I try to be adventurous but in truth, I often get a bit scared when facing new people, situations and challenges. I recently returned from a great trip to visit our LiveTwice project in Italy. It was a week filled with many meetings, but despite the busy schedule I managed to learn new skills, have new experiences and meet many new people. I felt nervous on the run up to the trip as this was my first solo trip to a country I don’t know – and don’t even know the language. When I arrived, I had met Julia, Giuseppe and their family just once before. The thought of spending a week with strangers only increased my nerves. I arrived with skills learnt from games of Charades and Pictionary so I could at least communicate in some small way!
The community meetings I was there for brought together leaders from many varied groups and churches in the surrounding areas, and created a vibrant mixture of people from different nationalities, backgrounds and beliefs. As well as an abundance of training and teaching, we had a wonderful time building relationships between the diverse groups. For me, the overwhelming lesson of the week was to not focus on what divides us but to look at what unites us – and to work together in those things. All the leaders who attended the meetings work in different towns with different groups of people. They understood similar frustrations and joys in the work that they do. They were able to offer advice in situations they had already worked through – or ask advice from those who had already faced certain issues and trials.
For me, it was really encouraging to see people coming together from all backgrounds to form new supports and relationships. I felt my own nervousness and fears slowly fading. From tackling language and cultural differences to learning to make authentic Italian pizzas (!) it was challenging and fascinating week. One that taught me the power of sharing – and that a problem shared is often a problem solved.
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