The trouble in Sicily

Stella and I came down to stay with her parents here in Sicily right after the Mission trip.

Several years back, Her father purchased a home in disrepair and fixed it up. This is where we "Stay" when we come. We spend our nights there, but are with her parents and brother for entirety of the day.

When we first got here, the sun was out. We were able to go to the beach a few days before the clouds came in. It now feels like it has been rain, thunder, and lightning for 75% of our time. This makes Stella sad, as she gets plenty of bad weather in Portland. She was hoping to be able to sit in the sun a little more. Ive not been here previously during the fall months. I see snow on Mt. Etna, which I have not seen before. Rain has been plentiful, though they tell me this is a few months ahead of schedule. Early or not, the rain takes a heavy toll on the people here. The infrastructure is not designed to accommodate the amount of rain I have seen, resulting in literal rivers of water going down the main streets of Catania and all over Italy. Video, Video, Video. Thunder and lightning is far more active than in Portland. From what I recall, in Portland we get it now and again, but it happens a few times, then its finished. Here it rolls and rolls and rolls. The peals of thunder are intense. I love it.

The culture in Southern Italy is not what you would find in the States or in Some of the more modern countries in Europe. I have noticed in the larger cities there is great potential for tourism, incredible history, beautiful architecture, and wonderful food. There is a charm about southern Italy that I believe the world would love to experience - and should. On the other hand, there is the side of the south that is bound by mafia, fear, corruption, and a general lack of care. You would notice driving around that there is rubbish everywhere. There are dumpsters all over the city, but it seems that the garbage seldom makes it into a dumpster. The other day Stella and I put a bag of trash into the dumpster, and as we figured out our route into the city on our phones, we watched gypsies drive up to the dumpster, remove several bags from the dumpster including ours, dump them onto the street, and spread them our to find anything useful. They of course didn't bother to put anything back into the dumpster - they drove away. Every dumpster you drive by, there is garbage all over the place. When you combine the abundance of rubbish with the rain, you get clogged drains, water mixed with all kinds of waste and spreading of garbage over an even larger area. Standing water breeds mosquitos, which are also abundant here.

I am constantly trying to solve the problem in my head, yet the problem lies in the Mafia and the cultural mentality. You will notice that the inside of Italian homes is immaculate, yet the outside is crumbling. Many Italians live in the high-rise style flats. There are no homeowners associations, or companies that do property care. No one wants to pay for building maintenance because they know that someone else is just going to destroy it later. Why paint if someone is just going to sneak during the night and tag it with graffiti. Why patch the cement if I am the only one in they whole complex that is going to pay for it, only for someone else to come and destroy it later. Why bother cleaning up the garbage if gypsies are simply going to come and spread it out on the ground after me? why follow the traffic rules if everyone else disobeys them? I will never get to my destination! Why park the way I should? I'll just get double parked and blocked in!

Why doesn't someone make a HUGE landfill near the center of the island? Ask the USA for help, they are good at burying garbage. Surely, there has got to be a place they can take their garbage. When you start to move forward with something like this, Mafia shows up and puts a large price on your business. If you don't pay, your building is destroyed, your family is in danger, you live in fear, or you are forced to abandon the whole project. Seems to me that you need a large workforce who are all ex-military; all security guards, and you have armed guards posted 24 hours a day to keep the mafia out of your hair. at least this would give the garbage some place to go. Then they find out where you live and threaten your family. Seems the safest place in Sicily is the military bases. Stella was telling me that Mafia never goes to the American bases because the Americans are not afraid to shoot someone. Maybe we should make an American base for garbage.

Life is hard here. You either live with it, or you move. You go to UK, Germany, anywhere. Many Italians have lived in the same city their whole lives and they've not traveled. The older generation are those who stay, and the younger move from their cities looking for work elsewhere in Europe, where mafia is not a problem.

Stella and I in Ragusa

We've been able to drive around some of the smaller cities here, and I can tell you that they are incredibly beautiful. The smaller cities have better systems in place. They seem to be cleaner, people are nicer, they drive better, they park well, they are charming in a way that a large city is not.
We've gone to Modica, Ragusa, Caltagirone, and Sarzana (way up in the north of Italy) to walk around and let me have fun taking pictures. I did not bring my SLR this time however, so all these are from my phone.

Festival Conclusion

Festival was good this year. There were many different things in terms of how the whole trip was organized, some good, some bad, but in the end,  all was well. Doug Valenzuela did an awesome job with his messages in the evenings, and there were many Italians attending. There were several that came forward after hearing the messages, desiring to know more about Jesus, and some who stayed and listened.  Simply sharing the news of salvation is a huge victory. As anything else in life, being informed about something puts you in an advantageous position. This advantageous position is understanding the need for salvation. After understanding this, it is much easier to hear and accept the truth of the Gospel. Putting on a parachute in an airplane would seem ridiculous, unless you knew it was going to crash. It’s being informed of the crash that prompts one to put on the parachute.

