The Journey.1

12.45 = Liz's house -> Pat Joe / car left there
13.00 = CLONAKILTY -> CORK AIRPORT
13.45 = Thanks Conrad and Marta for the taxi service, in we go!
16.00 = on the plane: CORK -> LONDON
17.00 = landing in London... bus to Terminal 4... new security check... new boarding passes...dinner

One step done, two to go!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU!

Greetings

just a few simple words...

MAY THE LIGHT 

OF JESUS 

LIGHT UP 

YOUR LIFE

(every seconds of it)

Merry Christmas 

from 

Sam, Michele, Elena and Mattia

Commissioning service 28th of December 7pm Clonakilty Methodist church

Hi all,

it won't be long till we are back in Ireland, though only for a few days.

Next week we are heading to Italy to spend Christmas with our families, then on the 26th we are flying back to the UK, ready to drive back to Ireland on the 27th, just in time for the big date:

COMMISSIONING SERVICE

28th of December 

7pm 

Clonakilty Methodist Church

As usual, the service will be followed by refreshments in the Hall, to give us the chance to say hello again and then goodbye to all of you, our dear friends in the Green Isle.

We won't really have much time in Ireland after that, because we are spending New Years Eve in a plane flying to Rwanda. The schedule is quite tight but we want to be in Rwanda a few days before the kids start school on the 5th so as to make it a bit easier for them.

So please come all on the 28th! 

Looking forward to seeing you again,

Love and blessings

the course

8 weeks into it, maybe it's time to talk about it, isn't it?

Yes, 8 weeks already done, only 2 to go for our "En Route" course, training for those "on the missionary road", at All Nations Christian College.

So, what would you like to know?

Students? 19, from Europe (UK, Ireland, Denmark, Netherlands), Asia (Japan, Hong Kong) and Africa (Nigeria), of different ages (early 20s to over 50) and background (fairly new Christians, ministers, missionaries back from years on the field, missionaries leaving soon, would-be missionaries...)

They're the best aspect of the course! Some very good friends, all nice people, a great deal of faith  stories and experiences to share

Maybe too much difference, especially as to faith-missionary journey? Definitely.

Tutors? 3 main ones, plus several others, both from the College and external.

All very friendly, dedicated, with a lot of missionary experience and a lot of reading/studying/experience on the subjects, which doesn't necessarily converts into good teaching methods/skills...

Structure? 5 modules: 

  -  Who Am I? (expectations, personality/learning/team role types, Christian identity...) 

  -  The Bible and Mission? (bible overview from a missional point of view, personal creed, what is mission?, motivation, different approaches, trends...)

  -  Culture and World Religion? (culture and worldview, culture shock, major religions, folk religion, how to approach different religions...)

  -  Relating and Integrating (cross-cultural approaches, learning languages, life-style, families/singles in mission, health, safety, poverty&development, spiritual gifts, conflict handling, communicating with supporters...)

  -  What is mission? (Integral mission, evangelism, church planting, bible studies, creation care, suffering, contextualisation, arts...)

A lot of challenging, interesting, valid, useful, relevant... themes? Yes. Well tackled? No, apart from a few cases.

A bit too much for 10 weeks? Not just a bit...

Good for you? A lot is not really relevant, a few aspects would surely be good, but there's no time/will/method to delve into them.

Workload? 3 hours of lessons per morning, 4 days a week, 1.5 hrs the 5th day / endless personal questionnaires / plenty of suggested reading / a workbook per module with questions on the programme done during those weeks / other assignments: a personal creed, a cross-cultural profile (interviewing a student from a different culture), a newsletter "from the mission", a "farewell plan" / a final research project on a subject of the student's choice.

Is that much? It depends on how much you want to do and how much time you have: as a family, with kids to manage before and after the lessons, there's not much time left, so it's not easy; still, we've done a lot of other things on the sides (different readings, travel arrangements, a little language studies, sport and/or music to survive...) and we are well on track, though it meant loads of evening/night study and very little of the suggested reading (not a great loss).

