The Italian Memorandum

A friend recently sent me an old photograph taken just after my baptism.    I am standing in the backyard bayou of Alton Howard in Louisiana.  Alton Howard, musicologist, needs no introduction.  I was unknown then, both to myself and others.  I was about 19, very green, and dreaming of my future.  I had cut off my shoulder length hair.  I had changed my wardrobe and bought appropriate clothes for ministry.  I was in the process of becoming useful to the Lord.  I had no wife, no children—just a belief that the Lord of history was able.

As I reflect on this old photo, I am reminded of how faithful the Lord has been through the years.  My education in Greek, Hebrew, and now Italian, has been of especial importance to me along the way. The word has always been my constant delight.  And, besides the word, he has provided me with a beautiful wife, Marla—lovely linguistics and a lovely wife!   My friends, also, have been a fruitful source of joy.  In a word, the “strength” (zeroa’) of which the prophet Isaiah speaks has been mine along the way (30:30; 33:2; 40:10; 51:5, 9; 52:10; 62:8).

We are beyond the bayou now.  Alton has gone on to finish his journey.  I have a wife, a son, and many blessings.  But, we shall not forget why we have come this far; nor for what purpose this moment in history has come.  ArrivederLa!

Some of you are aware of our former lovely home in Cape Girardeau.  How it sat stately on the corner nestled in the Woodland Hills Subdivision.  We had several Redbuds and Dogwood in the backyard and the fragrant Salsa Magnolia in the front yard.  Well, this beautiful home sold December 1, 2009.  We are at once grateful that it did sell.  And, we will always remember the excellent times that we had there.

In the photograph you may see our new living quarters.  Yes, it is an attic bedroom!  This, too, is a part of the March to Milan.  To be missionaries sometimes means that you relenquish all of the most darling things to gain the most daring of things.  In this case, it is the return to Milan.  Incidently, attics can be cool; especially January in Des Moines, Iowa; cool, as in Fahrenheit.

Please notice, also, some recent photographs of winter around Windsor Heights, Iowa.  And, yes, the icicles are real.  Some people purchase such icicles at Wal-Mart; ours’ were heaven sent.

The temperature in the Des Moines area has been around or below zero. We have slightly altered the old adage that if you end up with lemons make lemonade to “make lemon slush.”

As most of you know, we are raising our funds to return to Milan in the new year, 2010. On December 27, 2009 we spoke to the Burlington, Iowa Church of Christ. The weather was nearly blizzard conditions going and coming. The trip was a 3.5 hour drive. We made a power point presentation and taught the Bible Class, which included learning an Italian song, Ti amo con l’amor di Gesu’.

Then, on Sunday January 3, 2010 we spoke in Ankeny, Iowa. The brethren there meet in a grand old school building with artistic updates. I told them that my immediate impression upon entering was to go directly to the princpal’s office (ouch!).

As January ensues, we want you to know that your participation in the March to Milan Campaign reminds us of the missionary zeal of the early church (Acts 14:24-28). One of our contributors, in the fall of their life, have made a commitment to send $8.00 a month. That just cheers us! One of the last things that I said to the church in Milan, before returning to the U.S., was that I do not relish fund raising, but that I would do it for them, and for Milan, Italy.

In December, also, we made a trip to Harding University, where there is a concentration of former Italian missionaries and professors. The trip is reported on our web site: TheItalian Memorandum.org. You will also find current updates on the site, as well as a resource of my writings, stretching back over the last eight years or so.

Yes, we are relentlessly determined to raise the financial resources necessary to return to Italy in December 2010. You can help us by asking your congregation’s leadership if they would have us make a presentation,or simply receive a package from us about the Milan work. Our telephone number may have changed since we last spoke–(515) 988-4220. Continue to remember us before the Father.

My friend, Celina Long, is of Italian descent. She speaks the language and embodies the culture. In explaining the language to me, she sent an excerpt from Elizabeth Gilbert’s, Eat, Pray, Love. Although Gilbert’s theology is far afield, nevertheless, her intelligent appreciation of the Italian language is sensitive and insightful. She says, “A sad-faced Russian woman tells us she’s treating herself to Italian lessons because ‘I think I deserve something beautiful.’ The German engineer says, ‘I want Italian because I love the dolce vita’—the sweet life.

