This past Sunday we were commissioned at my little Church; signed, sealed, and delivered to the tasks ahead in Malawi. Steve and I actually gave part of the sermon!
We were to answer questions like:
Why aren’t you just taking a nice vacation?
Why put yourself at risk?
What do we have to gain?
The scripture for the morning was Luke 12:13-21 about the folly of greed and your treasure is where your heart is. Pastor Diana and Pastor Gil and the congregation prayed over us and had a social hour after to wish us well. Now I feel connected and accountable to the body of Christ. Special friends and a special time.
We traveled across the Delaware Bay on a car ferry. It was a very inclimate crossing, and yes, I lost my lunch over the side. Never throw up into the wind! We have made our way down to our nation’s capitol. We are amazed to see our national monuments once again in all their incredible glory.
…with tourists in tacky buses, traversing the city and countryside in search of the vital locations for the filming of “
Yes,the movie came out when I was merely 15, and I had a date to the Loma Theater, Point Loma (where it played for 2 years) with Andy Andeck! Sigh, to picture his arm around my shoulders, going numb scenario…my first big crush.
What a delightful experience to meet fellow believers and serve together on Easter. Miranda is the altar guild and has the churches cleaned and decorated and ready to go for the Father. Then there is Giovani, the jovial assistant that keeps Father Pernino on task, keeps the altar boys in line, and hands you a small wrapped candy to sweeten the deal. Miranda’s 
son’ Gianpaulo helped by pointing to me when it was time to play. He would listen to the service as it progressed and give me the nod when it was time for the Kyrie, Gloria, Agnus dei etc, etc. But this had been a small inroad into the community: a few friendly faces. That was where I saw the Glory of God on Easter.
The town is bursting with tourists and family that have come back home to visit for the holiday. We felt very lucky to find room at a restaurant we wanted to try after the first one was all booked. What a meal! I had homemade ravioli in burro as primo piatta, Steve had zuppa di funghi, Mary and Ron had crostini . For our secundo piatta, Ron and I had roast chicken in brunello sauce and sauteed spinach with lemon, Steve had cingheri stew (wild boar). Mary had boar in padetti noodles and a side of white beans. A bottle of Rosso di Montalcino topped it off. 
While walking off our meal, several were tempted to have a gelato chaser to a great meal!
the feet of 12 men, then communion followed by a silent procession over to a