Anything else? Outside the course, there's a lot more going on for students, not compulsory, but still expected: Community prayer meetings on Monday and Wednesday morning / Tutor Group (with other students, not just from our course) prayer meetings on the other days / Community worship on Sunday evening (people go to different churches for morning service) / prayer partners weekly meeting 

Wow, great community life! Absolutely, but that means less time for studying or personal devotion (especially as parents, with less time available). And with so many moments not all of them can be really suited to everyone...

General evaluation? As you might have guessed from the above comments, not very positive, so it's better not to elaborate too much on it now and let the course finish, then we'll give our final verdict.

Singing

Mrs.Mummy is not doing much physio here, only extemporary fixing of fellow students and staff members, but at least little by little she’s singing more and more.

The disappointment of not being able to join the Folk Group for their big date was huge, but luckily there are a few choirs at the college, so our family's heavenly voice is still active.

The newly formed (perfect timing!) Gospel choir was rehearsing for the 50^th Anniversary celebration of the arrival of the college in this place and Elena enjoyed practicing with them a lot (and of course they were appreciating her contribution a great deal, too), but then it dawned on everyone that she wouldn’t be there for the performance, as she took the children to Italy for mid-term (more on that in a future post, hopefully before next mid-term…).

No time for sadness, anyway, as now it’s Christmas Choirs time and singingMum is quite busy, both with the main group for the Carol Service and with the “serious” choir, led by an over-ambitious director who’s trying to get a few numbers ready from… nothing else than Handel’s Messiah, including some solos, one of which of course is for Elena.

Daddy is trying to lure her into some other performances in the main hall of the college (where the grand-piano sits!), for the faithful patrons of the “free hot chocolate in the evening” (according to Mattia one of the best bits of the college programme), but the combined excuses of “I’m tired” + “thekidsareinbedwecan’tleavethemalonetoolong” have up to now managed to reduce the delight of our dear chocolate&chat lovers to only one taster, a rendition of Schubert’s Ave Maria, but the power of daddy’s dogged insistence is renowned, just as his wife’s love/need for singing, so there’s hope for more before we leave these shores.

In the meantime, we couldn't help trying our luck at setting up some children singing even here, so, despite the dictatorial reputation of the lady in charge of the Carol Service, we've managed to get the go-ahead for a song by the kids, who by the way had already started practising it at their Thursday Children's Club a nice hour of worship-story-activities for kids staying at the college (it started only in November and it was to be held only every second week, but now we're gathering them every week for rehearsals!). Michele&Sam love the idea, which means we're hearing them practising Go Tell It On the Mountain a dozen time a day...

Would-be chef runs for the door

Dad - So boys, on Monday you're going to get your vaccinations.
Sam (matter-of-factly) - I'm not going to do it.
Dad - But without vaccinations you cannot come to Rwanda.
Sam (same) - I'm not coming to Rwanda.
Mum - Where are you staying, then?
Sam (as self-assured as can be) - I'm going back to Ireland.
Mum - And stay there by yourself?
Sam - No, with one of you.
Dad - But all three of us are going to Rwanda.
(Sam pauses in silence, then confirms) - I'm not coming.

Michele (surprisingly quiet up to now, but that cannot last long) - No way! I'm gonna put you in a suitcase and you're coming with us to Rwanda!

Not even brotherly love can shake "the stubborn one", so the scene continuous

Mum - And in Ireland sooner or later you'll have to get more vaccinations, anyway.
Sam - Then I'm staying here at All Nations.
(Dad&Mum&Michele trying not to burst with laughter, without much success)
Dad - OK, we'll ask Anthony and Carol if they can give you a job in the kitchen, scrubbing the floor and cleaning the boards...
(Sam nods, smiling)
Dad - ... then in time you can become a chef!
The smart little fellow keeps smiling, a bit wryly...

