Sunday, October 19 – Switzerland to Italy

Buon Giorno from Italy. We wrote some thoughts from our experience at San Marco's already. Yesterday, we traveled from Reinach via Bern down to Italy. Lotte went with us as far as Bern as she was teaching German to 12-15 Thai women there. Lotte is quite involved working with Thai women in Switzerland. There are upwards of 10,000 Thai women who have come to Switzerland to marry Swiss men. Though not technically trafficked it is still frequently a sad saga for many of them. Switzerland is not Thailand, German is difficult to learn for many. Marriages often do not work out. If they have been in Switzerland long enough to be legal they can stay, so there are many Thai women alone with or without children. I think that Lotte said that most often the women get custody of the children, but I could have misunderstood. Lotte and many others including another OMF 'auntie,' who actually lives in Germany but crosses over to Switzerland, are spending much time with Thai women serving as a resource for them. There is even a magazine published for them in Thai (and maybe German.)

So after waving goodbye to Lotte in Bern we quickly entered a 15 minute tunnel and then as we encountered daylight, we also magically were in Italy. Initial impressions were quite a contrast from well kept Switzerland in terms of asthetic appearance. In some ways, for those who have ever crossed the border from Thailand into Burma, it is a similar feeling. Somewhat startling at first, but there is a beauty that grows and captivates from the towns and villages with their red tile roofs to the rolling and sometimes hilly countryside. We changed trains in Milan and continued to Venice eventually finding our Hotel Dalla Mora late into the evening. By the way, every place we have stayed at so far is a gem (OK Paris was a little more of a shoe box with a bathroom the size of a real shoebox – but still adequate and clean) – we have not been disappointed anywhere. Our room in Venice looked right over a quiet canal. Great breakfast. Sunday we spent wandering and exploring Venice, finding a good pizza and calzone place and beginning an ongoing Gelato exploration as well.

Duncan

Sunday, October 19 – Venice, San Marco Reflections

The sensory experience is so important and moving to me. Smells, sounds, sight all have a powerful affect on me. Today I am thankful for sight and sound especially. Today I relished in the sensory and it was a good thing. We had made our way through the narrow alleys and corridors in Venice, over numerous bridges including the Rialto, crowded with tourists on this Sunday. We got to the San Marco Square – also busting with tourists and visitors (and this is October?!!) While the line stretched for a great length out the front door of San Marco Basilica, we quietly slipped inside a side door for the noon mass along with locals and other visitors in the know. The towering ceiling and walls are covered in gold mozaics of biblical images (perhaps Byzantine style – someone help me out here!) (Just as an aside, the Friday before we left Seattle, I briefly stopped into Mars Hill Graduate School (www.mhgs.edu) in their beautiful building in downtown Seattle. Oh, we have come a long way from when it was Western Seminary in a Bothell Business Park! The current MHGS students don't know how nice they have it! Anyway, currently beautifully displayed is a collection of 10-13 icons of Jesus by a local Northwest artist. Depending on where you start, either the first or the last piece of art is simply a framed mirror with the words from 2 Corinthians 3:18 underneath. “We who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord.” Being somewhat startled at seeing my own face and reading these words was very moving to me knowing that somehow in spite of who I am, in spite of my brokenness, in spite of whatever struggles I may be facing – somehow I am being transformed so my face is more reflective of the face of Jesus. All this to say, if you are in Seattle and can stop by and see it, it is well worth it)).

So back in Venice, we took our seats as the service was just beginning. My eyes wandered, continually finding new details – even the flooring here is exquisite and famous for its mosaics. I'm a long way from anywhere I have been before. It is noon here, 3AM back in the Northwest. Soon Pastor Ron will be getting up and beginning his early morning tour of Tacoma before he leads his gathering at the Salishan Eastside Lutheran Mission in East Tacoma where we have attended for the past year and a half. We are a long way from the small village churches and home gatherings in North Thailand where I grew up, where if you weren't careful a cat might steal communion as everything was served on the floor. We are a long way from the prosperity preaching mega churches broadcast ad nauseum on tv in the US. And yet here we are – somehow one body, joined together, saints and sinners at the same time, gathered in one name to seek our God and Savior. Many many different styles but as we stand and walk the marbled floors of this church that has stood here since the 11th century we join in singing Praise to the Lord the Almighty the King of Creation which was sung majestically by an invisible choir. There is something sacred in the ritual (Aclamad la gloria y el poder del Senor), something honoring in the guilded and gold images and icons that tell an ancient story that reminds me that this is an ongoing journey we are on. I am grateful that The Word continues to go forth. And I am especially grateful for an hour of peace before we step out into the crowds on the San Marco Piazza that are still waiting to get into the church.

Duncan