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Minor angels of minor cities

It was already scorching hot in Vittoria, Sicily, when on a puffing, rattling moped, I hoped miraculously to get to work on time in the small, neighboring village of Acate. These cities appeared quite desolate, with ghostly people watching behind half-closed windows. A member of the local evangelical church provided me with a job as an apprentice construction worker, as he owned the business.  I would ride my moped for a couple of miles with the wind and dust in my hair and a strong smell from the exhaust pipe, then usually end up walking it the rest of the way, as the engine would die. An eight to ten hour workday, making lumps of fresh mortar mixed with sand for the building of bricks and then back home for a nice hot meal. Life was much simpler those days. I generally didn’t care much about having lots of things or a good lasting job, but I did get worried, when at the end of the week, the boss wouldn’t give me my pay. When he did pay me, it was often with a check, which I was unable to cash on the weekends as the banks were closed. We didn’t share our need with anyone, but God certainly knew and was unbelievably faithful in providing for us in miraculous and unexpected ways! Sometimes we would find anonymous gifts, such as bags filled with pasta, olive oil, homemade tomato sauces, etc., outside our front door the next morning. Sometimes church members would come over for a coffee and as they left, would secretly put money into our hands. God is not limited by our circumstances!   

Vittoria also happened to be the home of a dear friend, Filippo, whom Lori and I both met as single people, in the tent ministry, “Christ is the Answer.” He would travel to see us when we were in nearby cities and was always very generous, bringing bags of fresh fruit and treats whenever he visited. When Filippo heard that we were now living in his city, he insisted that we visit him at his fruit stand everyday. So Lori would put the boys (then, ages 1 and 2), in a stroller and head out to buy fruit and vegetables from Filippo. On her arrival, Filippo would put her at the front of the line, explaining to his customers that she was ‘family’. He would then proceed to give each of the boys a banana and ask Lori to watch his fruit stand as he ran next door to get something. Within minutes, he was back with a fresh pastry for Lori and he would begin filling a bag with his best produce. As he handed it to her, he adamantly refused any money for it and acted offended at the thought. After a few days of the same treatment, Lori stopped going to Filippo’s stand, since she knew he would not let her pay and she felt embarrassed.  Then one day he saw her across the street and ran to her and begged her to please visit him everyday, with tears in his eyes, explaining that we were his only family and that he found no greater joy than in giving gifts to us.

Filippo was not well portrayed by the ‘brothers’ of the large Evangelical church in the city. They depicted him as a loner and half liberal Christian - if Christian at all. The great majority of the members of the church were workers and owners of the hundreds of green houses around the region, growing flowers, fruits and vegetables and making their own wine. My boss, a member of the church, had what he called ‘a garden’ to take care of in his spare time, which consisted of eggplants, artichokes and hundreds of fruit trees. I spent most of the day in Acate, but at the end of the day when I struggled to get home on my moped, I would always hear how once again, Filippo had provided us with beautiful fruits and vegetables.

We stayed in Vittoria for one year, and that entire time, Filippo provided our family with fresh fruit and vegetables everyday. He also began giving Lori recipes and providing the meat and wine to go with them. Needless to say, God sent this ‘angel’ into our lives and we will never forget him. God works in mysterious ways and never ceases to show us how much He loves us! 

That was also the year when Italy won the World Cup in Soccer… and unfortunately, we lost contact with Filippo. In the many cities and villages we have traveled to, both large and small, many have served and ministered to us like angels who are ministers of the Most High. Filippo Di Blasi was one of those ‘minor angels’ from a ‘minor city’ who served us as if serving the Most High and surrounded us with his unconditional love.