Category Archives: Weather

Update on today’s earthquake…

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Many have asked many questions about the earthquake that struck central Italy early this morning. I will attempt to explain the events during and after and how you may better pray for us, for those around us, and for those who are now dealing with tragedy that they have never known before.

This morning, at 3:36 local time (9:36 pm eastern US time), we were awoken by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck about 50 miles southeast of where we live (it is about 1:30-2:00 drive). The earthquake, which was located fewer than 4 miles under the earth’s surface, lasted for nearly half a minute and shook everything. It was not hard to understand what was going on once we were awake, and we quickly moved to make sure that the kids were safe.

After the shaking stopped, Stephanie and I returned to bed, feeling quite nauseous from the earthquake, and attempted to go back to sleep. About an hour later we were once again awoken with an aftershock, this one measuring as a magnitude 5.2 (as of this time there have been more than 60 aftershocks that have all been at least 2.0 magnitude or higher throughout the day). Needless to say, sleep has not been a commodity that we have enjoyed much of today, but that is the worst of what we have “suffered”. Unfortunately many others were not so fortunate.

We praise the Lord that there does not seem to be any damage in our area, or in the areas immediately surrounding our small town. That said, the town where the earthquake was centered, Amatrice, has been devastated. The mayor has said that the city is destroyed (for pictures of the city as it now looks, click here to see them on an Italian newspaper’s website). Several other cities in the area have also sustained a good bit of damage.

How can you pray?

  1. For God to spare lives. As of right now more than 120 people have been reported dead and many more injured or missing. Because this happened in the middle of the night many were buried under piles of rubble. Rescue workers are diligently trying to search for people who may still be alive.
  2. For safety for all. The aftershocks continue, and there is possibility of more damage to buildings that have been weakened by the initial quake.
  3. For comfort for those who are mourning. Many have lost family members and friends. Many are very fearful of what may happen next. Many have lost all physical possessions they had…homes, cars, furnishings, work places.
  4. For peace…In the midst of all that is going on now, pray that God will show them His peace that is found only in Christ.
  5. For opportunities to show Christ’s love to the people here.

Thank you so much for your prayers on our behalf and on behalf of the Italian people.

For the sake of His name,

Tom, Stephanie, Daniela, Nino, & Angelo

We’ve arrived…

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Well, by now you probably realize that we have arrived in Italy. 🙂 On Wednesday, 21 January, 2015 we set out on what would be a long, tiring journey from South Jersey to Umbria. There were great blessings along the way. There were trials (they seemed much bigger in the moment), too.

Upon arriving I decided that it would be a good idea to write about our experience. What is below is just a snippet of the outworking of that idea. Hopefully it will give you an idea of what our trip was like!

 

1/24/15

Wow! What a few days it has been! We arrived at the airport on Wednesday at 15:30 ready to start this journey. Little did we know the great blessings, and trials, that would shortly come our way. When we got to the airport there was absolutely nobody around. It was almost as if everyone was waiting for us to arrive, simply wanting to help us on our way. A gentleman came out of the terminal to get all of our bags…he deserved and earned the tip he received…not really knowing what he was getting into. As we loaded bag after bag, and then three car seats onto his cart, he looked at us as if to ask why we had all of this “stuff” for our flight. I quickly answered his unspoken question with three simple words, “we are moving!” He nodded and began to take all off the luggage inside and to the counter. As we checked in the lady behind the counter was amazed everytime I would say, “here are two more bags”. Finally, after nine bags and three car seats, we were checked in. Much to our amazement, and that of the counter lady, the computerdidn’t charge us for any of them, though we were only allowed five free bags. What a wonderful blessing to start the trip on such a high note!

We proceeded to security where we were once again able to move right through (well, as fast as a family of five can ever move through security, that is). They did not stop us for anything! That, however, as we would later found out, would be the end of the “easy” traveling! We went to our gate on the very end of the international terminal. I left Stephanie and the kids there while I went looking for food to eat. After walking about 2/3 of a mile, I came across suitable food for our last American meal… Chick-fil-a! I walked back to the gate and we ate our food. At 17:30 we started to board the plane. We were on time and ready for our 18:15 departure. Well, 18:15 passed, as did 18:30 and 18:45. The only comments were that we needed to go through the deicing process. Around 19:15 the captain came on and said there was a mechanical issue and we needed to go back to the gate. Upon arriving at the gate there was an announcement that due to it being an international flight a customs agent had to board the plane before we could go back to the gate. We would later find out that it was two immigration officers who came on to take two passengers off of the plane. Around 20:00 we were informed of another mechanical issue and that was going to take one hour to fix and then another half hour before we could take off after that. We were still are not allowed off of the plane, and it was getting very hot and stuffy.

