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.