of our work.
We will be moving to a little town called Citerna for the fall months to work along side my father with his new overseas program. From August 30th until December 1st, we will be living and working out of this little city on the hillsides of Tuscany. We are really excited about this transition! It will provide us with two great opportunities. The first is to be able to work alongside my family as they have a TON of experience with the work in Italy and with living in a different culture. It will be wonderful for Kristin to be able to spend time with my mother as they both have a lot in common. My mother was also dragged (only kidding) to Italy as a newlywed (close enough)! Its also just good to be around a Godly couple that will give us, I'm sure, a ton of good advice on how to live and how to work in a foreign land. We will continue to attend with the Florence church and we will simply take the train in on Sunday or Saturday nights and spend some time with the brothers and sisters.
The second reason is the main one. We will spend the next three months researching two different churches in Italy who have invited us to come and work with them for the next year and a half (time remaining after December). The two churches are the church in Rome and the church in Catania, on the island of Sicily. Two VERY different opportunities.
Rome is one of only two churches in Italy that have Elders (that I know of). They have two part time preachers and have known me my entire life. They are a wonderful congregation that loves God and finds themselves literally in one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world. With the constant flow of tourists and immigrants looking for work, there is a massive need for workers. We would be able to do a lot of work involving foreigners in Rome and it would be a wonderful experience. It would not be easy work at all. Rome is the capitol of Catholicism. The Vatican City is around every corner and it will be a work that needs more than just the two of us (this is my plug for those of you who feel the need to do something great with your lives!). It would also be very expensive! Rome is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in.
Catania couldn’t be more different if it tried from Rome. Catania is a city of about 350,000 people with a surrounding area of about 1,000,000 inhabitants. It has the largest Church of Christ in Italy with about 100 members. It used to be about 150-200 but numbers have dropped in recent years. They have asked for the past two years for some Avanti workers to come down and we have finally accepted the invitation to go and check it out (along with the Rome work). Its a totally different culture! Southern Italy is a bit like living in the south in America compared to living in the North. Not even close to the same as living in Florence. Catania is on the beach and is a very family friendly culture. The church at Catania has ALOT of youth. Youth in Italy is defined as anyone younger than 30. They have a lot of young couples, young singles, and a lot of kids! There is something about the south that just seems to be a little bit less apathetic to spiritual needs compared to the north. This opportunity is wonderful. Again, a city of 1 million inhabitants. We need more workers!
So over the next 3 months we will spend at least a week or two in each of these cities checking out the possibilities and seeing were we feel God is pushing us towards. We ask for your prayers in our decision making. We are deciding the next two years of our lives and were we will be spending them. We hope that this email finds you all doing well. God bless you all! We hope and pray that the work for the Lord in America is going well. Keep up the faith. Teach the Truth. God will guide. We love and miss you all!

Sincerely,
Brandon and Kristin Edwards

July update

Well, its officially a time for an update! I know its been a while but life happens. Its been an extremely busy month of June and early July. I guess I need to start off by explaining a little bit of our living arrangements. We live at the SCUOLA BIBLICA DI FIRENZE (Florence Bible School Building) in a one-room back bedroom. The building itself was an actual Bible school for Italians in the late 60's, 70's and early 80's. My grandfather helped buy this building in 65' and its been interesting to find old books, pictures, and more of my grandparents throughout the building. The building itself is three stories with the bottom floor about half underground so that it stays really cool in the summer. We do not have any airconditioning (or heating) so we use alot of fans, open windows for breezes, and lots of cold drinks to stay cool during the summer. During the winter we use space heaters and big conforters! All in all, quite enjoyable. The bottom floor is our dining room, kitchen, and classroom. The second floor is divided in two parts. On the left side is Gary and Jennifer Williams, the directors, apartment. They have a living room, kitchen, bedroom, guest room, and bathroom, with two balconies. The other side of the hall is a bit different. There is a library, (which i'm currently renovating) Gary Williams office, a computer room, Kyle Thompson's room (HUF's assistant), Kristin and I's room, and the bathroom that we share with Kyle. A little crowded would you say? The right side is an exact mirror opposite of the Williams apartment just divided a bit differently. The third floor is a whole other story. The third floor is mirror exact on both sides except the right is for girls and the left is for guys. There is a big open room which houses 8 beds. We call it either the "guys side dorm" or girls side dorm". So thats 16 beds that we have. (i'll explain these a few seconds). We also have two matrimonial rooms. (one on guys side and one on the girls side) There is one bathroom on each side for these "guest rooms". The rest of the two sides is divided up into single rooms for "single" Avanti Italia workers.

All in all, one huge crowded building! It gets crowded because of our constant flow of guests. Since we arrived in May, (13th) we have had a total of 75 guests who have come and stayed with us. We have had a total of 9 days without a guest here at our home. We have had a group of 29 for three days from Freed-Hardeman. Right now, we have a group of 15 from Falkner University who are staying with us for three weeks. Honestly, it sometimes feels like we are running a hotel. Thankfully, I have already worked at a hotel so I know a bit about what I'm doing (thanks Mrs. Walton!) In all seriousness, we really do run a hotel here. A Christian hotel based off of the principal of hospitality. Some days are harder than others but we make it and try to always do it with a smile. On a normal day (as if there was one) we have eight of us living here. Kristin and I, Greg Seiders (harding grad), Kelly Fann (harding Grad), Katy Cross (Freed Grad), David Hopper (harding grad), and the Williams. All of them are wonderful and its been a blessing having them here to help us in our transition. God has been good to us.

