In an Italian market
In recent months, thousands of refugees from Africa have been arriving in Italy by boat. But there is not enough work in Italy for Italians, let alone anyone else. In Florence, where I live, many Africans who have arrived here in this way or in other ways now beg on the streets or sell tissues or illegal copies of designer handbags. Many are under the control of the mafia.
Many of the immigrants are from Nigeria and speak English. Although I have been in Italy for almost 11 months, my Italian language is still developing and I am not yet able to tell whole stories in Italian.
I have been leading a storying group at our English-speaking church for the past three weeks, and this week we did the Noah story. I have been thinking recently that there are many people in the city who speak more English than Italian, and praying for opportunities to share stories with those people. I expect to only be here for another seven or eight months, so I need to make the most of the time I have!
Today I went to my local market, where there are always people begging – Roma women (Gypsies), Nigerians, and Senegalese – and encountered a Nigerian man called Abeo*.
Abeo has a wife and two children and lives in a town outside Florence, but comes into Florence to look for work and beg to support his family. I have had several interactions with him, and occasionally give him some money.
This morning when he saw me, Abeo asked me for money to buy bread. After some conversation, he then asked me if I could buy him some lampredotto – a Florentine street food of boiled tripe with bread. I said I would do that, and that I would also tell him a story.
So while he ordered and as he started to eat, I shared with him the Noah story. I had to rush it a bit, but the point he picked up on was that Noah had obeyed God. I encouraged him to share the story with someone else.
This man is someone who knows about God and has a lot of Christian ‘language’, but he needs encouragement to keep obeying God through his desperate situation and to depend on God for his daily needs. Please pray for him and for more opportunities to share stories with him and others who speak English. Also pray for my Italian to improve enough to be able to tell a whole story.
*Abeo is not his real name. Used with permission of CU.
