Dear Family and Friends,

Much has happened since our last e-letter, so we thought we’d share some of our recent adventures with you.

First, the good news. We received our permessos di sogiorno from Immigration. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for those documents to come through. We have gone to our local “commune” and applied for our residency and are awaiting a visit by the local police to verify our information. Once we have the residency, we will apply for our “carta d’identita”, which will be the last of the paperwork – until next January when we must reapply for the permessos. This process is similar to what aliens in the U.S. must do annually, and as a matter of fact, Italians must also register each time they move to a different residence, even within the same community.

We have been busy with numerous church-missionary-ministry activities, including weekly worship, prayer gatherings, planning sessions, and hospitality. Cas has been teaching the book of
Philippians at our church on Saturday evenings. He preached on the Triumphal Entry for Palm Sunday weekend, and we celebrated our first Lord’s Supper since coming to Bologna. Of course, for Easter he preached on the resurrection and how we benefit from it. This weekend he will preach at the Filipino church again.

Easter weekend was a busy one as we attended a Good Friday service at Nuova Vita, had our own service on Saturday evening, and then a special service at Holy Cross Anglican on Monday, followed by a church picnic at a nearby park. This is a major holiday in Italy, as it is the first since Christmas, the weather is warm, children are out of school, and many families go to the beach or mountains for an extended weekend. There is the traditional giving of flowers, chocolate eggs and other sweets, including special breads and cakes. But no rabbits or chicks! In fact, Italians are quite puzzled over what these have to do with Easter. When they ask us, we tell them: nothing!

The Easter Monday picnic is an Italian tradition. The park we visited is actually an ancient estate called Villa Ghigi in the hills south of Bologna. We set up our blankets on the hillside in front of the villa with a wonderful view of the surrounding hills, other villas, and Bologna below us. The day was warm and sunny and everyone contributed food and drink. Our group was comprised of American, British, Italian, Australian, German, Chinese, Filipino and Swiss people. It was quite interesting just to sit and listen to the various conversations taking place in different languages. As we were setting up, Cas noticed a young single man sitting on a log nearby all by himself, and invited him to join us for. His name is Marcus, he’s Swiss and resides in Dusseldorf. However, he is currently studying in Bologna. Everyone in our group befriended him and he truly enjoyed his afternoon with us. He has been invited to church, so please pray that he will come as he is searching spiritually.

April 25 was another major Italian holiday, as it is the day that the Allied Forces liberated Italy from the Nazis during World War II. There were various celebrations, parades and demonstrations throughout the country. Nuova Vita sponsored a gathering of several churches in the area, including Milan, and we had about 120 people in attendance. The keynote speaker was Corrado Primavera, a Dallas Seminary doctoral graduate who now teaches at the theological seminary in Rome. It was a great day of worship, food and fellowship – all in Italian, and we are grateful for the good contacts and new friends that we made.

On a more serious note, Italy recently had national elections and the outcome was very close. As a friend of ours said, “the Italians elected a communist government that calls itself “Democrats” –let this be a lesson for you.” However, the new government does not have a mandate and is not expected to last until the end of the year. In spite of the scandals and corruption of the previous government, it was the first to go full-term since the end of World War II. Italy has had over 60 changes of government in sixty years. Many people were hoping that the incumbent would win, so that the stability and progress the country has enjoyed could continue. So we expect that there will be problems in the months ahead, as any governmental actions will be met with resistance from one political group or another. Please pray that the government can find a way to function in a cooperative manner that will continue to bring stability and progress to this country.

We have started weekly Italian lessons with a wonderful teacher. Barbara is a Catholic believer, who also attends our church, a native Bolognese, and an English teacher in a public high school here. She has been pouring Italian into our heads and demanding that it come out our mouths, and we are beginning to perform! So please pray for our continued progress in learning the language.

Our missionary group here had a very promising meeting with representatives from Campus Crusade. They are very excited about the storefront ministry which the group began here, and would like to become active partners in it. At the present time CC does not have a ministry in Bologna and this would be a good way for them to establish a presence among the 100,000 students in this city. Please pray that this joint venture will come to fruition over the next few months and will have a major impact on the students.

Additionally, Italy will host its very first International Missions Conference the last week of August in Rimini. The keynote speaker will be George DerWer, founder of Operation Mobilization. Many mission agencies will be in attendance and actively recruiting. We are very excited about this conference and look forward to being part of a historic event. Please pray that this will be the start of a major movement here that will impact the world.

We wish to thank all of you who have donated funds for the purchase of our car. We are very grateful for your generous gifts. And for all who pray for the Lord’s provision and protection for us, we want to say a great big “Thank You”! You are a great encouragement to us every day.

We asked you to pray for some people here with needs, and our God has answered. The young men have all found work in the past couple weeks. Praise the Lord with us.

Finally, last Sunday we walked up the 3.6 kilometers of porticos to the Basilica of San Luca on top of a hill in southwest Bologna. It was a gorgeous spring day and the sky was clear, so we had great views of the Apennine Mountains, which separate us from Tuscany. We’ve attached photos so you can see how beautiful it is here, and how truly blessed we are.

Praising the Lord for you, we remember you in our prayers and send you our love, as we serve Him Who is our risen and reigning Lord,

Cas and Mary Jane