---------------------------------------------------------------
Monday morning, first round of vaccinations, in Ware
We try the story we came with in the last few days ("we're Lions, you get your jab bravely than you shock the nurse with a mighty roar"), but to no avail: Sam starts crying before his turn and has to be held firmly by Dad while the nurse stabs him, though he cries only less than a minute after that, so we can tell him he's been good...

Monday afternoon, second round, in London (we couldn't do otherwise...)
We try to let him see it's all fine, by letting Dad, Mum and Mickey go first, but no joy: as soon as Michele finishes, Sam starts crying; we try giving him choices:
"Mum's or Dad's lap? Therapy bed or chair?"
"Muuuuuum's!"
OK, so Mum sits on the bed, Dad lifts Sam and lays him in her arms...
"I caaaan dooo thaaaat myseeeeelf"
OK, so Dad picks him and lets him down on the ground.
Dad, Mum, Michele and the nurse start talking to defuse the situation, trying to find possible solutions...
But in the meantime, the little fellow runs for the door, opens it and off he goes, running along the corridor!
Mum gets him back and we start again.
"Muuuuum's", "On the chaaaaaair"
So Mum sits, Dad lifts him and lays him on her arms...
"I caaaan dooo thaaaat myseeeeelf"
OK, here we go, Dad takes him down...
and he runs for the door again!
But Daddy was ready:
"Nice try, smart one!"
The fight then began and we won it. 
Sam even got his "certificate of bravery" (totally undeserved, but really cool!)


So, all's well that end's well, 
and even better if you've got a good story to tell?

Might be, unless... there are six more jabs for Sam, over 3 Mondays!

Good luck

First Football Match

You already know they are busy with various sports and you can see them in action thanks to some pictures accessible from the gallery page, but we felt this event deserved a post for itself: Michele’s first football match…. or should we say soccer?

Let’s make it clear: he had already proudly played for Clon in both Gaelic Football and Hurling matches on our dear Green Isle, but now that we are on the other side of the Celtic Sea, he plays what there is called “soccer” and here is simply “football”.

                                                   

A few weeks ago, after a couple of months of Saturday morning training, it was time for the first match with the Under 7 team of Ware YFC (Youth Football Club).

The opposition was significantly stronger (was it under 7 or under 8?) and more experienced, with plenty of matches already under their belt, and the result was not kind on our players, but all the boys did their best, never giving up, with joyful attitude and no dejection, and no complaints when they had to take turns in goal or on the bench, all to their (and their coaches’) credit.

Most of all, just like in Ireland with the Red&Green team, Michele was not the man of the match, but he surely had a really good time!

                                                           

"I must make amends"

The promise was approximately a post per week, but now we seem to be down to less than one per month!

We've realised that those of you that still come to this page for updates deserve some compensation, so we've prepared a feast of photos (click or go to the gallery page) for you to gorge into pictures of the two kids having fun here and there and this way catch up with what we've been up to in the last 6 or 7 weekends.

(By the way, we've also updated the little boxes on the left column...)

Summarizing... 

After the trip to the cliffs and Michele's birthday party at the beginning of September, we lent GrannyChiara to Auntie Marta for a few days (super-sister/aunt took her to a Beatles journey through Liverpool!) and when she came back to us we had a day out together in London, with two main targets: the Natural History Museum and Tower Bridge (up to the top!); they were both great visits, though the dinosaurs were "on holiday" (halls closed for renovation), but we still wondered at the huge skeleton in the main hall and the rest of the museum was fascinating all the same (especially the big mammals, blue whale topping them all).

Before the autumn set in, we went Gruffalo-hunting! There are several forests in the UK with Gruffalo-themed paths and one is not far from here, near Cambridge, so we had a wonderful afternoon walking in search of the characters of that amazing story and we were delighted also by the music-trail: a series of incredible instruments available for kids and adults. We finished the day with a bow&arrow shooting sessions for children and mum.

