I'm Wimpy.

I had a very interesting conversation on Sunday.

Let me preface this story by telling you this: Lately I’ve been wondering what I will say to people when I return to the States. I know people will ask me what living here is like. They will ask me what the people are like. And I really don’t know what I will say. I feel like there is no way to explain this place in words and the only way you will ever really understand it is to spend time here yourself. I could show you a thousand pictures and you still wouldn’t totally get it. Looks can be deceiving. So, I really don’t know how I will explain this place.

But, to give you an idea of what this place is like, I’ll recount a conversation I had on Sunday with a young adult at the church I attend here. It’s an Evangelical church, not Catholic. But also very different from the Evangelical church I attend in the States. Most obviously being the fact that it’s all in Italian and I don’t really understand most of it. But I digress.

I’ve spoken to this woman several times before and she knows that I’m American and why I’m in Italy. She asks me on Sunday how long I’ve been here and I tell her that it has been two months. She wants to know what I think about Naples and if I’m enjoying living here. I want to be honest with her and tell her that some days it is really difficult to be here, but at the same time I don’t want to be rude. I politely tell her that I am enjoying it and she tells me that she knows things are really different here. And honestly, that is to put it mildly. Things are incredibly different here. But I won’t get into that now.

She has been to other parts of Italy and to Germany and the United States. She knows how very different Naples is. She has experienced it. She tells me that she feels God has called her to be in Naples, because if it were up to her she wouldn’t be here. And because she says this, I assume that she must not be from Naples, but another part of Italy. However, she tells me that she has lived in Naples her entire life.

This blew me away. She feels like she is called to stay in her hometown, a place she doesn’t want to be. She knows how difficult it is to live here. She’s done it her entire life. She told me that she has a deep sorrow for this city and for that reason she stays. She trusts that God will use her in this city.

The conversation was really encouraging to me and also convicted me big time. There are days that I am ready to pack up and go home. And I will be going home in a matter of months. But there are other people here who are in it for the long run. They have made their home here because they desire to serve God in this city and see the people of Naples come to know Him. Life is hard here, but that doesn’t deter them from following Christ. I am such a wimp.

So from this ramble you can take away two things:

1.     Pray for the team here. Pray for national believers. Pray for the church here.

2.     Follow Christ wherever He leads you. It may be the most difficult thing you have ever done, but it is worth it. If He has called you to be in a place, it is for a purpose. He is good and we can trust Him. He is always faithful. Find comfort in that and persevere. And let me know how I can pray for you.

And because I know you were expecting it after my last post: a funny story.

This isn’t recent, but it really needs to be shared. One night I was walking with Ellie towards a metro stop when I heard familiar music playing. At first I thought it was Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” But no. And then I see flashing blue and white lights coming up the road. And then I realize that I am hearing the Ghostbusters theme. And then I see the Ghostbusters logo on the side of a white station wagon with flashing blue and white lights with people wearing Ghostbusters gear inside. And that, my friends, is Naples.