In my last big email, I mentioned some people that we were trying to help out at the point in time. To recap, Nancy and Rodger Bednar were on vacation here in Florence, Italy. They were enjoying Italy when Mr. Bednar began to have trouble with kidney stones which caused a reoccurance of his pneumonia that he had had before he came to Italy. He was rushed to the main hospital in the center or Florence as he was having problems breathing. We (Avanti Italia) received an email from some of their friends (in dallas) in America telling us of their situation. Greg and I went on a search to find them. He had been moved to a hospital on the ourskirts of Florence that specialized in Pulmonary surgeries. By the time we arrived Mr. Bednar was heading into surgery to literaly save his life. We met and talked with Mrs. Bednar and her son, Paul, and invited them to come and stay with us at the Bible school so as to save them some money on their now prolonged stay. They came and we began an intersting two weeks. Mrs. Bednar and her son traveled back and forth to the hospital spending most of the days with the now recovering Mr. Bednar. One evening, as we sat watching a movie with some of our students, Mrs. Bednar came in to our living room and she didnt look good. She was crying and so we asked if she was ok. She said that she wasnt. We were worried that something had happened to Mr. Bednar! As it turns out, she was suffering from a lower intestinal problem that she had had before which is called divriticulytus (sp?). We rushed her over to the closest hospital, which is literally across the street from us (Thank God), and got her admitted to the E.R. We were there until 1 am waiting to see how it would go. Now we had a married couple in two different hospitals. Paul Bednar, the son, had already flown home to Dallas because of work. So we drove out to visit Mr. Bednar to fill him in on why his wife was not there to visit him on that day. We talked to the doctors and they promised to do whatever they could to transfer him over close to us so they could at least be at the same hospital. They did and it was such a blessing! At that time, Mrs. Bednar ended up having life saving surgery! So now both of them had to have surgery in Italy while on vacation. God took care of them and they both were such wonderfully positive people. Im glad to say that they made it home back to the states safe and sound. God has blessed us with new friends and a WHOLE LOT of memories.

On a different note, Ive had two students that come just about everyday to study Bible. Mario Luigi Donatello (yes, thats his REAL name, stereotypical I know) is a 47 year old resteraunt owner. He owns a BEAUTIFUL resteraunt called "La Taverna di Castruccio". We spend most mornings from 930 to 11 talking about any questions that he might have about life, Bible, scripture, history, and more. He is truly seeking and is needing your prayers. Pray for Luigi! Well, Kristin and I are enjoying our work filled summer and know that God is blessing our lives as we serve HIM. I pray that all of you may find peace and strength in your work, homes, and any place that God may lead you. Stand firm in THE faith. Search the SCRIPTURES. God will guide. Love and Peace from Florence. The church in Florence sends their greeting. IN HIM WE LIVE AND MOVE AND HAVE OUR BEING.
Brandon and Kristin Edwards

encouragement

The picture you see here is a group of girls from church. One of them is from albania, 1 italian, and the other 3 (including myself) are american. They are new christians and it gives me great joy to see them here. What also brings me joy is seeing a father and his 2 sons (9 and 7) and how they are growing up in the church. Their father takes them to church every sunday not to mention having to deal with his ex-wife for custody and the italians refer to her as the "holy terror" but yet he still does it. He even comes to our tuesday night bible studies every time at 9pm after along day of hard work and a long day at school for the boys (not to mention getting close to their bedtime). And the tired face on the father still smiles and smiles on those boys faces as they enter, and how they always bring their own bibles and look through the scriptures with us and participate. Pray for that family. He's trying to get custody and at the same time, the mother is fighting b/c she doesn't like the idea of her ex-husband or sons becoming "christians". It's seeing a man, Marion, who has a condition with his spine and is crippled, but still makes it every sunday with a bright attitude that makes you smile when you see him. It's seeing a business man, on the way to work, stop at a local bar (coffee shop) and buys bottled water for the construction workers outside to show him that he appreciates them and their hard work. These are just a few of the many people that encourage me without words, but through appearance and just being themselves.

Arrival in Italy

We have arrived in italy. Orientation with smoothly and Kristin is enrolled full time in language school. Last week she was in a class with 1 russian, 1 german and 2 spaniards. It was a tough time for her since the teachers don't explain anything in english to you. They do gestures and simple italian to make you figure out what the words mean. This week the german and russian left the school to go home and the spaniards moved up a level. So she has 3 new classmates which are 2 welsh and 1 english. Now she can freely talk to her classmates! They are now all on the same level of learning and the teacher explains more of what she's teaching now that there's only 2 different languages in the room rather than 5. Brandon has been busy with students already since he has the advantage of being fluent in the native tongue. Please continue to pray for his work. All of his students not only want to learn english, but are searching as well and want to know more about the Bible. Please continue to pray for the church of Florence. May the people continue to be encouraged and find their peace and joy in this church family.

Our first post....prior to leaving.

Well, its about three weeks until we get married and four weeks until we begin our journey to Italy. Its an exciting time! Between wedding plans, teaching class, visa's (prayers), and life in general, we are a bit tired come every evening. However, God has been good to us and has given us so much to be thankful for. We have great families that support us, great church families that support us, and wonderful Christian brothers and sisters literally around the world who are praying for the both of us 24/7. Its good to be alive and working for HIM. So as we embark on this journey of marriage and service to HIM, we ask for your continued prayers and support in all that we do. God bless you all!

Brandon and Kristin