After a month in England, at last we kept our word and took the kids to one of European children's dream place, a park near Windsor with amazing works made up of little bricks... can you guess? Thanks Maeve&John&Jack&MaryJo for the contribution. Mattia had already been both there and at the "original", in Billund, Denmark, but he was thrilled once again and Elena couldn't resist the charm of the astounding sculptures either; it was so good that we somehow managed not to be bothered by the crowd and the endless queueing.

We planned to stop by them on our way to Ware from Ireland, but the journey was already too long; then we found ourselves busy with lots of trips every weekend, but finally, in mid October we paid a long overdue visit to our Italian friends in Staines, west of London, who have just been blessed by the arrival of child-number-3, Elia. After a good time at their place for lunch, they took us to a very nice park for playtime and a lovely walk, before going back to their house again for dinner: we really enjoyed their company!

Michele and Sam's school is about 2.5 miles (yes, still that Imperial mindset...) or 4 km from the college, but Michele has become such a good cyclist, especially with his "new" bike (an old one we found at the college and fixed), that we never use the car: 4 days by bike (Sam on dad's one) and 1 on foot. The nicest part of all this is that there's another bicycle-lover dad at the college, with a small baby, Rosie Mae, and a girl, Olivia, in the same class as Sam, so with this new very good friends we often cycle together or meet along the road, and every Monday we walk together, either with him or with his crazy but super-fit wife, a swim wonder who kept swimming (and quite seriously) till the very morning when their third child, Titus James Lee, was born, last Sunday.

We wash the two rascals regularly with the shower in our flat, but sometimes we treat them to a bath in a bathroom available for all students on our floor, and as you can see from the pictures they love it!

We live quite close to Stansted Airport, so especially during last sunny September we kept seeing planes flying over our heads while playing on the lawn of the college; they are still quite low, as they've just taken off, so it's really a good show and Mattia for a few days got into a plane-watching craze, or better a plane-shooting mania, luckily with a camera!

At the end of September Mattia and Elena started their course, which is the reason for the blog's long silence: our morning lessons, taking the kids around (school&sport), staying with them in the afternoons and then trying to study in the evenings, plus other various bits of college life and some life-saving exercise for both mummy and daddy, keep us quite busy.

Soon we'll tell you more about the serious stuff of our time here, in the meantime enjoy the fun side of it!

Day Tripper

Sunday, September 7

Ware do you....

Mattia, please, cut it out! This post is not about your new town, anyway.
Alright, alright!

Where do you take the kids for a first exploration of England?
What better place to start from than such a landmark as

THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER!

DaddyMattia and GrannyChiara had already seen the shining rocks, but they relished the opportunity to see them again, especially because this time the plan was to take the spectacular walk along the coast, from the visitor centre to the lighthouse. 

Isn't that a bit far from Hertfordshire? Maybe not, but indeed it is, if as good Christians on Sunday morning you first go to the service! The time then was actually quite short for such a trip, but Daddy insisted so much that Mummy had to accept the plan... Anyway, we made it (thanks to the bus from the lighthouse back to the car), arriving back to the college in time for supper.

As you will see from the pictures (click on the link above the image or go to the gallery page), the weather was not the best you can hope for such dramatic views, but it rained during the car journey and stopped when we arrived, so we couldn't complain at all, even more so because we all really had a great time and won't forget that breathtaking scenery for a while! 

Happy Birthday Michele

8 September

Michele's 7th Birthday!

Little party with family presents at breakfast in our flat, with special guest GrannyChiara, arrived a few days before.

(all pictures here or from the gallery page...)

Home-made cookies to celebrate at school (with Michele's teacher absolutely delighted by them "best cookies I've ever tasted"!)

Birthday adventure: short boating trip in the afternoon, on the river Lee.

Party with friends from the college in the afternoon, with fruit-cake (with blackberries picked around the college grounds), happy-birthday song in 5 different languages and football match "adults vs children".

First stage: "Ware" are we now?

When you set off on a new adventure, most people would say it helps if you know your destination...
We might differ and reply that what really matters is travelling rather than arriving, but let's leave that aside and abide by the general rule.

