Sunday Morning in Monduli Juu

On this particular Sunday, I decided to go up to visit the church in the village on top of the mountain, the Monduli Juu church.  As we're just ending rainy season, everything is still so green and flowers are blooming everywhere.  A former student, Wilson, wanted to go with me, so we drove up together.  

We arrived just in time for the break between class and the service, so we had time to greet people before heading in.  Several of the students from Wilson's graduating class last year are members there, so he went of to sit with them and catch up.  Ralph and Twyla Williams, some Canadian missionaries we're all good friends with, worship there, and due to coronavirus Twyla has become the Hand-Washing Guard, standing beside the bucket and soap set up by the door and making sure everyone stops to wash their hands properly before going inside. 

I enjoyed being there; the Monduli Juu church is always friendly and I like spending time with the people there.  It was nice to be able to get back up there; I haven't visited in a while due to not wanting to drive the steep mountain road in the heavy rains of rainy season, but now that we've had over a week of sunny weather it was a great time to go up.

After church, Ralph and Twyla invited me (and Wilson, since he was with me) back to their house for lunch.  Sunday is their leftover day so as to have a quick meal after church, but we lucked out--they had leftover fajita meat!  It was nice to share a meal with them and admire their verdant garden before heading back down the mountain.

Look how well their rhubarb plants are growing! 

Leaving Milan

Leaving is hard. Not just the saying goodbye, but physically as well. I was sweating and my back was killing me as I hurried to repack my bags before leaving Marisa’s. Of course, I had planned carefully so that I would only have to open one of the vacuum bags and thus this wouldn’t be too difficult--but with my suitcase containing the one bag holding the clothes I meant to wear in Italy being one its own little vacation for five days, I had had to open three of the four. Fortunately, Marisa has a vacuum! I was concerned that she wouldn’t as she doesn’t have any carpets...but she is a professional cleaner and has one anyhow for cleaning out window sills, etc. I’m almost glad the airport kept my bag so long; I don’t know how I would have moved all of this stuff several times; just the one suitcase along with my backpack and purse nearly killed me. Also, of course, the day we left was also, by far, the hottest day since we’d been in Milan. The cool, comfortable, cloudy days were over and the sun was bright.

Fortunately, Michela came out to help me roll the other one, and Marisa pointed out that a taxi to Cadorna where we were catching the airport express train wasn’t all that expensive (ended up being about eight dollars, and was worth every penny not to have to drag all that down the stairs to the metro). Lewis and Tammy and the other girls had gone ahead on an earlier train, as they needed to redo their bags they had left in storage at the airport. It was Janfor’s day off, and he had come up to the church building to spend a bit more time with them, and got roped into helping. They left the keys with him as well as our tickets, which they had already bought. He met us, had already figured out the time of the next train and the track, and helped Michela and I load the suitcases onto the train; he was such a huge help. I don’t know how we would have managed it all without him.

My Youth Group Kids

After the fellowship meal, the Shorts and I walked down to the castle along with “i ragazzi” (can be
translated ‘the young people’, ‘the guys’, etc).  These are the kids I taught in Sunday school and took
to camp and bowling and all when they were in middle school; when I met them they barely knew each
other and it was wonderful to watch them build relationships over the two years I worked with them.  
I’ll probably always called them “i ragazzi”, but now, nine years later, they are all in their twenties,
ranging from 20-25. I’m officially old now.

I’m proud of them and the people they are becoming.  

Matteo was the baby of the group; he was 10-12 while I was there.  Now he is twenty. He is still very
active in the church; he’s on the rotation to lead the communion every fourth week.  He has now been
dating Francesca, a girl from the church in Vicenza who is now in college in Milan, for over two years.
I remember her from the Christian camp we all attended back then, as well.  They make it over to
Vicenza to worship with her family and home congregation pretty frequently, too. This past summer,
they returned to camp to be counselors themselves. I hadn’t known that before seeing them this time,
and it nearly brings tears to my eyes to see one of the kids that I drug off to camp years ago now
completing the cycle by mentoring younger kids.  

Rovelyn and Rodalyn are cousins;Rovelyn was part of my little youth group from day one, when she
was about eleven.  Rodalyn came later, near the end of my time in Milan, but in time to go to camp
with us in 2009. Rodalyn is now twenty-five and works in a restaurant; she comes to church
occasionally but definitely needs more encouragement (her parents have stopped attending, but her
aunt and uncle are still very active, so they keep trying.)  