Gilbert goes on to describe why Italian is the most beautiful language in the world. A statement in which we, also, acknowledge to be an accurate bias. She says, “To understand why this is, you have to first understand that Europe was itself once a pandemonium of numberless Latin derived dialects that gradually, over the centuries, morphed into a few separate languages—French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian. What happened in France, Portugal, and Spain was organic…the language of the most prominent city became the accepted language of the whole region. Therefore, what we today call French is really a version of medieval Parisian. Portugal is really Lisbon. Spanish is essentially Madrileno…The strongest city ultimately determined the language of the whole country. Italy was different.

One critical difference is that Italy wasn’t even a country. It didn’t get unified until quite late (1861) and until then was a peninsula of warring city-states dominated by princes or powers…All this internal division meant that Italy never properly coalesced, and Italian didn’t either….A scientist in Florence could barely communicate with a poet in Sicily or a merchant in Venice (except in Latin, of course, which was hardly considered the national language). In the sixteenth century, some Italian intellectuals got together and decided that this was absurd. …So this gathering of intellectuals proceeded to do something unprecedented in the history of Europe:they handpicked the most beautiful of all the local dialects and crowned it Italian. I

In order to find the most beautiful dialect ever spoken in Italy, they had to reach back in time two-hundred years to fourteenth-century Florence…[This was] the personal language of the Florentine poet Dante Alghieri. When Dante published his, Divine Comedy back in 1321, detailing a visionary progression through Hell and Heaven…he’d shock the literary world by not writing in Latin…. Instead, Dante turned back to the streets, picking up the real Florentine language spoken by the residents of his city (who included such luminous contemporaries as Boccaccio and Petrarch)…He wrote his masterpiece in what he called il dolce stil nuovo, the sweet new style, of the vernacular, and he shaped the vernacular even as he was writing it…as Shakepeare would one day affect Elizabethan English. For a group of nationalist intellectuals much later in history to have sat down and decided that Dante’s Italian would now be the official language of Italy would be very much as if a group of Oxford dons had sat down one day in the early nineteenth century and decided that—from this point forward—everybody in England was going to speak pure Shakespeare. And it actually worked!

The Italian we speak today, therefore, is not Roman or Venetian, nor even really entirely Florentine. Essentially it is Dantean. No other European language has had such pedigree. And perhaps no language was ever more perfectly ordained to express human emotions than this fourteenth-century Florentine Italian…Dante wrote his Divine Comedy in terza rima, triple rhyme, a chain of rhymes with each rhyme repeating three times every five lines, giving his pretty Florentine vernacular what scholars call “a cascading rhythm”–a rhythm which still lives  in the tumbling, poetic cadences spoken by Italian cab drivers, and butchers, and government administrators even today. The last line of the Divine Comedy, in which Dante is faced with a vision of God himself, is a sentiment that is still understood by anyone familiar with so-called, modern Italian. Dante writes that God is not merely a blinding vision of glorious light , but that he is, most of all, l’amor che move il sole e l’atre stelle…’The love that moves the sun and the other stars.’ So it’s really no wonder that I want so desperately to learn this language” (Quote finished from Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert, pp. 44-46).

One Night in Florence, Italy

We arrived at the Florence train station, Firenze Rifredi, towards evening on October 30^th. We soon found ourselves in the company of Italian speaking educators and artists. As the night descended upon us, we roved the piazza near the Duomo en route to a small and quaint ristaurante. It was a chilly evening. The town was getting quiet. But, before we entered the establishment, Dr. Shackleford took us just doors down from the ristaurante, and directed us to look up into the old timbers of an Italian casa, and said–“This is the home of Dante Alighieri.” We reflected in the darkness about where we were; and then we went to eat, where our company ordered the wild boar.

We recall this moment as an example of our Italian experience.

We spent four days in Searcy, meeting with individuals associated with Italy and Europe. I met with Dr. Shawn Daggett on Friday and discussed a missions strategy. Shawn has an extensive Italian resume, having formerly been located in the region of Lombardia, north of Milan in Bergamo. Then, on Saturday morning, I had breakfast with Dr. Don Shackleford and his wife Joyce. They have intimate Italian experiences with the churches and the culture. Don has a scholarly background in Near Eastern Studies. His recent work on Isaiah in the Truth for Today Commentary is now available. The Hebrew textual notes appear most helpful. I had lunch on Friday with Dr. Carl Mitchell and Howard Bybee. Carl was in Florence and Rome during the 1950′s. Howard’s work included ministries in Milan and Vicenza. While in Searcy, I stayed with the Thompsons. Dr. Thompson is Dean of the College of Sciences at Harding. We also met with Bruce McClarty, Vice President of Spiritual Life.

