E-3 days

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Today Anna, David and David arrived, requiring that we revisit sleeping arrangements again! This team gets high points for flexibility.

Anna, David and David are the OM Italy film crew, visiting all the 9 teams working in Italy this summer. We actually knew they were coming, and met them accidentally in L'Aquila, though there was some sort of loose plan to do that, and before we knew sleeping arrangements were going to be such an issue.

But back to L'Aquila...we visited to distribute invitations for our exhibit on Sunday, prayerwalk, and to visit the student dorm, infamous here for a drama that took place during the earthquake (more on that later). The city seems completely different than even a week ago. I would love to think it has something to do with our presence and all of our prayers (yours and mine), but—could that be?!

Before we came, we were told we had no access to the main piazza; it was in a condemned zone, inaccessible to all. It opened about a month before we arrived. Although the Italians walk it with a bit of reverence, and all was hushed and quiet when we first walked it with them, today it had a lot more energy. Work crews were at it—banging, hammering, drilling and cabling were going on all around us.

Last Sunday, none of the fountains were working, and the main piazza was pretty deserted. Today, the fountains were flowing, and people were gathered in a tent in the main piazza for some meeting (probably political). A new art exhibit by students graced the wire fencing along the main street.

After a copious lunch at the only café open in the main part of town, we went to the main piazza, Piazza Duomo. We poured a bottle of water into the fountain, as a sign of refreshment which we hope to bring the city through our artwork on Sunday. A bottle of oil was poured onto the ground by Pastor Giorgio’s daughter, another symbolic act of softening the soil of men’s hearts, and of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. We invited Him to come and do what He does so well. I am looking forward to see what happens on Sunday. Then we prayerwalked around the piazza.

As we began distributing the invitations, the rains came, and we took shelter in a café. Our film crew from OM Italy arrived. After an hour of waiting out the rain, we headed for home.

I have had the deep assurance in my heart since yesterday that we need no invitations; God is going to bring the people He wants on Sunday. We have prepared our messages; tomorrow they go to our translators. We have one more day of artwork, then we have to clean and pack up on Friday, for our next move on Saturday. Though the weekend promises us to be more than full, I can’t wait to see what happens!