Final night at Festival.

I cannot say I didn’t have time to write something about my days however if I had done so every day, I would have missed out on meeting with my team in the evenings or getting to know others on the team during the day. My days started around 7:30 in the morning and ended around midnight or 1 am. When the day was over, I would typically just go to bed. 

Most days Stella and I chose to go into town around the Festival grounds to hand out flyers or try to invite Italians to come to festival in person. We intentionally handed out flyers at the mall one day, and anyone we happened to interact with on others. We were eventually asked to stop handing out flyers at the mall, or anywhere near the mall. 

Before Stella arrived, I tried to serve as liaison to the hotel, communicating as best I could. It was fun for me to try, though I know I sounded awful. Once Stella arrived, I was relieved of that duty and good communication began. The whole team staying at our hotel was intended to lean on Stella if anyone needed anything. Without her, I was struggling to fill the shoes.

Our Pastor was given the opportunity to preach to the Italian church. 

We had several sick people on the trip and had to sit out for a day. We had fevers, stomach flu, vertigo, and even some sore throat. Stella and I were driving to the pharmacy getting medicine to sick people and to the hotel. I almost got away without getting sick, however the last day I started to get some soreness in my throat. I am now dealing with it in Sicily. I was fortunate to not get it while on the mission trip. 

Our last day was on Wednesday, when most everyone was on their way to the airport and train station. Vans were constantly ferrying people. The earliest run was around 3:00AM and continued through Stella’s and my departure around 10:00AM. I had to turn in the van, and then get to the check in counter. Once I turned in the van, the man reviewing the marks on the vehicle pointed out some damage in the front which was new. I didn’t recall incurring any damage on the van, so I took out my phone and flipped back to the photos of the van thinking perhaps I was backed into or something of that nature. Fortunately, after reviewing the photos of the van the day of the rental, the same damage was there. He told me that by not informing the rental company of the damage to the vehicle before leaving the parking lot, I made a lot of work for him. I apologized for not doing so but was so happy I took the pictures and was no longer liable. It’s always a good idea to take pictures of the whole vehicle when renting. 

Se are now in Sicily, enjoying reconnecting with Stellas mother and Father. We will see her brother soon. We have enjoyed dinner with some of her family, and of course I have taken many lengthy naps after giant, carb loaded lunches. Ah, the Italian life.  

After Festival, we went out for traditional Sicilian Breakfast with Stella's mom.

Stella joins the team.

Yesterday was day 4 of the Festival. In the mornings Delta Ministries has put together outings to keep the adventurous Americans active and out of trouble. This being my 4th trip, I have passed up on some opportunities to go sight seeing in the morning. I have seen most of the locations they have been going to, and can accomplish more things with the van if I stay behind.

3rd night at the end of Doug Valenzuela's Message. 

3 of our American Team are sick. 1 with a flu, 1 with vertigo, and 1, I believe, with stomach problems. Having Stella, we were able to go to a local pharmacy and pick up some medicine that can aid with these conditions. We stopped by the other hotel, where more Americans are staying, and used the printer; we made small flyers that we can hand out with the date, time, and location of the festival. I do not remember handing anything like this out before this year. We have the desire to walk around the community where the festival is being held, and hand flyers out so that more people are aware of what is going on. Having Stella for this was very helpful as well.

We had to go to the store to pick up more ingredients for the cooking booth. While there we handed out more flyers, inviting people to come. After handing out around 15 flyers, we were approached by security and told that we needed to stop handing them out, as it was illegal on the property. They were very kind to us, and did not kick us out, but kindly requested us to stop. I get it, I know when I am in a public area, I can't stand it when people hand me something and try to convince me to come to something or to buy something especially when I have something I am doing. We received very similar responses. Makes me re-think how I behave when someone does this in the future to me. We returned to the hotel and were able to rest up a bit before the team returned on the busses, then all went back to the Festival.

Inside the photo booth we have many children come in. They walk by looking at the giant canvases hanging, and run in all excited to have a picture taken. They are adorable.
I love taking their picture, then telling them, "Brava!". They look at me and say "Grazie" in their cute little Italian voices. We typically take about 10 pictures, then swap the card on the camera. While I am taking the pictures, other team members are printing them out around the corner. We stick Church labels on the back of the photo, so someone could come to church if they wanted. We tell everyone to come back tomorrow to get their pictures; Its our booth's technique to get them to come back.

In the photo booth - Laying out pictures from the day before. 

This is my pic

Ready. Set. Go.

After the massive personnel shuffle on the 6th, 3 days skipped by. 