Unexpected Turn of Events

It was December 20, 2009, our wedding anniversary. We were on the return trip to Des Moines, Iowa, traveling through adverse weather. On a lone strip of highway near the border of Iowa and Missouri, we were crossing a bridge that had iced. Even traveling at a reduced speed, with Marla and Jason in the car, I lost complete control of the vehicle. Never before had I experienced this sliding over a bridge sideways; nor do I wish to repeat it..

Our vehicle made two 360 degree revolutions before straightening out! Once I realized that the spinning was over, I perceived that we were about to enter the on-coming two lanes of truck and car traffic doing about 30 mph up an embankment. We were now in a large rock lined median area covered in snow. I attempted to apply the brakes once again, and gently turn away from the two lanes of on-coming traffic. To turn too abruptly may have overturned the car; to turn without enough curvature would not have avoided the road. Then, near the end of this ordeal, the car spun around one more time. The car finally ditched in an inner ravine. Fortunately, we were not injured.

The car needed to be towed. The night was spent in a town with friends, the Alberts, some 35 miles away. This incident occurred almost directly across from the Flying J Truck Stop on Highway 61/27. Currently, our vehicle is in the shop, needing a completely new left front wheel and other under carriage issues.

We include this incident as part of our journey to Italy.

A Formal Invitation to Milan, Italy

The main development in our mission’s endeavors pertains to a formal invitation from the Milan church to Robert and Marla Housby.

The formal invitation to work with the Milan church was a delightful development to Marla and me.  Although other considerations were made, we both felt that Milan presented the most redemptive use of our time.

The trolley (in photo) is just one of the many public venues for meeting people on a daily basis.  It is quite natural to chat enroute to destinations.  The youth in Milan are always fashion minded.

My particular level of Koine Greek language background and my family background has prepared me for the work in Italy.

Why March to Milan

We chose “March to Milan” as our fund raising slogan because it coincides with the goal of getting to Milan.  We need resources to do the work  “I Timothy 4″.

Our schedule involves a timetable to see the current missionary family off as 2010 turns into 2011.  The Short family has been in Milan for some ten years.

Power Point Presentation

Our power point presentation is designed to provide a glimpse into our style of outreach and maturing congregational met needs.  Words are the Lord’s chosen vehicle of communication.  Preaching is proclamation and teaching is explanation.  Preaching is God’s classical method of communication “Romans 10″.

To Whom It May Concern:

This is an endorsement for Bob and Marla Housby who are preparing to go to Milan, Italy to work with the church of Christ in Milan at the invitation of the congregation. This church was begun in the city of Milan by Harold Paden, Howard Bybee, Mel Pownall and Carl Mitchell in 1950.

Bob and Marla were sent to Italy for a trial period in order for them to assess their own readiness to be involved in the Italian work, and also to get a reading on the desire of the church to invite them to join them in the Lord’s work in Milan.

Prior to their departure for Italy we did a background study and found them to be highly recommended by the church where they had labored for many years. We also invited them to spend some time with us in Searcy, AR., to undergo psychological testing, and orientation regarding the history and progress of the church in Italy.

We were impressed at their flexibility, their work ethic, their openness to learning, their devotion to the Lord and His church, their Biblical groundedness, and their ability to work together as a team.  During the period they have been in Italy, they have received the plaudits of the local missionary, Lewis Short, who is soon to move back to the U.S.

The undersigned has been involved in Italy since July of 1950, and still goes there each year to hold meetings. I am an elder of the College Church of Christ in Searcy, AR., and am Scholar in Residence at Harding University. I can be reached at<cmitchell@harding.edu> .

Carl Mitchell, Ph.D.

Milano – October 4, 2009

After coaching from our Italian Language Instructors, Bob delivered his first sermon to the Chiesa de Christo.  He addressed the congregation with the message that it is a pleasure to serve our Lord.  Whatever our future, God is there and will see us through.

Fausto Salvoni, Enrica’s husband, was one of the first converts in the Milan congregation post WWII.

Bergamo – October 18, 2009

October 14 was the first time we learned about purchasing train tickets for out of town.  Lewis and Tammy Short took us to the station in Porta Genova.  Bob asked some non indigenous English ladies, who were in line ahead of us, “Do you know the Muffin Man who lives down Drury Lane?” They replied, “We have heard of Drury Lane, but who is this Muffin Man?”

After getting tickets at our station, we were able to purchase tickets to other destinations where Bob was to address the church.  There is Centrale Station, also, where we departed for most of our out of town trips.  Cardona Station, downtown, is where we departed to go to Como N Lago.

