As you can imagine, it has been rather hard for me to have spent the past 5 months so far in Northern Italy without a church to attend or any other kind of Christian fellowship. I love my friends here and the experiences that I've had, but I really miss that nourishment and accountability that comes from being involved in a believing community. Lucky for me, there is a very special person God has placed in my life here that knows this about me and offered to drive me 1.5 hours away to attend a protestant evangelical church in a mountain town called Torre Pellice. Upon arrival to the town, I spotted a guy walking down the street with a Bible (which is a fairly uncommon practice around here), so I asked if there was a protestant church nearby that we could attend. Andrea kindly led us to his church where we were then introduced to what seemed like every member of the congregation. Each person was extremely friendly and loving, offering us coffee and taking us around to meet everyone else. After about 10 minutes, a few people showed up that could speak some English with me, and then after the service I even met a few Americans, Dutch, and South Africans that live there working with a ministry called Operation Mobilisation (OM). I knew about this ministry before moving to Italy, but I didn't realize exactly where they were located or that they would all happen to attend the same tiny little church that I did yesterday morning. I felt totally at home as God's love wrapped around me. The words to the worship songs were shown on a screen so I could sing along and even understand most of it. Two of the songs I grew up singing back in the States so it was very powerful for me to hear the Italian versions. Then, to my great surprise, the guest speaker for yesterday's sermon just happened to be a Scottish man who gave the sermon in English with an Italian translator helping out everyone else. I loved it! I am convinced that did not happen by chance. God's hand was involved in letting me hear His word being taught when I truly needed it. Afterwards, we were invited out to lunch by a group of English speakers for more fellowship and great conversation. My day was very blessed. 

Following lunch, we left our new friends and ventured up into the mountains. We drove up and up into a little town called Angrogna in the western Cottian Alps. This is where the group of Protestants called the Waldensians migrated to and found refuge during the Reformation of the late 15th and 16th century. The Waldensians existed from the 12th century; however almost all of them throughout Europe along with most other early protestant groups were persecuted and demolished except for this small group that managed to defend themselves in this inaccessible mountain region of the Southwestern Alps. We found memorials and remembrances throughout the land as well as one of the oldest evangelical churches still in existence. It was a beautiful fall day for a walk in the mountains with the trees all varieties of colors. It was truly Italian farming country. There were pigs grazing, roosters, flocks of sheep, horses, etc. My favorite thing was that as we were standing on the point of this mountain, overlooking all of the countryside and valleys below, the sound of ringing cow bells penetrated the air. It was an unforgettable experience to be able to attend church in such an important, historical place for the Protestants in the region. A good reminder of the many that were tortured and burnt at the stake just for their faith. How lucky I am!

Lastly, on our return trip in the afternoon, we stopped in for a tour of Saluzzo. This is a larger, medieval city, if I can call it a city, that is just beautiful. From the Castiglia (an old prison/fortress), there are great views overlooking the city with it's bell towers and fall colors. My day could not have been better. God works in so many unexpected ways and through people that probably don't even realize it. 

I should also mention that I've made up my mind about whether to stay here or not, but I am not going to share yet what the decision is. There are still a few uncertainties. In time...

A decision will have to be made very very soon, so I will be sure to keep you posted. However, if you want more info than what I am willing to post on my blog for the entire world to see, you will have to give me a call or an email/message and I would love to chat more. I miss all of you back home...you mean the world to me. Keep praying that our all-knowing God will continue to cradle me in His mighty hands and never let me go. 

On a more light-hearted note... Halloween here was a blast. We had a great party at a bed and breakfast in a vineyard overlooking the entire countryside. The costumes were great, the food delicious and full of pumpkin, the dancing was classic, and there was a wonderful international guest list including a few other Americans that I hadn't met yet! For my costume, I decided to fully embrace my Americana in all its glory. The only downside to the night was the rain outside which put a damper on our adventure to the discoteca after the party. But when I say adventure... I mean it. We were 3 full sized adults, dressed ridiculously, and piled into a little clown car (aka SMART car). Needless to say, Steve and I got very close very quickly. Good times!

Meanwhile, the White Truffle festival here in Alba is still going on in full force. Sunday (the 17th) was a day full of truffles, games, parades, and of course wine. Vino flows like water through the streets here in Alba...literally. I walked right through a river of red wine on accident and almost ruined some of my new shoes. Everyone in town that was working the festival was dressed in their full renaissance garments. The town center was divided into different sections for each 'borg' to decorate and show off their traditional foods, wines, and other gift items. They also had all kinds of games and competitions such as archery, dart throwing (where the target was a hanging piece of salami), ringing a wine bottle with a fishing pole, and guessing which house a guinea pig would go into. Each of these cost €1 to participate in and guess what you win?!? A bottle of wine. Needless to say, throughout the morning/afternoon/evening you couldn't walk through the streets without seeing groups of families and friends passing around their winnings and then going back for more. I actually saw one big group hanging out by the salami darts game while their chosen competitors were winning bottle after bottle and giving them each to the mother who was using the bottom shelf her sleeping baby's stroller to stack and transport all of them home. All in all, it was a great day of being with friends and making new ones!

At the Bowling Alley: As you are bowling you receive tickets (much like at Chuck E. Cheese) based on your score. I tried to simply take these to the case of prizes and tell them what I wanted. But no. First, you must enter the tickets into the counting machine to get a printed receipt. Take that to the counter, and you then must register all of your life info in order to receive a membership card. Take that card to another machine, scan the barcode, search online until you find the prize you desire, enter that code number, and get yet another receipt. Take this to the main counter and the man will go to the back room and bring you your prize. Mine was a gelato dish. :) However, they also had everything else you could think of... kitchen appliances, hair straighteners, alcohol detectors, watches, skates and skateboards, flasks, helmets/bikes, and much more.

At a Turin Discoteca: When we walked in we received a punchcard because apparently you HAVE to drink something before leaving. They stamp your card as you order drinks. Then you must take that to the cash register hub (across the room) and pay for everything. This is when we discovered in dismay that getting just a coke was going to cost 18 euros! We just wanted to dance! Anyway, they then print you another special receipt which you must present to the bouncers in order to exit. The coat check is a whole other story...