Italy-Part II

I find it quite disturbing that I have been in Italy for almost four weeks and I’ve only updated this blog twice. For those chosen few who read this, I sincerely apologize.

Who knew that four weeks could go by so quickly? When I arrived at the hospitality house here in Vicenza, Italy, the four weeks of ministry ahead of me looked long and I was really excited to see what God would do on this mission trip. Now it’s getting to the place where we are counting down the hours until we leave for the airport. We have made so many friends here and met so many incredible people that the idea of saying goodbye is terrifying. I would rather not.

The MOKIs (Moms Out, Kids In) were successful and it was awsome to be able to spend time with these kids who are so desperately in need of love and attention. There were those, of course, who were a special challenge but, to be completely honest, those usually ended up being my favorites. It was also an amazing blessing and a gift from God to be able to lead five children to Christ. To hear them say that they are now a child of God after they had prayed to accept the forgiveness Jesus offers because he died on the cross and rose from the dead, was the most incredible thing. I ecspecially liked the part where I explained that because I am a child of God and they are a child of God, that makes us brothers and sisters in Christ. (The tenses in that paragraph seriously bother me, but I have a two year old telling me about dinosaurs so I am just not going to worry about that. I apologize, English majors.)

In addition to the child evangelism in which my team and I have been involved, we have had, of course, many opportunites to travel around the north part of Italy and see all the places you are supposed to see when you visit Italy. We have been to Venice, Florence, Pisa, Verona, Vicenza, Siere Mione… etc? We had been hoping to go to Rome for the weekend but that didn’t happen and we spent the weekend in Germany and Austria instead (that was amazing!)

But I think one of the very best things about this trip has been the friendships we made with some of the soldiers here. They have been like big brothers and they have challenged me incredibly in my walk with Christ. There have been amazing conversations and inside jokes born and movie lines quoted with these guys and I’m going to miss them so so much. Here’s to Gary (my hero!) and Kev (rocks!) and all the others that are a very important brick in the hospitality house.

There were very many good memories made here and I am truly going to look back on my time in Italy and perhaps get a little homesick.