Sunday on our way to Bergamo we could see the Pre-Alps as we traveled closer to our destination.  Along the way, we saw the countryside north of Milano.  One particular farmer was observed with his dog leading sheep back into the fold after grazing in the pasture.   The Italians were very helpful at the train station.  In Bergamo we met Tony Console for the first time.  We were driven to the government buildings where the church met on this particular Lord’s Day.

Bob and I studied 1 and 2 Thessalonians in Tony’s Bible class.  Tony grew up in Rome, Italy.  Getting the perspective of New Testament history from someone who has lived where the Apostle Paul was imprisoned gave a different perspective.

Bob spoke on an encouragement theme concerning the Light of the World coming to enlighten our lives. The Bergamo congregation is composed mostly of individuals from Ghana.

Bob and Marla spent the afternoon fellow shipping with Tony his wife Lucy Shackelford and their son Alex.  During and after lunch there were discussions of the Mission in Bergamo and the future of the church in Lombardia.

Firenze (Florence) – November 1, 2009

After arriving at the Firenze Rifredi station, we met David and Debbie Woodroof, Directors of the Avanti Italia program located in Scandicci.  We were introduced to and entertained by Robbie Shackelford, Director of Harding University at Florence (HUF) located at a villa just outside Scandicci in the hills overlooking Florence.

Bob spoke on ‘Certo’ (Theological Certainty).  We can know for certain that what we have read in the Bible is the Word of God.

Before Bob spoke there was a baptism of a Romanian who had accepted the Gospel after months of Bible study.

After the worship service, the chiesa had an Agape.  Bob and Marla fellow shipped with Italian speaking Chirstians, Lilliana and her family.

Her husband, Luigi, was the first convert in Firenze after WWII.  Fond memories were shared with us concerning Joe Gibbs. Three generations of this family are faithful.

Baptism in Florence

Fellowship meal

Luigi's wife Lillianna

Vicenza & Padova – November 17 & 18

Marla had worked 2 years with the Ladies in Cape Girardeau, MO preparing for a Ladies’ Day on the topic of Unity to take place on November 17.  It was interesting that planned on 17 Novembre was a Ladies’ Day on the topic of the ethnics in the Veneto working together as a unified sisterhood.

While delle donne had our lessons, Bob and the other men were on Child Care duty.  Bob and the other missionaries from Vincenza and Padova were able to get aquainted and discuss the direction of their ministries.

We stayed in the home of Jeff and Tia Brauer, missionaries in Padova.  Bob preached in Padova on Sunday, November 18 after Jeremy led Bible class on a study in Genesis 13-14.  Bob and Marla met Antionette, the wife of one of the first converts in the area, Franco (WWII era).

Summary of Language School Studies (October 7, 2009)

It is now our third week of Italian.  We are able to express and interpret time; make appointments; give greetings; use about 35 common verbs, regular and irregular; read transportation schedules; discuss personal interests with others.  We are now drilling daily to utilize all of our progress so far.  We can ask all of the six interrogatives (questions).

Church (Chiesa di Christo) Observations

The church in Milan has an illustrious history.    We are fortunate to be able to contribute to this very special work.  We are beginning to understand the dynamics of the current situation in Milano.  The church is composed of native Italians, about a third; the remainder Internationals ranging from England, the Philippines, Ghana, America, and Albania.  The Italian language is the common denominator with all of the above groups.  It is a situation held together by a common language and belief system.   We worship very near to the famous Duomo of Milano.  Photos of this edifice are quite inadequate to describe its splendor.  Mary is atop of this vast structure, portrayed in gold.  The pinnacle obviously belongs to Mary in this theology (consult Colossians 1:18).

Recent Participation

On  October 4, 2009, I delivered the morning sermon in Milan.  This was my first in Europe.  I spoke from the Gospel of John (Giovanni 8:23).  The last several Sunday afternoons, following the morning service, have been spent in the home of an American family in Milan (Mike and Angie).  He works for a major bank. During these times, we sing hymns, pray, and discuss a devotional.

We have also participated in several fellowships on Friday evenings at the church building.  Three ladies from the States were also in Milan to conduct a “Let’s Start Talking” campaign. Numerous Milanese contacts have been made of late through these efforts.

A Monday/Tuesday night home Bible study is also underway.  This an Italian study, in an Italian home.  I have been asked to lead this discussion (my first in Italy).

Monday departure to Milan (09-14-09)

We fly Monday from Des Moines to Detroit and from there to Amsterdam.  Then, we will have a flight to Milan, arriving on Tuesday.  Our language school will begin the next day, for three hours.  This will continue for the following four weeks every day for the same duration.