English/Bible studies

How many Italian men does it take to install an air conditioner/heater wall unit? Apparently 5. That has been our morning so far. It's been entertaining watching them argue and repeating "aspetta! aspetta!" which means "wait!" while a couple recline on our couch making orders to the other workers. As you just read, our gracious land lord is installing an air condition/ heater wall unit in our living room for us. It can get pretty hot here in Catania and he's doing it well in advance before the blistering summer heat strikes us (which will probably be in a few weeks).
Last night we had a bible/english lesson which was scheduled with one girl, Georgia, but then it turned into a lesson for 3: Georgia's father and Stefano Scibiglia. Georgia is a 16 year old brilliant girl. She is almost fluent in french, and knows a little bit of japanese, chinese, german, and russian. She has had 11 years of english (since kindergarten) and is in need of practice in pronunciation, understanding, and writing. She has weekly bible studies with Stefano, a wonderful evangelist, as she is studying to become a christian. Her parents are members of the church and right now she is studying to, Lord willing, make the greatest decision in her life. At the same time, our new sister, Nicoletta, who was just baptized a month ago, is continuing her studies with a fellow member of the church AND brought along her boyfriend whom she is hoping will become a brother in Christ! Last sunday we spoke to Nicoletta about it and she is praying diligently that her boyfriend will have an open heart and accept the Message that has changed her life for the good.
After Georgia's study with Stefano, her father decided to sit in on her lessons with us as well as Stefano. Our english lessons went very smoothly. We took the first 8 verses of Mark and had them read out loud, one verse at a time, while correcting their pronunciation and explaining certain words to them. Georgia's dad just listened in and followed along in his italian bible while Stefano decided to surprise us with his knowledge of english. We also gave a little historical background about the writer, Mark, which they were fascinated with. We then had them re-read the english verse in italian and vice versa to practice their translating skills. For homework they are to read out loud the verses again as well as writing it and then to translate a passage in James 1:2-6.
As we were telling the history of Mark, I realized how blessed I was to have had the opportunity of studying at a christian university as well as a christian highschool. The new testament and old testament surveys, as well as studies on individual books such as James and Hebrews, and the Gospels, have enriched my mind with the historical knowledge (as well as knowledge for "the way" to live life that leads to our eternal life with HIM). In our study last night, it was their first time to hear that Mark was actually a surname and that John was his first name. We will continue to share historical background of the books with them and Brandon is doing the best he can in his time between students to translate historical biblical material for them.