Volley Square

Hillside's event: the Cowboy
Quarterback Challenge

For anyone who does not know, The Americans coming to serve with the Italians at festival are tasked with preparing Booths/Gazebos. In these booths are attractions that will draw Italians into the festival and provide them something fun, for free. There is a booth where teenager girls can do their nails, where children can get their face painted (or adults). There is an American cooking booth, were they show Italians how to bake chocolate chip cookies or rice crispy treats, and then pass the out to the Italians. There is a Volley Square game, an American football toss game, corn hole, rodeo, line dancing, learn english, check your blood pressure, take a funny picture booth, take a prop picture booth, selfie booth with more props, inflatables to play on, we even have a main stage where there is live music that people can listen to, or watch skit of mimes - no shortage of things to do. Around 8PM we close the doors of the gazebos, and all go to the main stage where there is a show, followed by a presentation about Jesus. Doug asks if anyone wants to know more or if anyone wants Jesus to live in their hearts, and people have been coming forward! 

Update on Stella - 

We received the Stamp!! It is an enormous answer to prayer, so thanks to all of you who prayed for this. She booked the earliest flight possible while maintaining a reasonable price. It was for this morning! She got to the Check in counter, and wouldn't you know it; her name was not on the flight. 

Jon Morris on the balcony of
our Italian Family who's food we are
incredibly excited to eat..

After so many obstacles, we are now expecting things to go wrong. She stood at the counter trying to figure this out all the way up until she missed her flight. She had a long layover in Toronto, Canada on her original Itinerary, so the Airline staff were doing what they could to get her re-booked onto a flight to Toronto to catch up with the second leg of the trip. There was one that departed a half hour from then for an additional $500, so they rushed her to the gate, but she missed it by 1 minute. Back to the Counter - By this time she was hysterical. She was shaking and crying from all the anxiety. She was sure that God did not want her to come. The next option was for a flight to Toronto for $700. This flight would arrive 1 hour before the next leg. They told her, "Once you arrive in Toronto, you need to get your check in bag from baggage claim, then re-check it to your final destination on the Toronto-Istanbul flight". That means go out of security and back in.. at an international airport.. in one hour?... not going to happen. She and I talked and decided to go for it, and pray that it worked out. When they tried to book, it flashed an error message on the screen and would not allow the transaction. I spoke to her on the phone again and I couldn't tell what she was saying since she was crying. We prayed with the Italian family we were having lunch with at the time. Stella called me back later with the news; they could not book the flight because United was trying to book the flight on Air Canada. The Untied lady at the counter walked over to the Air Canada counter and told her what was going on. The Air Canada lady then said, "Oh well lets just re-book her whole flight". They moved Stella to a Portland - Vancouver - Frankfurt - Naples flight which left late enough to on board, and arrives 6 hours earlier than the flight through Istanbul. 

She got on the Plane, Landed in Canada, Left Canada and is in the air right now on her way to Frankfurt Germany! Please pray for her trip! Stella is on her way!!

Paul Spurlock from Twin Lakes Church in Santa Cruz, CA give a great message at
the Melito church about seeing the big picture of God's plan.

The Team Arrives

I fell asleep very fast last night, then woke up again around 11:30. This is either due to the fact that it's like a furnace in my room (Stella would likely still have a blanket on), or that I am experiencing a little jet lag, or that Stella is not here, or all 3 of these things. I talked to her just before I went to bed about her appointment. There is sadly no change. USCIS has still not found her application. I don't know if the Congressman's office intervention is helping in any way, but when I imagine the receiving room for these type of applications, I envision that scene at the end of Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, when Dr. Jones and Marcus Brody are talking to the US Government, questioning them about the ark. The Government guy says, "we have top men working on it right now. 

    Dr Jones responds, "Who?" 

    "Top.    Men."

Just a short moment later you see them sealing the crate containing the Ark and carting it back into this unbelievably large warehouse full of similar crates. Yep. That's where Stellas application is. 

We are simply trusting that God is going to move that application to the top of the pile so when they go in the warehouse to search, it will be right there.

Today was a very busy day for the drivers. One of the most complicated. Today the bulk majority of the American team arrives. We spend a lot of time shuttling people back and forth from airports and train stations. We started by helping the Italians move the inflatable play structures in the morning, to which I did not contribute much effort. 

The buzzing of a bunch of Italian men lifting and pushing and yelling made me think it was probably easier if I just stood to the side, so they could all communicate. We then picked up the rental vans at the airport. There were considerable lines and considerable traffic all over the place. 

The transporting of luggage and people started not long after that. 

My schedule looked like this at times: At 1:00 I have to meet at the airport with another van. They will be taking 4 people and I will be taking 1. I have to take this person with me immediately to the train station so she can help me find the 6 people coming in on the train not more that 40 minutes later. 3 of these people are staying at Hotel Gimar, and 3 at Hotel Stefano. I drop them off, then I must drive to the Airport to pick up 5 people that need to be driven to Hotel Stefano at 3:30. The day is full of this sort of thing for 3 vans and a little car. My last pickup, being almost an hour ago, 12 people trickled out of the airport, finishing around midnight. Back to hotel Gimar I go, which is where I end my day. I have a room there. It is now 1:40am. ...and Im going to bed. 

Van load #4 - some of Abundant Life's group and some of Hillside's.