Does the Mafia give you any trouble? ... Do we need more missionaries in Italy? ... Does the church face any restrictions from the Italian
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ebook: Pasta, pizza, and Pinocchio: Questions and Answers about the Church of the Nazarene in Italy (part 4)
In this electronic book (e-book), Pasta, pizza, and Pinocchio , Howard Culbertson answers questions he has been asked about missionary work in Italy. Originally published in the Nazarene Missions International mission book series by the publishing house now known as The Foundry, this book carried ISBN 0-8341-0612-4. Some material has been updated for this e-book edition.
These questions and answers reflect our years of missionary service in Italy. Unless otherwise noted, statistics, organizational names, and descriptions of missionary practices refer to that period.
Fiat is a major Italian car manufacturer. During our years in Italy, it dominated the Italian automobile market. The Fiat 127 was Europe's best-selling car model for several years. Fiat supplied factories and production technology to other countries, including Spain and the former Soviet Union. Some cars produced abroad using Fiat designs were sold under local brand names.
At that time, Fiat also had business interests in La Stampa , a prominent Italian newspaper, and Juventus, one of Italy's professional soccer teams.
The name comes from the initial letters of Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (Italian Automobile Factory of Turin), much like GE for General Electric or GM for General Motors. The brand name is written as both FIAT and Fiat. In everyday Italian, it is chiefly a brand name. In English, "fiat" can mean an authoritative decree.
During our years in Italy, Turin was a major center of Fiat production, and many Nazarenes in that city worked for the company.
Even with smaller cars, those old cities built for travel on foot and horseback can get congested. To newcomers, traffic can seem aggressive, and pedestrians may find crossing busy streets intimidating.
No, for several reasons. First, it's an eight-year-old Chevrolet with over 100,000 miles on it. Finding parts and a mechanic to work on it in Italy would be a major problem. Second, its fuel consumption would make it expensive to operate in Italy. Third, it's too big to maneuver easily in the older central areas of many Italian cities. Driving and parking in urban areas would be major problems.
We had a Fiat minivan during our first term. The Longs have a Volkswagen bus, and the Lovetts have an Opel previously owned by the Fullers.
Because of high gasoline prices — at the time, a gallon cost about four times as much as in the U.S. — we often travel by train or bus. I also have a bicycle and a motorcycle that I use to get around Florence.
No, but the Arno River runs through it. The Arno flows westward through Pisa before reaching the sea. Trivia note: The river's four-letter name — Arno — sometimes appears in crossword puzzles.
No. Venice is famous for its network of canals, pedestrian lanes, and hundreds of bridges.
At the time of this account, we did not yet have a Nazarene church in that island city, which served as the setting for Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice .
Yes, a disastrous flood in 1966 destroyed or at least damaged many of Florence's art treasures as well as homes and belongings.
Several Nazarene families were caught in that flood. One elderly member of the church was forced up on her rooftop by the rising waters. There, in that cold November weather, this elderly believer had to wait for three days before being rescued.
At the time of this account, Sunday morning attendance averaged about 45, and the building could accommodate about 100. Although membership had never exceeded 45 since the congregation began in a living room in 1948, the Florence church had been productive. From its ranks had come four pastors, a district superintendent, and the man who directed the Billy Graham organization's Italian film ministry.
All services are conducted in Italian. Most members are Italian, although the congregation also includes a German-French family and an English woman married to an Italian.
Our home assignment lasts a year. At that time, the standard pattern was four years of service in Italy followed by a year of home assignment, formerly called furlough.
The affluence of the U.S. really hit us hard. Nearly every little church now has six microphone outlets on the platform and a giant sound control panel in the back with 57 knobs on it!
People are talking about entertainment stars and sports heroes I've never heard of.
Even the names of the cars have changed. Recently, in one city, someone was pointing out their house to me. "It's the one over there with the aspen in front," she said.
"Hmmmm. I really can't tell the trees apart too well in the winter," I replied. Then I heard a snicker. I turned around and she laughingly told me her house had a Dodge Aspen sitting in front.
Under the arrangements in place at the time, missionaries could arrange their own speaking schedules, ask the World Mission office to help, or combine the two approaches. The office had a full-time staff member who assisted with scheduling. Speaking engagements were arranged by invitation from a local church or district.
Missionaries could reserve time for rest and family when arranging their speaking schedules. Most missionaries on home assignment had at least two weeks off at Christmas and New Year's because there was very little demand for missionary speakers during that time of the year. There were also other times throughout the year when they would block off time to be with their families and to rest.
At that time, our travel expenses came out of deputation offerings given by local churches where we held services. Whatever was left after the travel funds were deducted went into an equipment fund for our work on the field.
At that time, it did not. Transportation was one of the major problems facing a missionary coming home on furlough. (The other was housing.) To ask the General Board to furnish automobiles for missionaries on home assignment would mean that funds would have to be diverted from other global outreach programs... [ continue reading ]
— Howard Culbertson, hculbert@snu.edu
Does the Mafia give you any trouble? ... Do we need more missionaries in Italy? ... Does the church face any restrictions from the Italian
government? ... [
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