Finally, around 20:30, we were allowed off of the plane, but only if we took all of our stuff off. Not wanting to go through that process, I took Angelo off while Stephanie waited on the plane with Nino, Daniela, and our stuff. Around 21:00 we were informed that our plane was not going to be able to go and we would need to board a new plane. After helping get all of our stuff off of the plane we traveled to the new gate. The second plane took off around 22:30, only 4:15 past the original departure time.

By this time our kids were tired, hungry, and crying (no one blamed them…several mentioned they wished they could express themselves in the same manner). The kids slept okay on the plane, but it was hardly a full night’s sleep. We arrived in Rome at 13:00 local time, passed easily and quickly through customs, and went to baggage claim to find out how much was missing/damaged. Much to our surprise, all of our luggage made it and in one piece! We loaded up onto two carts and headed outside to meet our ride, another missionary working in a city about 1.5 hours away.

The ride from Rome was uneventful. We worked our way through Italian cities and countryside, all the while I was thinking about how much it was like what I remembered from my visit ten years earlier. I started to recognize things as we reached Terni, a city about 45 minutes away from Deruta. We got to Frank and Sherry’s around 16:30. It was nice to finally be done traveling.

After a nice dinner (pasta, Turkey, peas, salad, fruit, coffee, and dessert) we headed to our new home. We unloaded, got the kids settled, and got ready for the coldest night we have experienced in a long time. Although we had hot water, our heater pump was not working. It would be another 24 hours before we had heat. It stayed around 13°C for those 24 hours.

Yesterday I went with Sarah (the DiBagno’s daughter who is here while her husband is working in the country for a time) to get phones connected and to find my way through town while Stephanie took the kids to the park. Our landlord came by and we meet him (and paid our first month’s rent) before the kids took their naps. While they napped Sherry, Sarah, and Stephanie went grocery shopping. What an experience! While they were gone the heater was fixed and the apartment warmed up to a nice 20°C! What a difference seven degrees makes! 🙂

I went out around dinnertime with Frank to get some necessities (a iron and an alarm clock) and then came home to eat my dinner, a sandwich and a granola bar. The kids (mainly Angelo) still had some trouble sleeping, but I think we are figuring this survival thing out.

Today we met Sarah for coffee at the bar (very different from America…it is similar to a cafe in America…at least for most of the day). After coffee we went for a walk. I then walked down to the grocery to pick up some things while Stephanie and Sarah took the kids to the playground.

After walking back up the hill…a very big hill, actually…we unloaded, ate lunch, and finished unpacking.

Several things are very different. Laundry is slow (almost two hours for the washer to run). It is a very small machine. Everything must air dry after. This will be a big adjustment for Stephanie.

Groceries are most often bought fresh, meaning many trips to the store each week. We are slowly picking up various phrases for everyday use. This will be more difficult than we initially anticipated, but we are coming along…I am glad we have technology to help make it a little easier.

All in all we have been very encouraged these first few days. Life is not as easy as it once was, but it is not impossible. God is good. By His Grace we will see Italians praising Him. One thought has come to mind as I think through all of this: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30, ESV). As we exalt Him and humble ourselves, He will give the necessary grace to live, work, and learn all we need to (James 4:6).

This evening I took Stephanie and the kids out before dinner. We walked down to the grocery store here in town (Stephanie didn’t know how to get there). On the way back we stopped and took a picture of the sunset over Deruta. It really is a beautiful city.

Flood Waters Pour Into Central Italy

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As much of the east coast of the US continues to recover from the effects of Hurricane Sandy, the Italian peninsula is dealing with much of the same issues. Early last week a series of storms hit the northern and central areas of the country, causing extensive flooding in the provinces of Tuscany and Umbria, as well as in the northern city of Venice and the capital city of Rome.

This week we heard from the DiBagno family. An excerpt of their letter is below.

Last Sunday began with sunshine and warm, I went out for my usual stroll at9 AM before the church service.  An hour and half later we were in the midst of a major storm.  It rained for over 40 consecutive hours. The Tevere overflowed the banks on the side of the bridge towards Deruta so the road was closed on Tuesday.  Sherry and I went out for a bike ride Tuesday and the water was flowing like a waterfall on the other side of the bridge all the way to the curve towards town so that was a long distance.  All the towns along the Tevere were flooded in some degree.  Orvieto took a major hit especially the industrial zone. Marsciano was under water for some hours. That river Nestor hardly merits the term, river, but that even overflowed.  Todi was touched in the lower and newer sections along the river.  Terni was okay.  Our friends in Grosseto had almost three feet of water in 24 hours. By Wednesday all was back to normal here and fields began to dry up. 

Please pray for the Italian people as they clean up the mess left behind by these flood waters. Pray also that the seed of the Gospel will not simply be washed away with the water, but will take root and grow.

To read more about the flooding, click here.