Rovelyn is now twenty-one and is in her second year (high school lasts a year longer here in Italy than
in the US, so most people start college at age nineteen or twenty) of university for mathematical
engineering. She always been a good student, and I’m so glad she’s doing well in college.  

The Shorts were visiting in Italy a couple of years ago, and Lewis sent me a message on facebook
messenger that Rovelyn had decided to be baptized, and then, a bit later, that Nico had decided to be
baptized as well.  I was so happy to hear about it even as it was happening!

Janfor and Nico are brothers who had just arrived in Italy from the Philippines when I met them.  The
third brother, Ever (Nico’s twin) was still with family in the Philippines at the time, so this was my first
time meeting him.  Janfor I mentioned in my previous post; he’s doing well as a cook in a restaurant.
Unfortunately, he’s the one of the group that very rarely comes to church (he’s usually working
Sundays even if he wanted to, but he’s not all that interested at this point anyhow), but with his family
all there maybe someday he’ll see the value again.  

Nico and Ever also work in restaurants; Ever was a Christian before coming to Italy, and Nico, as I
mentioned earlier, was baptized a couple of years ago.  It was a bit weird meeting them; Ever looks
just like Nico did when I knew him, while Nico has started wearing glasses and has done his hair
differently. The twins have been saving up their vacation time and are hoping to make a trip back to
the Philippines to spend Christmas with their grandparents this year.  

The only one I didn’t get to see was Manuela; she now lives in England (her older sister had married
and moved there right after I left Italy, so it wasn’t a surprise that Manuela followed her to do university
there), where she is an active member of the church.  Rovelyn has talked to her more recently than I
have, and said she’s graduating from nursing school this month.

In all my years in some form of ministry, these kids were the best part.  It was great to see them all
and how they’re doing now.

Agape in Via del Bollo

On Sunday, the church was full, and they had organized a fellowship meal (called an ‘agape’ in Italian) since they knew we’d be there.  The food was great; it’s always interesting to have potlucks in the Via del Bollo congregation since the members are from so many different countries.  I don’t think I’ve ever had lasagne and jiaozi (Chinese dumplings) and pigs in a blanket and Filipino noodles all on the same plate before. (Or at least not since the last agape I participated in in Milan--although then we also had Ghanaian food).  

Fratelli di Bufala with Friends

On Saturday night, we went to the restaurant, Fratelli di Bufala, where Eric, one of the leaders of the church of Milan, and Janfor, one of the middle school students I worked with at the church (who is now twenty-five...I’m not old, am I?), work. Janfor’s parents, Domingo and Lydia, came, as well as Robert, Evangelina, and Rovelyn (another of the kids I used to work with).

The food was great; I had hoped to have time for a traditional Italian pizza, and this one did not disappoint. Of course, there were many choices as to toppings; I chose just as I would have when I lived here--eggplant and zucchini. I wish these toppings were available elsewhere…

Tammy and I went and stuck our heads into the kitchen to see Janfor working (she’s done it before when visiting, and as long as we stay out of the way, no one minds--but then Eric is the one in charge of the kitchen, so what he says goes). He didn’t know I was coming--he saw Tammy, and then I popped in too, and he gave me a huge smile. It was so good to see him doing well in his job; he’s worked his way up from a dishwasher as a teenager to now being one of the main cooks. He’s come a long way from the shy, silent child hiding behind the hair he kept flopped over his eyes that I met eleven years ago.  

After dinner, he got the chance to come out and say hello on his break, and I got a picture with him and Rovelyn. It was a busy night, though--many Italian go on vacation during the month of August, and it was Saturday, September first. We theorized that many had just gotten home and found they had nothing in their fridge and decided to go out to eat. He was called back in soon, but there is a big window into the kitchen from the street so we could watch him working for a while. He certainly never moved that fast back when I told him to do something. :)

Dinner at Marisa's

While in Milan, I am staying with Marisa, one of the church members from the Via del Bollo congregation.  She was always the 'mom' of the church; as Tammy puts it, "cooking for people is one of her love languages."  During my time in Milan, she often invited church members into her home for meals and fellowship time; I have a lot of good memories of sitting around her table.  

Tonight was another good one; I actually arrived first (Marisa had texted me where to find the hidden key), as Marisa and the Shorts had gone out to visit Carlo, Marisa's husband who is now in the nursing home and got back just a bit later.  Maria Luz and Matteo also joined us! 

She had made some minestrone, pizza, and pasta ahead of time so we could have a quick dinner once we all got there.  Even though we were all exhausted, it was nice to spend some time over a meal together.