So, the main point is WHERE you go, right? 

Well, we got that down to a T and here we are: in WARE!

OK, now take your time and have some good laughs with plenty of funny puns, which are actually quite commonly found on many a shop sign in town: "ware to eat", "hair to ware"...

Aren't we nice? We keep you entertained even from afar!

Back to the facts, our precise wareabouts are between Ware and Stanstead Abbots, as we live at All Nations Christian College in Hertfordshire, just one hour north of London. We're here for a 10-week training course on mission for Mattia and Elena, starting on the 24th of September; we came in advance to settle the children in school.

Before telling you more about our life here, we can briefly report that the journey by car from our dear Clonakilty (Ireland, County Cork) to England was long but went smoothly, so no complaints. The entertainment for kids in the ferry was a fantastic help for mummy and daddy and a welcome change for the boys, after and before the long hours in the car. The bike-rack didn't behave very well, forcing us  to stop a couple of times for small adjustments before daddy decided to take the bikes down and set it all up again, but in the end it was just a good reason to take a break.

Thus, from the evening of Wednesday the 27th we are staying in a flat in the main house of the college: it’s on the second floor, so the stairs will keep us fit, and it’s quite big, so we’ve got plenty of space for our family life. We have most of our meals in the canteen, which is a nice experience for the kids, a great relief for the parents and a good way of meeting other students. 

The college grounds are really beautiful: we’ve got a lovely view on the surrounding woods and squirrels and birds abound, from morning till evening. We’ve been enjoying the area, with pleasant nature walks and good rides on the bikes, just for fun or to reach the nearby town of Ware and the village of Stanstead Abbots (which is quite small, but closer and with a great playground!). The river Lea (or Lee, which makes us feel like we're still in County Cork) is only a few minutes away and the path running alongside it is really lovely.

The college is still rather quite, as most students are coming at the end of September, but families with school-age children came earlier, as we did, so the kids have already made friends with a few boys and girls and it’s been great for us to have met other families, with whom we can share information and tips on living here and learn about their experiences; there seems to be people with any sort of background: a family have just come back from 8 years in Egypt, another one was in Turkey, another lived for years in China… and there’s more coming. They are all nice to us and they recognised the Irish accent, especially Elena’s.

The boys started school last Wednesday, Michele in Year 2 and Sam in Reception (like Junior Infants) and they are both enjoying it a lot and already proud to "ware" their new uniform. Michele was impressed by the grassy school grounds and Sam by the fish-tank and the sand-and-water play area. The school provides free lunches (together with free jumper, books and stationery, all to the credit of England’s welfare system) and Michele came back the first day saying he’d had his best lunch ever… Sam had a great start of his school career, giving us thumbs-up while walking in, and he’s particularly happy to have two children from the college in his class.

Apart from school they’re busy with plenty of sport, from football to swimming and tennis is starting today; we’re all registered at the local library, too. 

It’s always amazing to see how quickly and easily the two lads adapt to a new situation: after only two days they told us they could live here forever.

As to the old ones, Mattia and Elena are settling well, too: up to now it’s been just a matter of finding out how things work, at the College and around here, and of arranging the kids’ life, but there’s still some time before our course begins, so now that school has started and everything seems set, we can dedicate ourselves to learning some French, to having more chats with our new interesting friends and to relax after the stressful and tiring weeks of preparation, either by doing nothing or by doing some sport, so as to get ready for studying.

The last two Sundays we went to Hertford Methodist Church, just in the next town, where they were ready to welcome us. It’s a nice place and a nice congregation, and, good Methodists as they are, they have tea&coffee after the service. There weren't many children, but they had Sunday School anyway, so Michele and Sam had a good start there, too. There are other Methodist Churches around, which we plan to visit in the next few weeks.

On our first Monday we were so lucky as to enjoy a wonderful concert for Sax Quartet in St.Mary’s Church of England, in Ware, just not to miss Ireland’s music scene too much.

Definitely, a good start.

More to follow...